CHARLES DE GONTAUT, DUC DE BIRON

'Charles de Gontaut, duc de Biron' (1562-1602), son of Armand de Gontaut, baron de Biron, fought brilliantly for the royal party against the Catholic League in the later stages of the Wars of Religion in France. He was made admiral of France in 1592, and marshal in 1594; governor of Burgundy in 1595, he took the towns of Beaune, Autun, Auxonne and Dijon, and distinguished himself at the battle of Fontaine-Française. In 1596 he was sent to fight the Spaniards in Flanders, Picardy and Artois. After the peace of Vervins he discharged a mission at Brussels (1598). From that time he was engaged in intrigues with Spain and Savoy, and, notwithstanding, directed the expedition sent against the duke of Savoy (1599-1600). After fulfilling diplomatic missions for Henry IV in England and Switzerland (1600), he was accused and convicted of high treason and was beheaded in the Bastille on the 31st of July 1602.

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