In any kingdom or princedom, the monarch’s family was an important foundation of statehood. As a rule, the transfer of power was carried out by inheritance from father to son. A bastard is a child born out of an official marriage. The history of France knows many illegal heirs, whose actions had important consequences for the state.
Meaning of the word
The traditional meaning of the word "bastard" has developed in the Middle Ages. At this time, the institution of church marriage was fundamental to all Christians. If the child was born from another woman, then he did not have inheritance rights.
In the case of representatives of royal dynasties, this was reflected in heraldry. The coat of arms of each bastard had a characteristic band, which indicated its origin. Illegitimate sons often found themselves in the center of political intrigue, as they had the right to power, which they were deprived of. As a rule, this led to riots and bloodshed. Most often around the bastards united representatives of the nobility and aristocracy, who were dissatisfied with the current government.
Some of them became the founders of new dynasties. For example, the Capets were one of the sidelines of the Carolingian. Representatives of both dynasties at one time became kings of France.
Charles de Valois
King Charles IX had a lover, Marie Toucher. From her, he had an illegitimate son, Charles. Father died a year after the birth of the bastard (in 1574). In his will, Karl instructed his brother Henry III to take care of his nephew.
The new king did everything so that Charles could get a decent education. A bastard is an undesirable person at court. However, such an illegitimate nephew did not threaten his uncle. Charles was preparing to become a knight of the prestigious Order of Malta. In it, he achieved great success and even became a priori of France.
In addition, luck smiled at Charles when his grandmother Catherine de Medici left him a large sum of money. He also became Count of Auvergne. The secular title could not be combined with a career in the Order of Malta. Therefore, in 1591, Charles achieved that he was allowed not to observe the vows of the monks.
So he married Charlotte - the daughter of one of the French dukes. When Henry III was killed, the new king (Henry IV) made Charles colonel of his cavalry. In 1601, the bastard took part in a court plot, the purpose of which was to convince the ruler to change his wife. The network has been revealed. Some of the conspirators were executed, Charles was kept in prison for several months. The protection of influential relatives helped him to free himself.
Charles military career
Despite the disgrace and deprivation of titles, Charles managed to regain the confidence of the crown. He led numerous military campaigns of the time. First of all, these were campaigns against the Protestants. Catholic France resisted the Reformation. Soon the Thirty Years War began, in which the bastard was drawn. It was a conflict between two areas in Christianity. On the side of the Protestants were numerous German princes. It was with them that Charles fought.
In 1619, he inherited the Duchy of Angouleme. Charles also participated in important embassies in the Holy Roman Empire when treaties were concluded with Protestants. At this time, Cardinal Richelieu received a significant role in the court . After he died, Charles withdrew from public affairs and died quietly in 1650.
Antoine Bourbon Bay
The already mentioned Henry IV also had an illegitimate son. His name was Antaun. He was born in 1607 from a relationship with the favorite Jacqueline de Bay (because of this he had a double surname - Bourbon Bay). The French bastards were not legally recognized heirs. Henry made an exception for his son. A year after the birth of the baby, the king ordered a special patent for his new offspring. This paper confirmed that Antoine is now the legalized heir to his father.
The king was already elderly when he had a bastard. This led to the fact that Henry died when Antoine was still a boy. The child inherited several abbeys. Religious institutions were a heavy burden. In France, wars continued between Catholics and Protestants, which is why the abbeys were constantly at the center of conflicts.
The grown-up Antoine was distinguished by his courage and love for military affairs. Contemporaries who knew Henry IV repeated that the young man was very similar to his father.
Antoine's involvement in the plot against Louis XIII
Meanwhile, the power of the new King Louis XIII liked an ever smaller number of close ones. Some of them united in a conspiracy against the ruler. Antoine joined them. Especially the conspirators did not like Richelieu. In addition, there were obvious aspirations of Louis to lead the country to an absolute monarchy, which deprived numerous counts and dukes of their former influence.
The rebels gathered an army. The battle between the royalists and the rebels took place in 1632. Antoine was in the midst of battle. He was wounded by a bullet from a musket, because of which he died. The story of the bastard ended tragically, but naturally.