Education of Henri II. de Bourbon, Prince de Condé—Appearance and character of the young prince—He is offered and accepts the hand of Charlotte de Montmorency, unaware that Henry IV. is desperately enamoured of the lady—Conversation of the King with Bassompierre—Marriage of Condé and Mlle. de Montmorency—Infatuation of the King for the young princess—Condé refuses to accept the odious rôle assigned him, and “plays the devil”—Violent scenes between him and the King—He removes with his wife to Picardy—Amorous escapade of Henri IV.—Condé, summoned to Court for the accouchement of the Queen, leaves the princess behind him—Indignation of Henri IV.—Condé flies with his wife to Flanders—Fury of the King, who sends troops in pursuit of the fugitives—Refusal of the Archdukes to deliver them up—Condé goes to Cologne, while the princess proceeds to Brussels.
Henri IV. charged himself with all the expenses of the little Prince de Condé’s education; the Cardinal de Gondi, Bishop of Paris, was entrusted with the task of instructing him in the Catholic faith, and on 24 January, 1596, the boy attended Mass for the first time.
To assist the gouverneur, the Marquis de Pisani, in his important duties, the King decided to appoint a sous-gouverneur, and selected for that post Nicolas d’Aumale, Sieur d’Harcourt. D’Harcourt was a Protestant, and his appointment was probably due to Henri IV.’s desire to conciliate the Huguenots and to prove to them that, though the heir presumptive to the throne was to be brought up as a Catholic, there was no intention of separating him entirely from those of his father’s faith. For preceptor, the prince was given Nicolas Lefebvre, Counsellor to the Departments of Waters and Forests, who was a devout, though a by no means intolerant, Catholic, and one of the most learned men of his time.
The education of the boy would have progressed smoothly enough, but for the interference of the Dowager-Princesse de Condé, who aspired to direct everything herself, and continually countermanded the orders of Pisani, who was obliged to appeal to Henri IV. to uphold his authority. He complained that the princess refused to admit that anything was right that came from the King; and there can be no doubt that the lady, who was aware that none but political motives had induced Henri IV. to put an end to her imprisonment, was but little disposed to respect his Majesty’s wishes.
Not content with quarrelling with Pisani, the princess endeavoured to create dissension between him and d’Harcourt, by insinuating to the latter that he was distrusted by his superior, on account of his being a Huguenot. Then she tried to persuade the King to allow Texeira to be associated with d’Harcourt and Lefebvre in the education of her son—a proposal which was greatly resented by the sous-gouverneur and the preceptor.
The disputes to which his mother’s meddlesome activity gave rise were very unfortunate for the young prince. And Pisani declared that it was “pitiable to see him thus guided, served, and treated,” and expressed his fear “lest he should be found wanting, and that those who had been charged with his education should be blamed and despised for it.”[142]
In October, 1599, Pisani died suddenly, at the Abbey of Saint-Maur-des-Fossés,[143] to which he had removed with his charge to escape a terrible epidemic—probably typhus—which was then ravaging Paris. The choice of his successor was not an easy one, for now that Queen Marguerite had given her consent to the dissolution of her union with the King, and negotiations had been set on foot for Henri’s marriage with Marie de’ Medici, the post was diminishing in importance. General astonishment, however, was expressed when it was known that the King had conferred it upon the Comte de Belin. The count was a former Leaguer, Governor of Paris under the Duc de Mayenne, and had been one of the first of that party to attach himself to the cause of Henri IV. He had since testified great devotion to the monarch, but he was but little esteemed by the public, and had lost any military prestige he ever possessed by the promptitude with which he had capitulated at Arques, in 1596. Some privileged courtiers ventured to remonstrate with his Majesty on this appointment, to whom he drily replied: “When I wanted to make a King of my nephew, I gave him Pisani; when I wanted to make a subject of him, I gave him Belin.”
The new gouverneur showed himself infinitely more complaisant towards the Princesse de Condé than had his predecessor; indeed, Tallemant des Réaux declares that they “made belles galanteries together,” though no attention need be paid to the unsupported statement of this incorrigible scandalmonger. He was also far more indulgent with his pupil than Pisani had ever been—a change which is generally believed to have had a very injurious effect upon the character of the young prince, who was one of those lads who require a strong hand over them. Thanks, however, to the perseverance of Lefebvre, his studies were not permitted to suffer, and he received an education both sound and varied. He became a tolerable Latin scholar, spoke Italian fluently, understood Spanish, wrote his own language correctly—a rare accomplishment in those days—and had some knowledge of theology and mathematics. In appearance, he was rather below the middle height, with a slight, well-knit figure, and “the strongly marked features which generally distinguished the Bourbons.”[144] He was passionately devoted to the chase and an excellent horseman; nor does he seem to have lacked the courage of his race, since in February, 1607, when the prince was in his nineteenth year, Henri IV. was obliged to exercise his authority to prevent a duel to which he had challenged the Duc de Nevers.
With the exception of this incident, his early youth appears to have been very uneventful, for, since France was now at peace, no opportunity occurred for his initiation into the art of war. The King kept him constantly about his person, less through any affection for his kinsman than from a desire to protect him against the influence of ambitious and scheming persons who might seek to use him for the furtherance of their own ends. But the young prince did not possess the qualities which would have fitted him to shine in the gay and licentious society of the time, being shy and awkward, particularly in the presence of ladies, while his revenues were not at all commensurate with his rank; and after the birth of sons to Henri IV. had deprived him of all hope of the throne, he seems to have occupied a very inconspicuous position at Court.
Condé’s comparative lack of fortune made a wealthy marriage a necessity, and when, at the beginning of the year 1609, the King announced his intention of bestowing upon him the hand of Charlotte de Montmorency, daughter of the Connétable Henri de Montmorency,[145] and one of the richest heiresses in France, he accepted the offer with a gratitude which was not diminished by the fact that Mlle. de Montmorency united to the advantages of wealth remarkable personal attractions.