Charles de Cossé, 1st Duke of Brissac ( –) was a French noble, military commander, governor, courtier and rebel during the latter French Wars of Religion. Son of Charles I de Cossé and Charlotte d'Esquetot, Brissac was born into a family with a strong military reputation, both his father and uncle being French Marshals. As a second son Brissac was not initially intended to assume the titles of his father, but his brother Timoléon de Cossé was killed during a siege in 1569. Brissac was intimately involved in the French response to the Portuguese succession crisis of 1580, being selected by Catherine de' Medici the queen mother as one of the two military commanders for the expedition. In June 1582 he departed with a fleet under the overall authority of Strozzi, another Marshals' son. They were met with disaster at the Battle of Vila Franca do Campo, Strozzi was killed and Brissac took responsibility for extracting the ships that could be saved from the superior enemy. Catherine desired for him to lead another expedition but Henry overruled her, and Brissac looked to the duke of Guise for purpose, becoming involved in the abortive plans for an invasion of England. After these too fell through, Brissac involved himself in the revived Catholic ligue which rose in response to the death of the king's brother in June 1584 and the subsequent threat of a Protestant king. As a result of the dauphins death, Brissac received command of the Château d'Angers. The ligue resolved to make war on the king to get him to revise his policy, and Brissac campaigned in Normandy but was bested by Épernon at the siege of Gien. The war was brought to a close with a favourable settlement to the ligue in September.
The king was compelled by the terms of the peace to make war on Protestantism, and in the subsequent campaign, the Protestant Condé seized Angers from Brissac. The governor of Anjou, Bouchage aided in the restoring of royal authority over the city, but Henry did not want to return the Château to Brissac, and Brissac was pushed into selling his control of it to the king's favourite Joyeuse. In May 1588 tensions between the ligue and their nominal ally Henry overflowed and Paris rioted against the king's attempt to introduce troops to the capital. In the combats that followed, Brissac drove the royal Swiss guard back across the city, and was prepared to storm the king's residence on 13 May before Henry slipped from the city. Humiliated Henry sought to regain his position at the Estates General of 1588. Brissac was elected as président of the Second Estate and after the king arranged the assassination of the duke of Guise he was briefly arrested. Not viewed as a threat, he was released after a couple of weeks and after some time on his estates he joined the ligueur war against their 'tyrannical' king. He headed first to Angers, where he was bested by Marshal Aumont and then Normandy where he lost a battle to the duke of Montpensier. In 1592, he was established as governor of Poitiers, where he exercised his governorship like he was sovereign. In December 1593 he was appointed governor of Paris, viewed as a reliably ligueur figure, unlike his predecessor. He opened negotiations to betray the city to the royalist candidate for king, Henry IV. For his treachery he was rewarded with the office of Marshal and a large bribe. He was tasked by his new king with campaigning against the last ligueur holdout Mercœur. In 1620 his seigneurie was raised to a duché-pairie by Louis XIII. He died the following year.
Early life and family Charles II de Cossé was born around 1550, the son of Charles I de Cossé and Charlotte d'Esquetot. His father had a celebrated military career during the latter Italian Wars that saw him made a Marshal of France. His paternal uncle Artus de Cossé would also be elevated to the Marshalate in 1567.
Brissac married the daughter of Rocher Portail, who had at one time been a tanner. This marriage while considerably below his aristocratic station, had the advantage of providing him much needed money.
Souvré, a favourite of Henry's was asked by the king in 1577, to hurry along marriage negotiations that were underway between Brissac and Saint-Luc who desired to marry Brissac's sister Jeanne de Cossé. The marriage was undertaken sometime in the following couple of years.
His brother, the count of Brissac was killed in May 1569 during the siege of Mussidan at the age of only 26. As a result, Brissac inherited his eponymous county, he further inherited the position of grand panetier de la roi that his uncle had ceded to his brother in 1567.
Reign of Henry III Brissac had aligned himself with the king's brother Alençon, heir to the throne, by 1581.
Portugal succession crisis In 1580, the Portuguese throne became vacant, and the king's mother Catherine de' Medici had a claim to the succession. A regency commission was established to examine the various claims, with the Spanish king Philip II pushing his candidacy, to unite the Iberian Peninsula. In June 1580, Don Antonio was chosen by the Portuguese, causing Philip to invade and quickly conquer the kingdom. Don Antonio's agents came into French exile in 1581 and were received at Blois in April. Catherine and Henry agreed to organise an expedition in support of the conde de Vimioso to capture the Açores, which Spain had not yet seized. To lead this expedition Filippo Strozzi and Brissac were selected. Strozzi began raising forces in Guyenne, assembling 5000 men. Meanwhile, Brissac raised 1200 soldiers in Normandy. Philip's ambassador protested, when rumours of these preparations leaked, but Catherine explained Portugal belonged to her. If Felipe wished to avoid an invasion he could gift his daughter in marriage to Alençon, the king's brother, with the Netherlands as her dowry.
After some negotiations, Catherine and Henry decided in favour of the expedition, on 3 May 1582, Strozzi was ordered to make for Madeira, and use it as a springboard to capture the Azores, then to head to Brasil. Brissac was tasked with occupying Cape Verde. Brissac assembled the forces for the expedition at Belle Île where they were boarded on to ships. Strozzi in overall command, decided to set sail on 16 June. Their forces landed on the São Miguel Island, the only defended island in the chain, and on 16 July they attacked the fort on the island. A fleet arrived by the island to relieve the fort, and the French hurriedly reboarded their ships to face their opponent. In the battle that followed on 26 July, Brissac and several other ships charged the larger fleet, but they were soon surrounded, and Strozzi killed. Brissac and his sailors fought valiantly, but Brissac, concerned at the size of the fleet arrayed against him decided to retreat back to France. He was able to extract 30 ships from the disaster back to the safety of a French port. Catherine now turned to Brissac to lead another expedition to the Açores himself, but Henry intervened, asking her to leave the choice to Admiral Joyeuse, his favourite. Henry blamed Brissac in part for the loss. Joyeuse selected Aymar de Chastes, who led a similarly disastrous expedition.
Invasion of England With no more opportunities for him from the royal court, Brissac turned to the duke of Guise to provide him with advancement. Guise was planning an invasion of England in favour of his cousin Mary, Queen of Scots. In August 1583, he was at Le Havre at the head of an army, which was to be under the joint command of himself and Aumale. Elbeuf meanwhile readied ships for the crossing at Harfleur. With regular planning sessions occurring between the duke and his allies at the Château de Meilleraye under the auspices of Jean de Moy, Brissac arrived from Le Havre with bad news. Sailing would need to be postponed due to lack of funds, Guise responded by withdrawing the funds he had put towards the operation, and the scheme died.
In the reshuffle that followed the death of Alençon, heir to the throne. Bouchage took charge of Touraine, Maine, Perche. He further took over Anjou in October 1584, succeeding the recently deceased Puygaillard in the governate. As one of his first acts, he established Brissac as commander of the Château d'Angers.
Second Catholic ligue In September 1584, the Catholic League, which had been dormant since 1576, was refounded by the Lorraine family to oppose the succession of the Protestant Navarre, distant cousin to the king, to the throne. Many grandees joined the League shortly thereafter, among them the disgraced favourites François d'O and François d'Espinay; and allies of the Lorraine's the baron de Sennecey and Brissac. Brissac turned to his fidèle in Poitou for recruitment in the following months. In March 1585, the ligueurs entered open war with the crown after the duke of Guise occupied Châlons. Brissac, working as Elbeuf's primary lieutenant in Normandy, raised an army in the province while Elbeuf was still in Paris. Brissac arrived outside Rouen in March, and began raising funds by selling rentes in the city. Elbeuf first escorted Cardinal Bourbon to Péronne before moving into Normandy to support Brissac, who in Elbeuf's absence was holding the fort in Angers. Together the majority of the cities of Normandy fell to them, with an army of up to 6000 men. Their force operated separately from the main ligueur force under Guise. In May, Brissac campaigned alongside Claude de La Châtre, Entragues and Beaupré in the siege of Gien. Épernon departed Paris on 30 May to relieve the city from their efforts, and was able to lift it several days later without a fight.
War against the Protestants With the ligueur triumph at the Treaty of Nemours, Navarre was excluded from the succession, Henry promised a war against heresy, and the ligueur leaders received various cities as surety. Brissac found himself at odds with the bourgeois of Angers, who resented his governorship. Hoping to take advantage of this, the Protestant prince of Condé and sieur de Rochemorte seized the Château of the city in September. However their coup soon began to stall, the population while resenting Brissac, had no desire to be ruled by Protestants, and resisted attempts to take the town. Soon the governor of Anjou Bouchagae, his brother the royal favourite Joyeuse and La Châtre came to the relief of Angers, driving Condé's forces from the city. The king let it be known that despite what the Treaty of Nemours might say, he did not desire Brissac to be restored to command in the city.
In December, Joyeuse purchased the government of the Château from him for 36,000 livres. Guise was not happy to see his political ally removed from control of this strategic position and in March 1586 protested to Henry. Joyeuse refused to yield the Château and installed a reliable supporter of the king in it. Henry meanwhile encouraged Joyeuse to go further, supporting an attempt by him to acquire Brouage from Saint-Luc, Brissac's brother-in-law, and another ligueur ally.
Day of the Barricades At a family meeting in January 1588, the Lorraine family took stock of their situation. It was agreed they would redouble their effort to seize towns. Brissac and Elbeuf were tasked with frustrating Épernon's ability to operate as governor of Normandy. Épernon, and then the king soon visited his governate, frustrating their plans for Rouen.