Gaspard I de Coligny

Gaspard I de Coligny, depicted on a stained-glass window in the collegiate church of Saint-Martin in Montmorency, Val-d'Oise. Gaspard I de Coligny, Count of Coligny, seigneur de Châtillon (1465/1470–1522), known as the Marshal of Châtillon, was a French soldier and Marshal of France.

Biography He was born in Châtillon-Coligny. He was the youngest of the seven children of Jean III de Coligny and Éléonore de Courcelles and the second of their sons.

He served in the Italian Wars from 1495 to 1515 and distinguished himself at the Battle of Fornovo in 1495 under King Charles VIII. When King Francis I invaded Milan, he fought in the Battle of Agnadello in 1509 and distinguished himself at the Battle of Marignano in 1515. For his services, he was created Marshal of France in 1516. He was simultaneously created a knight of the King's order.

He was made Lieutenant General in 1519, for the execution of the treaty of alliance with the King of England, and he attended the meeting in Northern France between the two sovereigns in 1520 , known as the Field of the Cloth of Gold. He subsequently served in Champagne and Picardy. The King granted him the use of the Principality of Orange. He was then Lieutenant General in Guyenne, and commanded the troops sent to the relief of Fuenterrabía, but he died before arriving there, at Dax on 24 August 1522. His body was taken to Châtillon-sur-Loing where he was buried.

Titles and offspring He became the seigneur de Châtillon following the death of his older brother, Jacques II de Coligny, in 1512. In the absence of his brother, the continuity of the house of Coligny rested with Gaspard. The possibility of the male line continuing was secured by his marriage to Louise de Montmorency in 1514.

By his wife, Louise de Montmorency, sister of Anne de Montmorency, he had three sons: Odet (1517–1571), Cardinal de Châtillon Gaspard (1519–1572), Admiral of France François (1521–1569), Seigneur d'Andelot

All three played an important part in the first period of the French Wars of Religion.

Family tree