Jacques-Nompar de Caumont, duc de la Force

Jacques Nompar de Caumont, 1st Duke of La Force (30 December 1558 – 10 May 1652) was a Marshal of France and Peer of France.

Life

Caumont was the son of a Huguenot, Francois de Caumont, lord of Castelnau, and Philippe de Beaupoil. He survived the St. Bartholomew's Day Massacre in 1572, but his father and older brother Armand were killed. As marquis de La Force, Caumont served Henry IV, whose confidence he enjoyed. He was governor of Béarn from 1593 to 1621 and then viceroy of Navarre. After the assassination of Henry IV in 1610, Caumont fought with the Huguenots against Louis XIII. He plotted with Henri de Rohan and participated in the successful defence of Montauban in 1621, after an 86-day siege by the king, although he was reconciled with Louis XIII the following year.

Caumont was made a marshal of France on 27 May 1622, to be employed as the Lieutenant-General of the Army of Piedmont. He campaigned in Piedmont in 1630, during the War of the Mantuan Succession, taking Pinerolo as well as Saluzzo and defeated the Spaniards at Carignano. He married, after 1635, Isabelle de Clermont-Gallerande, widow of Gideon van den Boetzelaer (1569–1634), Ambassador of the States of Holland in France.