Louis II de La Trémoille, duc de Noirmoutier

Louis II de La Trémoille (25 December 1612 – 12 October 1666), Marquess, then Duke of Noirmoutier, was a French aristocrat often simply referred to as "Noirmoutier". A General and Maréchal de camp who fought at the Battle of Lens and in The Fronde, following which he served as Governor of Mount Olympus in Charleville-Mézières.

Early life Noirmoutier was born on 25 December 1612.

A member of the cadet branch of the La Trémoille family which held the exalted rank of prince étranger in France, his paternal grandfather was François II de La Trémoïlle (a son of Claude de La Trémoïlle-Noirmoutier). The marquessate was created in 1584. His maternal grandfather was Vincent Bouhier, Lord of Beaumarchais and Baron of Plessis-aux-Tournelles. Through his maternal aunt, Marie Bouhier de Beaumarchais (wife of Charles de La Vieuville), he was a first cousin of Charles II de La Vieuville, 2nd Duke of La Vieuville.

During the Siege of Paris in 1649, at the head of nearly a thousand horses, he took part in numerous daring sorties to clear the way for the supply of Paris. During one of these sorties, La Rochefoucauld, who had gone towards him to cover a convoy of supplies that Noirmoutier was escorting, was attacked and wounded by the loyalist troops of the Count of Grancey. La Rochefoucauld complained that Noirmoutier had continued on his way to Paris without coming to his aid.

Following the Peace of Rueil, Noirmoutier received a triple promotion: he was made a brevet Duke (a non-hereditary Duke), his title of Lieutenant général, acquired among the Frondeurs, was confirmed, and he was made Governor of Mount Olympus, a fortress near Charleville. There was some difficulty in including him in the Frondeurs' amnesty. The Court took umbrage at the fact that he had led the Spanish army commanded by Archduke Leopold Wilhelm of Austria against France. Gondi considered that he owed him these multiple pardons. The two then had a falling out.

Personal life

On 30 November 1640, Noirmoutier was married to Renée Julie Aubéry, a daughter of the State Councillor, Jean Aubéry, Lord of Tilleport, and Françoise Le Breton. Together, they were the parents of nine children, including: After his death in 1670, she remarried in Rome to Prince Flavio Orsini, Duke of Bracciano, and became an important figure there, defending the interests of France in Rome; she was a close friend of Françoise d'Aubigné, Marquise de Maintenon (the second wife of King Louis XIV). Louis-Alexandre de La Trémoille, Marquess of La Trémoille (–1667), who was forced into exile with his brother-in-law, the Prince of Chalais, in Spain following the duel of four against four in which Pierre de Beauvilliers, son of the Duke of Saint-Aignan, was killed. After her death in 1689, Louise-Angélique de La Trémoille (1655–1698), who married Antonio Lante Montefeltro della Rovere, son of Ippolito Lante Montefeltro della Rovere, in 1683, becoming Princess of Belmonte. Joseph-Emmanuel de La Trémoille (1659–1720), who became Bishop of Bayeux and Archbishop of Cambrai; he was created Cardinal by Pope Clement XI in 1706.

Noirmoutier died on 12 October 1666, at 53 years old, at Châteauvillain. His widow, Renée, died on 20 February 1679.