for Charles, Count of Soissons. Born in
Nogent-le-Rotrou, Soissons joined the
Catholic League during the
French Wars of Religion despite his older half-brothers'
Protestant affiliations. He left the royal
court disenchanted soon thereafter however, and was won over to the cause of Henry of Navarre. Charles fought for Henry at the
battle of Coutras in 1587, was then introduced and secretly engaged to Henry's sister
Catherine. He attended the
Estates General at
Blois in 1588, fought back the League's forces at the battle of
Saint Symphorien in 1589, was taken prisoner at Château-Giron and, escaping from
Nantes, joined forces with Henry at
Dieppe. After the
battle of Ivry he led the king's
cavalry in
besieging Paris in 1590, and proved his worth at the
sieges of
Chartres in 1591 and of
Rouen in 1592. Although he briefly joined in the scheme of his brother Charles, Cardinal de Bourbon, to form a third
party in the kingdom, he attended Henry's
coronation in 1594. He fought loyally at the successful siege of
Laon. Peace having been concluded with Spain, he commanded troops in the war in
Savoy in 1600. He had been inducted into the
Order of the Holy Spirit in 1585 by
Henry III. Henry IV made him
Grand mâitre of the royal household and
governor of the
province of
Brittany in 1589. In 1602 he was made governor of the
Dauphiné, and of
Normandy in 1610, in which year he was also present at the coronation of
Louis XIII. The death of Henry IV in 1610 weakened
Samuel de Champlain's chances of successfully colonizing
New France, and, by the advice of
Pierre Dugua, Sieur de Mons, he sought a protector in the person of the Count of Soissons, who accepted the proposal to become the “father of New France,” obtained from the queen regent the authority necessary to preserve and advance all that had been already done, and appointed Champlain his lieutenant with unrestricted power. In his commission to Champlain, Soissons styles himself “lieutenant general of New France,” but he died soon after issuing it. ==Family==