Description:

Henri II de Bourbon, Prince de Condé DS Re: His "Majesty and the late king…affairs related to the war"

A 7pp manuscript document in French signed by Henri II de Bourbon, Prince de Condé (1588-1646), as "henry de bourbon" at the conclusion. There are scattered dates (in calligraphic roman numeral form) found throughout the text relating to numerous financial transactions, but no date or place corresponding to the actual signing of the document. Assumed seventeenth-century, France. Secretarially inscribed on watermarked laid paper, with numerous margin notes in another clerical hand, and docketed on the outer wrapper. Three sets of pages are double-sided. All the pages have been tipped into sturdier cream mounts. Expected wear including large central horizontal folds, chipped edges, and minor scattered ink bleed-through. Isolated ink stains and professional restoration to the outer wrapper. 9.375" x 14.625."

The document pertains to financial transactions made between a French king and the French nobleman François de Bourbon, Duc de Montpensier (1542-1592). At the time that this document was drawn up, the French king that had had dealings with François de Bourbon had died and been succeeded by another French king. François de Bourbon too had died, succeeded by "Duc de Montpen. his son" [Henri de Bourbon, Duc de Montpensier (1573-1608)]. Thus, the unresolved financial matters impacted the new French monarch and the estate of François de Bourbon, with Henri de Bourbon appearing to function as the latter's appointed representative.

The document serves as a ledger of sorts and contains multiple entries of outstanding debts relating to "les affaires de la guerre," almost certainly expenses incurred during wartime. We can only speculate as to the identity of "la d[it]e. Ma[jes]tie. et du feu roy" ["the aforementioned Majesty and the late king."] The deceased king may have been Henry III (1551-1589), who reigned from 1574-1589, and to whom François de Bourbon was closely allied. The current king, then, would be Henri III's successor, Henri IV (1553-1610), who ruled from 1589 until his assassination in 1610.The document also refers to the regions of Normandy and Champagne, as well as to the Duc de Guise; the Guises were one of the most powerful and ambitious Catholic aristocratic families in France during this era.

Henri II de Bourbon, Prince de Condé was the head of the senior-most cadet branch of the House of Bourbon, making him a "prince du sang," or "prince of the blood." The Prince de Condé was heir presumptive to the French throne during the 1590s, and was second-in-line to the French throne from 1611-1638. He played a significant leadership role during the minority of Louis XIII, though he eventually opposed the regency of the young king's mother, Marie de' Medici. He served as Governor of Burgundy from 1631 until his death in 1646.

The Prince de Condé commanded French armies in the Pyrenees after 1638. He became one of the most well-known French commanders of the French-Spanish War, a corollary conflict enveloped within the greater Thirty Years' War. The Prince de Condé led several notable military campaigns at the French/Spanish border. The failed siege of Fontarrabie [Hondarrabia, Spain] was a humiliating upset in which Condé's French forces--almost double the number of Spanish defenders--were routed and fled. Yet this reversal was followed by two important victories in the Pyrénées-Orientales department of southwestern France: the July 19, 1639 fall of the Spanish fortress at Salses, and the June 29, 1641 fall of Elne.

This item comes with a Certificate from John Reznikoff, a premier authenticator for both major 3rd party authentication services, PSA and JSA (James Spence Authentications), as well as numerous auction houses.

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