Anne de, constable of France, was descended from one of the most ancient French families, and was born at Chantilly in 1493. He was brought up along with the young Dauphin, afterwards Francis I., and on the accession of that prince he was raised to an influential position. He was not long in proving himself worthy of his good fortune. His chivalrous valour was conspicuous in several campaigns, and gained for him a marshal's baton in 1522, soon after the outbreak of the war against Charles V. Contrary to his advice, however, the battle of Pavia was fought in 1525, and he found himself in consequence a prisoner, along with his sovereign, in the hands of the Emperor. On being ransomed, he contributed in no small degree to effect the release of his royal master. But as Francis I. refused to fulfil the conditions of his liberation, Montmorency was in course of time called upon to defend France against Charles V. He continued by his skilful manoeuvres to harass and repel the enemy till war was superseded by negotiation. As a reward for these services, the office of constable of France was conferred upon him in 1538. In this lofty position, the austerity of his morals and the roughness of his manners appeared in greater prominence, and excited against him much dislike at court. It is not surprising, therefore, that he was disgraced in 1541. He bore his exile with great magnanimity, until the accession of Henri II., in 1547, recalled him to his office of constable, and to greater influence than ever. His military talents were called into requisition in 1557, to relieve St Quentin from a besieging army of Spaniards. But a hazardous plan, which he had begun to execute, for the purpose of entering the city, failed, and left him wounded and a prisoner in the hands of the enemy. As an aggravation of this misfortune, he discovered, when he was released at the peace of 1559, that the Guises, during his absence, had been supplanting him in the favour of the King. The death of Henri II., and the accession of Francis II., in that same year, completed his disgrace. He returned to court, however, on the accession of Charles IX., and played an important part in the struggle which was then beginning to convulse France. His firm devotion to the Catholic religion induced him to make common cause with his former enemy, the Duke of Guise, against the Prince of Condé and the King of Navarre, the leaders of the Huguenots. In the civil war that followed in 1562, he gained the victory of Dreux over Condé, but was himself made a prisoner. On his release in the subsequent year, he expelled the English from Havre. In 1567 the civil struggle was renewed, and Montmorency once more encountered the Protestants on the plains of St Denis. His troops were already in the full pursuit of victory when he received a mortal wound. He died on the 12th of November 1567.

Montmorency, Henri II. Duc de, grandson of the preceding, was born at Chantilly in 1595. His career began under the most favourable circumstances. He was the godson of Henri IV., and was constantly receiving marks of the royal affection. His illustrious name, his winning manners, his generous spirit, and his chivalrous valour, rendered him at an early age the darling of the court and the people. Hardly had he attained his eighteenth year when Louis XIII. raised him to the office of admiral. Yet his good fortune was not greater than his desert. He wrested several important places from the Protestants, and was present at the sieges of Montauban and Montpellier. On the renewal of the civil war in 1625, the fleet sent from Holland to the aid of the French King was placed under his command. Kindling the lukewarm Dutch soldiers by his fiery enthusiasm, he captured at their head the Isles of Rhé and Oleron. He then in 1628 measured his strength in Languedoc against the Duc de Rohan, and was not worsted in the contest with that famous leader of the Huguenots. His brightest laurels, however, were won during the following year in the war against the Spaniards in Piedmont. Falling in with an army under Doria at Veillane, he charged across a ditch at the head of the gendarmes of the King, struck down the hostile general with his own hand, and fought like a common soldier until the enemy was completely driven from the field. This brilliant victory was followed by the raising of the siege of Casal, and the appointment of Montmorency to the rank of Marshal of France. In the height of his fame and influence he was now solicited to join the opponents of Cardinal Richelieu. His pride, pampered by so many successes, was quick to incite him to hostility against one who was so deadly a foe of the nobility; and he rushed into open rebellion with his characteristic impetuosity. In his character of governor of Languedoc, he raised levies of troops and money in 1632, and, after forming a junction with Gaston, Duke of Orleans, saw himself at the head of an army of six or seven thousand. Negotiation was tried in vain; and in September Montmorency was confronted at Castelnau-dary by an army under La Force and Schomberg. At this crisis he forgot the caution of the general in the headlong valour of the soldier. Bursting into the royal camp at the head of a few horsemen, he cut his way through six ranks of infantry amidst a continued shower of shot, and fought against overwhelming numbers, until his horse dropped dead, and left him in the power of his enemies. He was doomed to death by the inexorable Richelieu, as an example to the rest of the plotting nobility. In vain was his life begged by all ranks throughout France. The only palliation of punishment that could be obtained from Louis XIII. was that the execution should be in private. Montmorency was therefore beheaded in the Hotel de Ville of Toulouse in October 1632.