Cond�, Louis II de Bourbon, 4th Prince de, known as the Great Cond� 1621-86
French nobleman

The great-grandson of Louis I de Bourbon (Prince de Cond�), he was born in Paris. Proud, hot-tempered, aggressively atheist, during the Thirty Years War he defeated Spain at Rocroi (1643) and Lens (1648). He was recalled (1649) to suppress the first French uprising (Fronde) against Cardinal Mazarin and the Regent Anne of Austria. In 1650 he rebelled and led the second Fronde, but fled to Spain, where he served for six years against France, until he was defeated by the Vicomte de Turenne and Cromwell's Ironsides at the Battle of the Dunes (1658). Pardoned in 1659, he became one of Louis XIV's greatest generals; he defeated the Spanish in Franche-Comt� (1668), and with Turenne commanded the French armies in the Netherlands. After a last indecisive battle at Seneffe (1674) against William III of Orange, he retired, gout-ridden, to Chantilly, where he enjoyed the company of literary friends like Moli�re, Racine, Nicolas Boileau and Jean de La Bruy�re.

Bibliography: H Noel Williams, The Love Affairs of the Cond�s, 1530-1740 (1912)