Henry IV. in 1598, on which occasion his only daughter Francoise,
probably the richest heiress in the kingdom, was contracted in marriage
to Cesar, Duc de Vendome, the illegitimate son of Henry IV. by
Gabrielle d'Estrees, the Duchess de Beaufort. The Duc de Mercoeur died
at Nuremburg, February 19, 1602.--_Vide Birch's Memoirs of Queen
Elizabeth_, Vol. I., p. 82; _Davila's His. Civil Warres of France_, p.
1476.

14. Jean d'Aumont, born in 1522, a Marshal of France who served under
six kings, Francis I., Henry II., Francis II., Charles IX., Henry
III., and Henry IV. He distinguished himself at the battles of
Dreux, Saint-Denis, Montcontour, and in the famous siege of
Rochelle in 1573. After the death of Henry III., he was the first
to recognize Henry IV., whom he served with the same zeal as he
had his five predecessors He took part in the brilliant battle of
Arques in 1589. In the following year, he so distinguished himself
at Ivry that Henry IV., inviting him to sup with him after this
memorable battle, addressed to him these flattering words, "Il est
juste que vous soyez du festin, apres m'avoir si bien servi a mes
noces." At the siege of the Chateau de Camper, in Upper Brittany,
he received a musket shot which fractured his arm, and died of the
wound on the 19th of August, 1595, at the age of seventy-three
years. "Ce grand capitaine qui avoit si bien merite du Roi et de
la nation, emporta dans le tombeau les regrets des Officiers & des
soldats, qui pleurerent amerement la perte de leur General. La
Bretagne qui le regardoit comme son pere, le Roi, tout le Royaume
enfin, furent extremement touchez de sa mort. Malgre la haine
mutuelle des factions qui divisoient la France, il etoit si estime
dans les deux partis, que s'il se fut agi de trouver un chevalier
Francois sans reproche, tel que nos peres en ont autrefois eu,