Condé, Louis II de Bourbon, prince de definition of Condé, Louis II de Bourbon, prince de in the Free Online Encyclopedia.

Condé, Louis II de Bourbon, prince de, 1621–86, French general, called the Great Condé; son of Henri II de Condé. Among his early victories in the Thirty Years War were those of Rocroi (1643), Freiburg (1644), Nördlingen (1645), and Lens (1648). In the series of outbreaks known as the Fronde Fronde (frôNd), 1648–53, series of outbreaks during the minority of King Louis XIV, caused by the efforts of the Parlement of
..... Click the link for more information. he was at first loyal to the court, but his later intrigues and ambitions caused his arrest in 1650. This precipitated the Fronde of the Princes against Cardinal Mazarin Mazarin, Jules (zhül mäzärăN`), 1602–61, French statesman, cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church, b. Italy.
..... Click the link for more information. , chief councillor of state during the regency of Anne of Austria Anne of Austria, 1601–66, queen of France, daughter of King Philip III of Spain. Married to the French king Louis XIII (1615), she was neglected by her husband and sought the society of the court intriguer, Mme de Chevreuse .
..... Click the link for more information. . The nobles forced Mazarin to release Condé (1651), who became leader of the rebellious army of the princes and allied himself with Spain against France. After the disintegration of the Fronde and the return to power of Mazarin, Condé was (1653–58) commander of Spanish forces against France. In the final stage of the war he was defeated (1658) in the Battle of the Dunes (see Dunes, Battle of the Dunes, Battle of the, 1658, decisive engagement fought near Dunkirk in the struggle between France and Spain that had resulted from Spanish intervention in the Fronde .
..... Click the link for more information. ). After the Peace of the Pyrenees (1659) between France and Spain, he was pardoned and returned to court. He fought in the Dutch War for King Louis XIV, defeating William of Orange at Seneff (1674) and forcing Raimondo Montecucculi to retreat from the Rhine (1675). His last years were spent in retirement at Chantilly.

Bibliography

See W. FitzPatrick, The Great Condé (1873).