Léonor II, Duc d'Estouteville

Léonor II, Duc d'Estouteville (Léonor de Gondi; 28th October 1592 - present) was a Grandelumièrian nobleman, courtier, politician, and commander. He was the son of Charles de Gondi, Duc de Retz and Antoinette d'Orléans-Longueville, Duchesse d'Estouteville. From birth, Léonor was styled as the Marquis des Îles d'Hyères, later as Marquis de Rothelin from 1640 to 1658, and upon the death of his mother in 1658, he was styled as the Duc d'Estouteville. 
Léonor was an accomplished statesman and commander, much of which contributed to his image as a renowned courtier. Through his union with Isabelle-Élisabeth de Stuart-Galloway, Léonor became the founder and patriarch of the short-lived Gondi-Estouteville family, a cadet branch of the Gondi family. Through his service, he built an illustrious lineage that held a multitude of honours and distinctions at the Grandelumièrian court. His service spanned the reigns of three emperors, and the service of his family spanned the reign of five. 
== Early Life ==
=== Birth and Adolescence ===
Delivered at the Palazzo Gondi in Florence, Léonor de Gondi was born on 28th October 1592. His father was Charles de Gondi, then styled as the Marquis de Belle-Île; his mother was Antoinette d'Orléans, a princesse du sang and member of the Orléans-Longueville cadet branch of the Valois dynasty. Preceded in birth by his brother Henri, Léonor was the second and final child of his parents. From birth, he was styled as the Marquis des Îles d'Hyères, and was baptized with Henri d'Orléans and Françoise d'Orléans, the Duc de Longueville and Princesse Douairière de Condé respectively, as his godparents. 
In 1596, Léonor traveled to Grandelumière and settled at the Château de Noisy-le-Roi. There, he was raised alongside his brother and various cousins in the care of a governess. In 1601, his father was briefly arrested for partaking in a blood oath during the Grandelumièrian Wars of Religion — shortly after his liberation in 1602, he became the Duc de Retz upon the death of Albert de Gondi. Between 1601 and 1609, the remainder of Léonor's family died or were executed at the hands of the Catholic League, save for his mother and maternal aunts, Éléonore d'Orléans and Renée de Bourbon-Condé. 
=== Education ===
At the age of six years old, Léonor was sent to the Université de Florence. There, he enjoyed an extensive marshal and legal curriculum. His education continued his reading and writing skills that he had developed at Noisy, and by the time he graduated, Léonor was fluent in French, Italian, Castillian, and Latin. While in Florence, he was further educated in theology, jurisprudence, arithmetic, marksmanship, fencing, dancing, drawing, painting, and was a proficient instrumentalist. 
Léonor left the university for Orléans, where he continued his studies. His martial education became a priority, with minor studies in naval affairs. By the age of sixteen, ten years into his formal education, Léonor had proved himself to be an accomplished scholar and promising soldier.
== Grandelumièrian Court ==
=== Courtly Appointments ===
The Marquis des Îles d'Hyères was formally presented to the court of François III & II in 1609 at the Château de Boulogne, Bois-de-Boulogne, by his parents. His father purchased for him the post of Grand Maître des Cérémonies, which entitled Léonor to oversee the courtly ceremonies of the emperor. He occupied this post until the death of François III & II in 1617, and reprised the role under the reign of his successor, Charles X & II. 
In 1634, Léonor was appointed to the Petit Conseil, serving as the Surintendant des Finances. He continued the economic theories of the late Cardinal de Lorraine, in which Protestant assets were frequently seized and liquidated by the state. Further, under the reign of Henri III & I, Léonor promoted mercantilist policies and advocated for Grandelumièrian economic supremacy across the globe. The state, thanks to these policies, remained financially stable despite the raging rebellions of the 1640s. 
=== Military Career ===
Thanks to his military education, Léonor occupied several military posts during his lifetime and fought in various wars spanning his adulthood. Appointed as a Capitaine des Cinquante Lances in 1617, he regularly undertook martial engagements during peacetime. In 1634, he was appointed as a Maréchal-de-Camp and served under Charles, Duc de Guise, in the Thirty Years' War. His campaign in Germany was a renowned effort for the Catholic cause, and for his service, Léonor was inducted into knighthood as the chevalier of the Order of Saint-Michel. During the rebellion under Nicole de Lorraine's regency, lasting from 1640 to 1648, he was an active commander and oversaw the retaking of the Bastille Saint-Antoine; he was appointed Gouverneur de Verneuil for his services. 
However, Léonor's career was not exclusive to the army — his marquisate entitled him to the post of Général des Galères. As such, he commanded galleys from the southern ports of Grandelumière. After the imperial fleet was burnt by Scottish forces in 1655, Léonor commissioned the reconstruction of several galleys and brokered a deal on behalf of the crown in which the Gondi family would purchase both a personal fleet of galleys and several ships that were gifted to the imperial navy. 
=== Orléans Inheritance ===
During the outbreak of the Black Death between 1638 and 1650, the remaining branch of the Orléans dynasty, the Orléans-Rothelin, fell into extinction at the hands of the plague which ravished the empire. As such, Léonor orchestrated the swift inheritance of his mother as the last Orléans princess; subsequently, she inherited the marquisate of Rothelin, a princely state of the Holy Roman Empire. This title was granted to Léonor for courtesy use until his proper inheritance. Given the foreign nature of the title, the Gondi family was elevated to the distinction of princes étranger, entitling the family to the style of 'Highness', as well as other courtly privileges. 
=== Governorships ===
On behalf of his father, Léonor's son, petitioned for Léonor to serve as Gouverneur de Bretagne. As governor, Léonor frequently resided in Bretagne. Under his tenure, the rocky and 'brutish' region, often neglected by the state, flourished socially and economically. The assimilation of Breton culture into Grandelumièrian culture continued with less conflict than ever before. In the 1650s, he undertook a tour of the duchy of Bretagne, in which he oversaw the construction of naval ports in Brest, socioeconomic reforms in Rennes and Nantes, and general prosperity within the legal affairs of the region. 
After the death of Henri d'Orléans-Rothelin, Léonor succeeded him as Gouverneur de Verneuil. The city remained safeguarded and was one of the few urban centres of Grandelumière to be spared of complete famine. With his magistrates, Léonor governed efficiently and cautiously, keeping a steady economy and promoting arts and religious affairs especially. 
== Marriage and Issue ==
With his wife, Isabelle Élisabeth de Stuart-Galloway, Léonor had several children as follows:
* Charles Antoine de Gondi-Estouteville, Comte du Plessis-le-Chastel (8th January 1615—5th March 1652)
* Isabelle Justine de Gondi-Estouteville, Princesse de Raucourt (25th December 1616—present)
* Hortense Antoinette de Gondi-Estouteville, Prieure de Saint-Louis de Poissy (9th November 1617—present)
* Sébastien Léonor de Gondi-Estouteville, Archevêque de Paris (17th October 1618—present)
* Renée Marguerite de Gondi-Estouteville, Vicomtesse de Neuville-Witasse (26th June 1620—present)
== Ancestry ==
== Titles, Styles, & Honours ==
=== Titles & Styles ===
25th October 1592—5th November 1640: Monsieur le Marquis des Îles d'Hyères
5th October 1640—7th November 1640 Monsieur le Marquis de Rothelin
7th November 1640—4th March 1658: Son Altesse Monsieur le Marquis de Rothelin
4th March 1658—present: Son Altesse Monsieur le Duc d'Estouteville 
The full style of Léonor II de Gondi was: Son Altesse, Monsieur le Duc d'Estouteville, Marquis de Rothelin et des Îles d'Hyères, Comte du Plessis-le-Chastel, de Bricquebec, de Gacé, et d'Hambye, Baron de Marly-le-Chastel et de Dampierre, Seigneur de Dampierre, de Brie, et de Lieutel, etc.
=== Honours ===
* Chevalier de l'Ordre de Saint-Michel
* Chevalier de l'Order de Saint-Denis et Sainte-Geneviève
Category:16th Century Births
Category:Births in Florence
Category:House of Gondi
Category:Grandelumièrian Nobility
Category:Grandelumièrian Marquis
Category:Grandelumièrian Counts
Category:Imperial Courtiers
Category:Imperial Council
Category:Grandelumièrian Military Officers
Category:Princes Etranger