COLLIGNY, GASPARD de. - A celebrated general, Frenchman of the 16th century, born at Châtillon-sur-Loing in 1519 and died in Paris on 24 Aug. 1572. His father, a marshal of France, died when G. de C. was three years old; the young boy grew up amid continual wars and family feuds. He was first colonel-general of the French infantry, then admiral of the fleet with which he made expeditions to Brazil and Florida but without success. He is particularly famous for the siege he endured at Saint-Quentin in 1557, from which he emerged a prisoner; he was freed only after the Peace of Cateau-Cambrésis.
A follower of reformist ideas, he soon became the leader of the Huguenot party and was involved in the civil and religious struggles, now suffering defeats and now winning resounding victories. Having gained influence at court, he was persuading the king to wage war on Spain when, on leaving the Louvre, he was attacked and struck by an arquebus shot; two days later the St. Bartholomew’s Day massacre broke out, in which C. also met his death.