MONTMORENCY, HENRI I. - Son of Anne and Maddalena di Savoia, b. at Chantilly in 1534, d. at Agde on 1 Apr. 1614. In the wars of religion he led the Catholics and defeated the Calvinists at Dreux, where Condé was taken prisoner. As governor of Languedoc he employed rigorous repressive measures against the Protestants. In 1566 he was appointed marshal. But his personal rivalry with Guisa cooled his zeal: he offered no resistance to Coligny's army when it attacked his province.
After St. Bartholomew's, distrusting the intentions of the court toward him, he entered decisively into an agreement with the Calvinists, who elected him their leader. Supported by the Calvinists and the politiques, he succeeded in opening the negotiations that led to the Edict of Beaulieu. But in 1576 Caterina de' Medici knew how to win him to her side. Having thus become disliked by the Calvinists, he was obliged to leave Toulouse. At the death of Enrico III he followed the party of the King of Navarre, and in 1595 prevented the intervention of the Duke of Savoy.