Patent of King Henry IV appointing Paul Bragard captain of a - Lot 131

Lot 131
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Patent of King Henry IV appointing Paul Bragard captain of a - Lot 131
Patent of King Henry IV appointing Paul Bragard captain of a company of one hundred foot soldiers, one of the ten companies of the regiment under the orders of the Duke of Epernon. May 11, 1610. Piece on parchment (22 x 44 cm) in old frame. - Autograph signature of the king and countersignature of his secretary de Neufville. Burnished wax seal (formerly probably yellow). - Worn stamp. On March 25, 1609, the death of John William, Duke of Cleves and Juliers, rekindled the religious question in Europe, with the various contenders for the succession - all Protestants, by the way - being supported by the Protestant and assimilated powers, on the one hand (the Duke of Brandenburg and the Count of the Palatinate), and by the Emperor Rudolf II, the Spaniards and the Papacy, on the other (the Elector of Saxony). Henry IV, who could not allow the Habsburgs to seize the strategically important principality of Juliers, was sucked into the spiral of a European war. On 23 February 1610, a treaty of alliance was concluded between Henry IV and the princes of the Evangelical Alliance (United Provinces, England) and then, on 25 April, with Charles-Emmanuel of Savoy, against the Spanish. On 11 May, as can be seen from this play, Henry IV raised troops and secured reliable and experienced people to do so. The son of Balthazar de Bragard, Lesdiguières' loyal lieutenant in Dauphiné, Paul Autard de Bragard was filled with all the qualities that Henri IV adorned his followers with: "a valiant and experienced character, whose affection and loyalty we are fully assured of" and who possessed "loyalty, prudence, experience and good diligence". By these letters "signed by our hand", Bragard is named captain of a company of one hundred men that he is to raise in Provence. On May 13, Queen Marie Médicis was crowned in Saint-Denis and officially received the regency of the kingdom from the king. The latter was preparing to leave for the campaign at the head of an army of 100,000 men, provided by Sully with powerful artillery and good logistics. It is useless to imagine what could have been this war: a huge mess or on the contrary the imposition, with nearly half a century ahead of the treaties of Westphalia, the French arbitration on Europe. We will never know. On May 14, Henri IV fell under the knife of Ravaillac. This is probably one of the last documents signed by the king (full transcript on request).
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