Anne de Montmorency (1492-1567) was a leading adviser and statesman to both Francis I (who appointed him to the office of constable in 1538) and Henry II, and also an experienced military commander who fought in both the Italian Wars and the early Wars of Religion. His father, Guillaume (1453-1531) was in charge of the protection of Paris during the War of the League of Cognac (1526-30), while Anne, after briefly being held hostage by the Spanish following the French defeat at the Battle of Pavia on 24 February 1525, worked to free the king (who had also been taken hostage at the same battle, and was released by Charles I on 17 March 1526 in exchange for his two eldest sons). Montmorency fought on the royal and Catholic side during the early Wars of Religion, and died two days after the Battle of St Denis (10 November 1567) - according to Maitland, from wounds he had received from a Scot. Metre: elegiac couplets.
De Anna Momorantio Gallo, a Scoto interfecto
[p177]
De Anna Momorantio Gallo, a Scoto interfecto
Dum pater a patriis externos reppulit hostes,
civili salvus perstitit Anna manu.
At dum civili maculavit sanguine dextram, 1
externa periit non minus Anna manu. 2
[p177]
On the Frenchman Anne De Montmorency, murdered by a Scot
While his father drove back foreign enemies from their homeland, Anne stood still, protected by the hands of the citizens. But when he befouled his hands with the blood of citizens, no less did Anne perish at the hands of a foreigner.
