Armand de Gontaut, baron de Biron

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Armand de Gontaut, baron de Biron (1524 - July 26, 1592) was a celebrated French soldier of the 16th century.

His family, one of the numerous branches of the House of Gontaut, took its title from the territory of Biron in Périgord, where on a hill between the Dropt and the Lide still stands the magnificent castle begun by the lords of Biron in the 11th century.

As a page of Marguerite de Valois, queen of Navarre, Biron attracted the notice of the marshal de Brissac, with whom he saw active service in Italy. A wound he received in his early years made him lame for life, but he did not withdraw from the military career, and he held a command in Guise's regiment of light horse in 1557. A little later he became chief of a cavalry regiment, and in the French Wars of Religion he repeatedly distinguished himself.

His great services to the royal cause at the Battle of Dreux, Battle of Saint-Denis, Battle of Jarnac and Battle of Moncontour were rewarded in 1569 by his appointment as a privy councillor of the king and Grand Master of Artillery. He commanded the royal forces at the siege of La Rochelle in 1572, and four years later was made a marshal of France. From 1576 to 1588 he was almost continuously employed in high command. From 1589 he supported the cause of Henry of Navarre, but was suspected of prolonging the civil wars in his own interest.

On 1585 he was chosen a godfather for Armand-Jean du Plessis, future cardinal Richelieu.

Biron was killed by a cannon-ball at the siege of Épernay on July 26, 1592. He was a man of considerable literary attainments, and used to carry a pocket-book, in which he noted everything that appeared remarkable. Some of his letters are preserved in the Bibliothèque nationale and in the British Museum; these include a treatise on the art of war.