Henri de Sourdis

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Henri d'Escoubleau de Sourdis (1593-1645) was a French military commander and Archbishop of Bordeaux.

Like many churchmen of his day, de Sourdis was a military man as well as a prelate. He fought in the Thirty Years' War and in 1628 served as commander of the artillery at the Siege of La Rochelle. The next year, 1629, Henri succeeded his brother François de Sourdis as Archbishop of Bordeaux (the succession had been legally arranged several years before and was confirmed by Cardinal Richelieu the day François died).

As Vice Admiral of the fleet he presided over a disastrous sea battle at Fuenterrabia in 1638. He attempted to blame the defeat on one of his generals, Bernard de La Valette, duke d'Épernon, who had refused to lead the attack, believing that it would fail. (There had been bad blood between de Sourdis and the de La Valettes for some time -- Bernard's father, Jean Louis de Nogaret de La Valette, had publicly struck de Sourdis four years before). De Sourdis was assisted in this ploy by Richelieu, whose niece had been unhappily married to de La Valette.

After this episode, de Sourdis retired to his diocese in Bordeaux. He died there in 1645.