Monsieur de Schomberg

Monsieur de Schomberg, a Marshal of France, was one of the three senior commanders entrusted with the siege of La Rochelle, the great military enterprise of Cardinal Richelieu. His role, however, was as much defined by the internal rivalries among the French high command as by the operations against the Huguenot stronghold. The cardinal, who feared that Bassompierre, a Huguenot at heart, might press but feebly against his co-religionists, supported the Duc d'Angouleme as lieutenant general. To prevent Bassompierre and Schomberg from deserting the army, a separate command had to be given to each. Schomberg was assigned the southern sector of the siege lines, from Perigny to Angoutin, while the cardinal himself watched over him from his quarters at the bridge of La Pierre. The king's quarters were at Estree or Jarrie, and Monsieur's at Dompierre, so that the cardinal watched Schomberg, the king watched the Duc d'Angouleme, and Monsieur watched Bassompierre. This arrangement, born of political necessity, created a complex chain of surveillance that reflected the deep mistrust within the royal camp. Schomberg's command was thus a piece in a larger game of power and suspicion, where the cardinal's need to control his own generals was as pressing as the need to subdue the enemy. The watchfulness of Schomberg, along with Bassompierre and the Duc d'Angouleme, was itself watched over by the cardinal, a fact that underscores the pervasive atmosphere of intrigue that surrounded the siege.