Robert IV de La Marck

Robert IV de La Marck (15 January 1512 – 4 November 1556) was Duke of Bouillon, Seigneur of Sedan and a Marshal of France. He rose to prominence during the reign of Henri II of France as a favourite of both the king and his mistress Diane de Poitiers. In 1547 he was elevated to the rank of Marshal of France. In 1549 he established himself as a sovereign prince, with Sedan, France granted the status of a principality. In 1552 he was granted the office of governor of Normandy, an office that historically gone to Normans or members of the royal family.

In 1552 he succeeded alongside other members of the war party in pushing for a resumption of the Italian Wars, he fought at the famous siege of Metz and soon thereafter succeeded in restoring control over his duchy which had been in imperial control since 1521. The following year during Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor's campaign into France he was captured at Hesdin, he would remain a prisoner for the next three years, living in poor conditions until he was finally ransomed in 1556. Not long after his release from captivity he died.