Robert de La Vieuville

Robert de La Vieuville, marquis de Sy (–1612) was a French governor and military commander in Champagne and the Rethélois during the French Wars of Religion. The son of Pierre de La Vieuville, the marquis followed his father into the service of the new duc de Nevers (duke of Nevers), receiving the office of governor of the key border city of Mézières in 1569. Over the following decades he would be a consistent client of the Nevers family, while also acting as a firm royalist in Champagne. To this end he became a gentilhomme de la chambre for the king of Navarre in 1573. The following year, Nevers saw him established as lieutenant-general of the Rethélois, of which Nevers was duc. He acquired lands from his patron by acting as their creditor, most notably in 1576. In 1577 he was granted a compagnie d'ordonnance (ordinance company) and he was later to be inducted as a conseiller d'État (councillor of state) in 1580. Over his career he would become a chevalier (knight) of both the most senior orders of French chivalry, Saint Michel in 1580 and Saint-Esprit in 1599.

In 1584 the Duc de Guise established a Catholic Ligue (League) to oppose the succession of the Protestant king of Navarre to the throne. This ligue entered war with the crown in 1585 and in furtherance of elevating his position in Champagne (a province of which he was also governor), Guise sought to oust La Vieuville from Mézières, on the grounds that La Vieuville was too royalist. To appease Nevers, Guise selected an intimate of his the comte de Grandpré to replace La Vieuville, establishing him in the city. However, in negotiations for peace with the crown in July, Catherine, negotiating for her son the king, refused to concede the governorship of Mézières to Grandpré and thus La Vieuville was left in charge. In 1586 Nevers himself spoke in favour of transferring the governate, and La Vieuville was temporarily dispossessed, though he would be back in the office by 1587. As relations with the ligue again collapsed in 1588, the king decided to assassinate the duc de Guise in December 1588. This destroyed royal authority in Champagne, with the majority of cities defecting to the ligue. La Vieuville tried to preserve Mézières for the crown, but was arrested by the citizens of the city in April, though released shortly thereafter. Over the following years La Vieuville fought for the royalist cause but was unable to recapture Mézières, which only defected to the royalist cause in 1595. In 1597 he fought alongside the young new duc de Nevers and orchestrated the French recapture of Reims. In 1607 the lieutenant-general of Champagne died, and the charge was broken into four, with La Vieuville made lieutenant-general of Reims, Rocroi, Sainte-Menehould, Villefranche, Maubert-Fontaine and Mézières. He died in 1612 and was succeeded to his charges by his son Charles de La Vieuville.