Urbain de Maillé, 1st Marquis of Brézé

Urbain de Maillé

1st Marquis of Brézé
1835 portrait by Jérôme-Martin Langlois, commissioned by King Louis Philippe I
Nickname(s)le maréchal de Brézé
Born(1598-03-30)30 March 1598
Brézé, Maine-et-Loire {(then in the Province of Anjou)
Died13 February 1650(1650-02-13) (aged 51)
Milly-le-Meugon, Maine-et-Loire
Buried
St Pierre church, Milly-le-Meugon
Allegiance France
Years of service1620–1642
RankMarshal of France
CommandsGovernor of Saumur 1626
Governor of Calais 1632
French Viceroy of Catalonia, 1641–1642
Battles / warsHuguenot rebellions
  Siege of La Rochelle
  Siege of Saint-Martin-de-Ré
War of the Mantuan Succession
  Battle of Castelnaudary
Franco-Spanish War
  Battle of Les Avins
  Siege of Leuven
  Siege of Turin
Catalan Revolt
  Battle of Montmeló
  Battle of Lleida
AwardsOrder of the Holy Spirit
Other workAmbassador to Sweden 1632

Urbain de Maillé, 1st Marquis of Brézé (French pronunciation: [yʁbɛ̃ maje bʁeze]) (1597 13 February 1650), was a 17th-century French soldier and diplomat, who was a Marshal of France, Ambassador to Sweden in 1632, and Viceroy of Catalonia 1641 to 1642.

His marriage to the younger sister of Cardinal Richelieu, French chief minister from 1624 to 1642, brought success and enormous wealth. His son held a number of senior naval positions, and his daughter married Louis, Grand Condé. He lost office following Richelieu's death in December 1642, and spent the rest of his life on his estates in Milly-le-Meugon, where he died on 13 February 1650.