Blaise de Monluc

BLAISE DE MONLUC (France, 1500/1502 - 1577).
"Comentaires de Messire Blaise de Montluc". 4 volumes.
Printer: Huart, Paris, 1746.
Original leather covers.
Measurements: 16, x 10.5 x 3 cm (x4).
Blaise de Monluc, also known as Blaise de Lasseran-Massencôme, sieur de Monluc was a Gascon nobleman, professional military officer and civil servant in the service of the French monarchy. He began his career in 1521 and reached the rank of marshal of France in 1574. Between 1570 and 1576 he wrote an autobiographical account entitled Commentaries of Monsieur Blaise de Monluc, published posthumously in 1592, which constitutes a historical source of the first order for the study of warfare in the 16th century.
Coming from a noble but impoverished family of Gascony, he achieved notoriety during the Italian wars and was appointed lieutenant general of Guiana in January 1562, shortly before the outbreak of the wars of religion in France. Fighting in defense of the Crown, he acquired a reputation as a ruthless but effective commander, particularly after his victory in the decisive battle of Vergt that same year. Seriously wounded in July 1570, he was subsequently dismissed on charges of corruption and died at his residence in Estillac on July 24, 1577.