© Corneille de Lyon / Wikimedia Commons · public-domain
Anne de Montmorency
1493-1567
Anne de Montmorency, Constable of France and one of the most powerful men of the Renaissance, served François Ier and then Henri II. He became Grand Master of France in 1526, and in 1538 he received the title of Constable, the highest rank in the kingdom.
An extravagant builder, he built the château d'Écouen, in the Val-d'Oise department, north of Paris, employing Jean Bullant as architect and Jean Goujon among the sculptors. Born in Chantilly, also north of Paris, he renovated the medieval château there, again bringing in Bullant to work on it.
A soldier to the end, he was fatally wounded at the Battle of Saint-Denis, near Paris, in November 1567, and died two days later in Paris.
