Paul de Thermes

{{Short description|French army officer (1482–1562)}} [[File:Pauldelabarthe.jpg|thumb|Maréchal de Thermes, after [[François Clouet]], 1554.]] '''Paul de La Barthe de Thermes''' or '''de Termes''' (1482–1562), also '''Paul de Terme''' or '''Maréchal de Thermes''', was a French army [[Marshal]] ("Maréchal").

==Reign of Henri II== ===Rough Wooing=== In June 1549, de Thermes was sent to [[Scotland]] to help in the war against [[England]] now called the [[Rough Wooing]]. He was instructed to continue the fortification of border strongholds, and came with massive reinforcements, munitions and money.<ref>[[Marcus Merriman]], ''The Rough Wooings'' (Tuckwell: East Linton, 2000), p. 341.</ref>

De Thermes began the construction of an artillery fort at [[Luffness Castle|Luffness]] near [[Aberlady]] to prevent English supplies reaching [[Haddington, East Lothian|Haddington]].<ref>Cody, E. G., ed., ''The Historie of Scotland by [[John Lesley|Jhone Leslie]]'', vol. 2 (Blackwood: Edinburgh, 1895), p. 329.</ref> The Scottish leader [[Regent Arran]] came to stay at [[Carberry Tower]] and [[Seton Palace]] to see the works commence. De Thermes was helped at the site by a Scottish pursuivant Alexander Ross. [[Gilbert Kennedy, 3rd Earl of Cassilis]] was lieutenant of the Scottish force there. There was a scare that English soldiers would over-run the building site on 23 June. Men were summoned from as far away as [[Perth, Scotland|Perth]] and [[Strathearn]]. On 25 June the lairds of East and West Lothian were asked to provide workmen for the fort.<ref>[[James Balfour Paul]], ''Accounts of the Treasurer, 1546–1551'', vol. 9 (Edinburgh, 1911), pp. 319, 320–321: The movements of Regent Arran can be tracked in his household book, [[National Records of Scotland]], E32/10.</ref> On 4 July another proclamation responded to a scare that English forces had entered Scotland to supply Haddington and destroy the new fort.<ref>James Balfour Paul, ''Accounts of the Treasurer, 1546–1551'', vol. 9 (Edinburgh, 1911), pp. 325, 332.</ref> In July it was said that Arran had threatened the Laird of [[Biel, East Lothian|Beele]] near [[Dunbar]] to make him send his villagers to work on the fort.<ref>''HMC Rutland'', vol. 1 (London, 1911), p. 41.</ref> In August, four cannons were brought from Inveresk to Luffness.<ref>James Balfour Paul, ''Accounts of the Treasurer, 1546–1551'', vol. 9 (Edinburgh, 1911), p. 340.</ref>

An English officer, [[Thomas Holcroft (politician)|Thomas Holcroft]], wrote to [[Lord Protector Somerset]] that they should burn the town of [[Peebles]] to welcome de Termes. Holcroft reported that de Termes had visited [[Stirling Castle]] to advise on its defences. He was camped at [[Longniddry]] and Aberlady, and had also visited [[Dunbar Castle]]. While he was at Dunbar, his escort skirmished with English cavalry, and the Laird of [[Auldhame & Scoughall|Scoughall]] was shot. De Termes planned to have troops at Elveston and [[Ormiston]] near the [[siege of Haddington|English-garrisoned town of Haddington]], at Dunbar, [[Luffness]], and [[Musselburgh]].<ref>Joseph Stevenson, ''Selections from unpublished manuscripts in the College of Arms and the British Museum illustrating the reign of Mary Queen of Scotland'' (Glasgow, 1837), pp. 37, 41.</ref>

Subsequently, the English abandoned their occupation of Haddington and de Thermes and Regent Arran walked in. [[Mary of Guise]] was triumphant, writing that, "the English had left nothing behind but the plague."<ref>Marcus, Merriman,'' The Rough Wooings'' (Tuckwell, 2002), pp. 337–339, 344–345, "ny ont laisse que la peste derriere eulx".</ref> De Thermes led the successful assault on the English fort at [[Broughty Castle]] on Wednesday 6 February 1550. Following a recommendation by Mary of Guise on 30 September 1549,<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=dtxAAAAAcAAJ Michaud & Poujoulat, ''Nouvelle Collection pour servir a l'Histoire de France'', vol 6 (1839), 12]</ref> he was made a knight of the [[Order of St Michael]] for his service in Scotland.

===Italian wars=== He led the French effort in the [[Invasion of Corsica (1553)|Invasion of Corsica]] in 1553. The [[Ottoman Navy|Ottoman fleet]] supported the French by ferrying the French troops under Marshal de Thermes from [[Republic of Siena|Sienese]] [[Maremma]] to Corsica.<ref name="Braudel">''The Mediterranean and the Mediterranean World in the Age of Philip II'', Fernand Braudel, pp. 928''ff''.[https://books.google.com/books?id=LPp63EKb9moC&pg=PA928]</ref> The Ottoman fleet of [[Dragut]] was at that time party to a [[Franco-Ottoman alliance]].<ref name="Braudel"/>

Paul de Thermes, appointed Captain of Calais,<ref>Richard Grafton, ''Chronicle At Large'', 2 (London, 1809), p. 562.</ref> lost the [[Battle of Gravelines (1558)|Battle of Gravelines]] in 1558.<ref>Richard Grafton, ''Chronicle At Large'', 2 (London, 1809), p. 564.</ref>

==Reign of Charles IX== He died in Paris on 6 May 1562.

==Notes== {{Reflist}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Thermes, Paul De}} [[Category:1482 births]] [[Category:1562 deaths]] [[Category:Marshals of France]] [[Category:Military governors of Paris]] [[Category:French people of the Rough Wooing]]