François de Vendôme, Duc de Beaufort, is a grandson of Henry IV through a bastard line and one of the great names of the Frondeur side in 1648. An aristocrat of royal lineage, he is popular among the common people of Paris and is called “the king of the markets” for his ease in winning the loyalty of merchants and the plainest classes of the city.
Opposition to Mazarin
His opposition to Cardinal Mazarin is one of temperament as well as politics: where Mazarin weaves networks in silence, Vendôme acts in plain sight. In the Palais-Royal and the streets of Paris his name circulates as a counterweight to cardinal power. His appearance in the events of 1648 marks one of the moments when the tension between crown and parliament becomes unsustainable. The crisis of the Fronda in France brings him to the fore.
Spanish entry: François de Vendôme