Biron, Charles

DE GONTAUT, DUC DE, son of the preceding, B. 1562, was admiral and marshal of France, and is noted for the friendship which Henry IV. entertained for him, and for his treason towards that monarch. He made his first e ays in war under his father, and covered himself with glory at the battles of Arques and Ivry, and at the sieges of Paris and Rouen. The king loaded him with honors, saved his life at the fight of Fontaine Française, and sent him amba ador to England. Notwithstanding, however, all these favors, Biron, swollen with pride, ambition, and avarice, entered into a conspiracy with Spain and Savoy against his sovereign; and the plot being revealed by Lafin, who had been its instigator, he was beheaded. Henry endeavored to make him avow his crime, with the view of pardoning him, but was unsucce ful in his magnanimous attempt. B. was beheaded, 1602.