Bio

Son of a Bourguignon magistrate, Barthélemy de Courtivron is the youngest of three brothers and the sixth of seven children. With the eldest son inheriting the father’s office and title, Barthélemy (b. 1601) was expected to join the Church, like his older brother and two of his sisters; he attended the Université d’Orléans, where he showed little inclination toward theology but considerable aptitude at law. After graduating in 1619, Barthélemy refused holy orders, and his father retaliated by ending support for his youngest son’s law studies; with few prospects, Barthélemy joined the king’s company of chevaux-légers as a carabinier, serving in the campaigns against the Huguenots in 1621 and 1622 and remaining with the company when it became the King’s Musketeers. He attracted attention by capturing a heretic officer at the siege of Montpellier; the following year he was promoted to corporal.

In 1625, following a duel involving the Cardinal’s Guards, Courtivron was exiled from Paris; seconded to a mercenary company, he served in Savoy where he was twice wounded.

Barthélemy de Courtivron is tall and gaunt; he is notably reserved among the frequently boisterous Musketeers, but his keen intellect is respected by those who know him well. Barthélemy can often be found drafting or reading a letter, engaging in an enthusiastic correspondence with his older brother, a Franciscan monk, and his youngest sister, presently attending a convent school in Dijon.