Alencon

Alencon. The counts and dukes who derived their title from the town are too numerous for separate description. Francois, Duc d'Alencon, and later Duc d'Anjou, brother of Charles IX., Francis II., and Henry III., the most remarkable possessor of the title, was born in 1554. He professed sympathy with the Huguenots, probably because he was a suitor for the hand of Elizabeth of England, but he took part nevertheless in the siege of La Rochelle. In 1581 he visited England, and very nearly ensnared the affections of the virgin Queen. Another object of his ambition was the crown of the Netherlands. He assisted the Confederate States in their revolt against the Duke of Parma, but his schemes became too apparent to the sturdy Netherlanders, and he was forced to return to France, where he died in 1584 of premature decay.