Gaston Jean-Baptiste, Comte de Comminges (1613-1670)

Poor M. de Comminges! This is the only case where the fictionalized character in our story is not at all faithful to history. The real Comminges was the nephew of Francois de Gitaut, Comte de Comminges (1581-1663), known as the old Guitaut, who was the Captain of Anne of Austria’s Guards. Gaston succeeded his uncle in the same position. A protege of Cardinal Mazarin, and a loyal supporter of the Queen during the Fronde he arrested the duc de Beaufort in 1643. In 1657, he was sent on a diplomatic mission to Portugal, to convince the Portuguese to help the French against Spain. He was recalled to Paris in 1659 and in 1661 he was made Knight of the Order of the Holy Spirit. From 1662 to 1665, he was the French Ambassador to England.

In our story he is an unredeemable villain, and he has a brother, “Antoine Gitaut”, also fictional although the names are family names in the Comminges/Gitaut family tree.

It is fiction after all!