Born in Vendôme, he was the fifth son of Charles de Bourbon, Duke of Vendôme, and the younger brother of Antoine de Bourbon who married Jeanne d"Albret, Queen of Navarre. Their son, Condé"s nephew, became Henry IV of France. Condé"s cousin, through his father - who was the brother of Antoinette de Bourbon - was Mary of Guise.
Condé was arrested in late October 1560, but later released 8 March 1561. Condé was captured at the battle of Dreux in 1562. In another religious civil war, Condé was killed at Jarnac in the Battle of Jarnac.
Louis Condé is played by British actor Sean Teale in the television show Reign.
As a soldier in the French army, Condé fought at the Siege of Metz in 1552, when Francis, Duke of Guise successfully defended the city from the forces of Emperor Charles V, and again at the Battle of Saint Quentin in 1557.
He allegedly fathered a son by his mistress Isabelle de Limeuil, who served as Maid of Honour to Catherine de" Medici and was a member of her notorious group of female spies known at the French court as the "Flying Squadron".
