Rochefoucauld did not stay long with the army.
He was badly wounded at the siege of Mardik, and
returned from thence to Paris. On recovering from
his wounds, the war of the Fronde broke out. This
war is said to have been most ridiculous, as being
carried on without a definite object, a plan, or a
leader. But this description is hardly correct; it was
the struggle of the French nobility against the rule
of the Court; an attempt, the final attempt, to re-
cover their lost influence over the state, and to save
themselves from sinking under the rule of cardinals
and priests.
With the general history of that war we have
nothing to do; it is far too complicated and too
confused to be stated here. The memoirs of Roche-
foucauld and De Retz will give the details to those
who desire to trace the contests of the factions--the
course of the intrigues. We may confine ourselves to
its progress so far as it relates to the Duc de la Roche-
foucauld.
On the Cardinal causing the Princes de Conde
and Conti, and the Duc de Longueville, to be
arrested, Rochefoucauld and the Duchess fled into
Normandy.
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