Called "The Great Condé". Prince of royal blood and cousin to the king, at the age of twenty-two Condé was victorious during the Thirty Years' War at the Battle of Rocroi (Ardennes, 1643), and Lens (1648), which prevented France from being invaded by the Spanish armies in the north.

He rebelled in 1651 taking the side of the Fronde, which on occasions served the enemy, and entered the Spanish service. Pardoned in 1660, he commanded Louis XIV's armies against the Spaniards and the Dutch.

Condé was a proud, imperious man whose personal gain came before the general interest. Despite being of a violent disposition and a bisexual libertine (he was married and had several affairs with his soldiers), he was also a cultured man.