Louis II de Bourbon, Prince of Condé (The Grand Condé)

Louis II de Bourbon, Prince of Condé (1621–1686), known as 'The Grand Condé' and titled the Duke of Enghien in his youth, was a prince of the blood and a military prodigy of fiery genius. At just twenty-one years old, entrusted with command of the northern army during the Thirty Years' War, Condé achieved immortality on May 19, 1643, at the Battle of Rocroi.

Confronting the veteran Spanish Army of Flanders—widely regarded as the invincible masters of European battlefields for over a century—Condé launched an audacious cavalry flank attack, riding completely behind the Spanish lines to smash their reserves before returning to encircle the legendary Spanish tercios, breaking Spanish military hegemony forever. He won brilliant victories at Freiburg (1644), Nördlingen (1645), and Lens (1648). Though he rebelled against Cardinal Mazarin during the Fronde, he was pardoned by Louis XIV, subsequently conquering Franche-Comté in two weeks.