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Pierre de Ségusson was born sometime around 1540 close to the town of Asnières, the son of Hilarion de Ségusson and Françoise de Salles. He was one of six children: one brother named Marin; and four sisters named Marie, Julienne, Guyonne and Jehanne.

The Ségusson family held its origins in the parish of Ségrie. The seigneurie of Longlée had entered the Ségusson family in the fifteenth century through the marriage of Jehan de Ségusson with Agnès de Longlée.

Longlée would remain celibate throughout his life. Ribera argues it is challenging to know how sincere his Catholic convictions were, but that he was interested in the defence of Catholicism.

Little is known about his education. Ribera argues we can imagine it to have been an assiduous one judging by his later ambassadorial career. Similarly little is known about how he ended up in the capital. Mousset speculates that the husband of his sister Marie, Jehan Astier who held a position in Mary Stuart's household might have enabled him to gain office.

By 1556 he held the position of valet de chambre to the second son of king Henri II.

Reign of Henri III

At the dawn of the reign of Henri III, Longlée became a gentilhomme servant (gentleman servant) of the monarch.

Longlée was a man of the church. Ribera stresses that though he was a cleric he only ever received minor orders.

Though he served as a sécretaire to the French ambassador in España, the baron de Saint-Gouard for nine years, the first record of him in the country comes from a letter sent by Zuñiga to the Spanish king Felipe II in October 1574. As sécretaire to the ambassador, Longlée occupied a flexible position. He could serve the ambassador as the write of the despatches, a courier, or a more discreet spokesperson when circumstances required. Beyond this, in the absence of the ambassador the sécretaire could take care of affairs until either the ambassadors return, or in the event of the ambassadors death, his replacements arrival.

In early 1575 he gained the benefice of the chapel of Sainte-Croix, which was located near Asnières.

In 1579, Longlée was entrusted with an extraordinary diplomatic mission to Portugal. In addition to seeking compensation for the mistreatment of the French in the country, he was to lay the groundwork for the queen mother Catherine to make a claim to the Portuguese crown.

Having been appraised of secret negotiations undertaken by the seigneur de Lanssac that sought to seize the port of Al Araish in north west Africa, Saint-Gouard entrusted Longlée with uncovering the specific nature of what was transpiring. The sécretaire had great success in his efforts to investigate the matter, so much so that the Spanish ambassador in France complained in August of the accuracy of the information that was in the possession of Saint-Gouard about the affair. Felipe was advised to keep his eyes on Saint-Gouard as he was clearly in contact with those who had intimate knowledge of their dealings.

Saint-Gouard richly praised Longlée's services in a letter to the sécretaire d'État the seigneur de Villeroy in January 1580. His sécretaire deserved a lot, and always gave a good showing at whatever service he was entrusted to deliver. He effused that the French crown had no greater servant than Longlée, and that he [Saint-Gouard] loved him like a son for his many virtues. Ribera opines that Longlée owed the majority of his career to Saint-Gouard. As such, Longlée endeavoured to show his gratitude and keep his patron appraised of Spanish affairs after Saint-Gouard received appointment as ambassador to the Papal States.

Having served as Saint-Gouard's sécretaire for nine years, Longlée ascended to the position of ambassador upon the relief of his predecessor. These years afforded him on the ground training that prepared him for the difficult position. He contrasted with his three immediate predecessors, who had all been nobles d'épée (military nobles). Saint-Gouard praised Longlée in his announcement of the 'temporary appointment' to Felipe. He described his former sécretaire as intelligent and prudent.

While Longlée would de-facto serve as the French ambassador to España he did not technically hold this office but was rather the chargé d'affaires. He was the permanent resident of the French king in Madrid without being ambassador. The reasoning for this was partly due to the increasingly fraught relations between the kingdoms. The historian Gellard cautions against reading too much into the technical titulary of the French representatives abroad, arguing the terminology used in correspondence was quite vague and it is only in later periods that the distinction becomes clearer.

It was common for ambassadors to have an audience with the French king and Catherine prior to their departure for their mission to receive their instructions for the mission. However in Longlée's case he was already in Iberia upon the relief of his predecessor so this was not possible.

As ambassador to España, Longlée would be a recipient of diplomatic despatches from the queen mother Catherine. Catherine and the king operated in a system of double correspondence with each writing to the ambassador, each of them would focus on different affairs, with Catherine's emphasising for example matrimonial negotiations. Even when the ambassador did not write to Catherine words to her would sometimes be included in the despatch to the king, as seen in Longlée's apologetic despatch in October 1585. In terms of surviving correspondence Longlée received 14 letters from her during his residency. Gellard argues that the contrast in the quantity of despatches received from Catherine by Saint-Gouard and Longlée contrasts so greatly with that enjoyed by the prior three French ambassadors to España (who received a letter from Catherine every couple of weeks during their residencies) that it can only reflect major losses in the surviving record.

For Ribera, Catherine's role in diplomacy declined to a secondary position during the residency of Longlée and his predecessor, with the ambassadors anticipating the briefness of the correspondence to Catherine would be compensated against by the king filling her in on the details. Gellard considers this position to be an exaggeration. He argues the very fact the double system of correspondence continued and that Henri would have shared the despatches he received with her is meaningful.

For his part, 21 letters survive from Longlée to the queen mother. He was also the only French ambassador to España of the second half of the sixteenth-century who devoted a significant amount of his correspondence to the sécretaires d'État (secretaries of state). He wrote 49 letters to these officers, of which 47 were directed to the seigneur de Villeroy. This constitutes around half of his surviving correspondence to the French court. When he communicated with the governor of Bayonne a pseudonym was used in the hopes this would reduce the possibility the letters would be of interest for interception. Around 60% of the despatches Longlée sent to the French court would be encrypted. This would not guarantee the security of the information he imparted, with some of the letters he sent to the French court found in the Spanish archives, having been intercepted and then deciphered by Luis Valle de la Cerda, one of Felipe's specialists on codebreaking.

Longlée complained of the lethargy of the postal infrastructure in España as inhibiting his ability to maintain more frequent correspondence with the French court. Sometime in the 1580s the ambassadors were likely instructed not to use the express mail service on the grounds that it was too costly. Longlée complained in 1585 that there was only one ordinary mail run a month. He noted that he paid the courier with whatever funds he had. The need for rapidity of communication competed with the need for the security of the despatches. In 1587 Longlée thus looked to transport his despatches by ship as opposed to having them cross Iberia, followed by Guyenne and Languedoc. This was despite the uncertain time delays such a prospect offered.

More than other French ambassadors to España, the hostility that existed between the two countries by the time he took up the charge forced Longlée to rely more on 'unofficial informants'. He protested that his poor finances stopped him hiring as many informants as he desired. Those informants that he was able to employ he sent out to cities across España, such as when he sent an agent to Cartagena in May 1584 to inform him on the intended target of new troop levies. When Felipe was out of Madrid and established at the Real Monasterio de San Lorenzo de El Escorial, Longlée assured he had a man on site to keep him appraised of the affairs that arose. He further enjoyed a good relationship with the Florentine ambassador to España from which he on occasion derived information.

As ambassador Longlée enjoyed an income of 7,200 livres, though in 1585 this was increased by a third. However this income was somewhat theoretical, and Longlée and his predecessors would struggle to actually receive the payment of both their income and their expenses. In February 1588 Longlée complained to the king that he had not been paid for two years. A few months later, in June he protested to Henri that his paucity of means shut doors to him which limited his utility to the king as an ambassador, for which he apologised.

Royal diplomacy was not the only line of communication between France and España. During Longlée's residency he reported back to the French crown on the incessant parallel diplomacy conducted by the Protestant king of Navarre and the Lorraine-Guise princes with Felipe II.

With the termination of the prospects of a marriage between Alençon and the English queen Elizabeth I, the young princes mother re-directed her efforts towards a Spanish match. On 9 August 1582 she wrote to Longlée indicating that the Spanish would have six weeks to get back to the French on the possibility of a marriage between Alençon and one of Felipe's daughters.

As ambassador to España, Longlée was in the business of employing informants to aid in the gathering of information. He employed great caution in providing details about the men he relied on, as in a letter in May 1584 where he referred to them only as 'people worthy of faith'.

The Spanish crown had great interest in the progress of the French Catholic ligue. Links between Felipe and the ligue were particularly furthered after the death of the duc d'Alençon in June 1584. Having entered contact with the duc de Guise in 1577 the Lorraine prince was receiving financial support from España by 1582. Relations with the powerful duc were maintained by the Spanish ambassador in France, Mendoza who had been expelled from England for his involvement in a plot against queen Elizabeth. For España there was much to gain through support of the Catholic ligue in France: avoidance of a Protestant king ascending the throne, the ability to bring about the splintering of a kingdom which had so defied Felipe over the crisis of Portuguese succession and finally if France were weakened, Spanish control over Cambrai could be resumed. ^α On 31 December 1584 an alliance was established at Joinville between the duc de Guise, duc de Mayenne, cardinal de Bourbon (represented by the sieur de Maineville), and the Spanish king Felipe (represented by the former ambassador Tassis and Juan de Moreo). It was agreed that Felipe would endorse cardinal de Bourbon's claim to be Henri's heir and provide 600,000 écus annually of financial aid to the Catholic ligueur cause. In return the ligueur princes would ensure the annihilation of Protestantism in France, see to it that the decisions of the Council of Trent were adopted in France and support Spanish designs in Nederland.

In his first audience with Henri on 15 November 1584, Mendoza offered Felipe's condolences for the recent passing of the king's brother Alençon. Meeting again with Henri the next day, the French king expressed his hope to Mendoza that he would not follow the pattern of behaviour he had engaged in during his stay in England.

In January 1585 Catherine enjoyed an interview with the new Spanish ambassador. Mendoza had protested to her that no merit had been found to her claims to the Portuguese throne (through her descendance from the house of Boulogne). The queen mother explained to Longlée that in response to this she detailed all her titles to the Spanish ambassador. According to Catherine the Spanish ambassador was left stunned by this and could say little but to enquire why she had not explicated on her rights before this point. Catherine entrusted Mendoza with explaining what Catherine had imparted to Felipe and to see to her receipt of just compensation for the 'robbery of her kingdom'. She added that if Felipe had accented to a marriage for the late duc d'Alençon this could have well served as a worthy compensation.

Longlée was among the voices (alongside several sécretaires d'État) that warned Henri in March that the ligue was imminently going to take up arms against the crown. The ambassador informing the king that "plans had been prepared". The sécretaire Brûlart put a date of 6 April on a ligueur uprising, while the seigneur de Villeroy saw that the French ligueurs were supported by the Papacy and Spanish crown, and were mustering forces near Châlons to march on Paris.

On 4 April Longlée wrote to Henri that the former Spanish ambassador Tassis had been sent 70,000 écus from España with the intention that he employ them towards causing divisions in France. He bemoaned a couple of weeks later that even those he had who were best informed could not penetrate information due to the thickness of the 'fog'. Around the end of the month he complained that Spanish affairs were conducted by so few people and in such secrecy that no one else had any better idea what was going on than he did.

At this time, Longlée had travelled to Zaragoza to join with Felipe who was in the city for the undertaking of the Cortes. As with the other diplomats he was ordered to go to Madrid and not continue with Felipe on his visit to Barcelona and Valencia. Unable to join with Felipe, Longlée entrusted an agent to stay with the king and keep him appraised of all his moves.

On 3 May 1585, Longlée wrote to Henri, advising him to be cautious concerning the Spanish ambassador in France. The ambassador characterised him as an instrument of the faction that conspired against the state (i.e. the Catholic ligue). Le Roux agrees with Longlée's assessment of the Spanish ambassador, arguing that for Mendoza his assignment was that of a soldier conducting a war.

Negotiations were undertaken between the French crown, represented by Catherine and the Catholic ligue. Villeroy bemoaned to Longlée in June his fears of the remoteness of the prospect of peace between the two parties.

Indeed Guise and Mendoza corresponded directly from summer 1585, with the former urging the ambassador to see to the acceleration of the king of Navarre's excommunication. Guise also requested Mendoza deliver the subsidies that had been agreed at Joinville.

In July 1584 Longlée reported to Henri concerning a Portuguese spy named Romela. This man had formally been an informant of Saint-Gouards and was a strong supporter of the Portuguese pretender to the throne dom António. In February Longlée had complained to Villeroy that the spy (who was in his services) was not reliable, and had little access to information. Longlée was not however entirely wedded to this view, and in a letter to Henri in May praised the spy as a man who 'could be useful' and had great access to affairs.

He derived useful information from the agent, who was named Rondela, such as the interception of Spanish correspondence intended for the Henri I de Montmorency in 1584. The spy was alerted by troop movements, and feared an incoming invasion of France. Longlée unwisely maintained Rondela in his services despite the spy being distrusted by the Spanish. On 26 June, Rondela was thrown in prison, his papers being seized the following day. When, a few days later in prison, Rondela attempted to take his own life with a shard of glass he was found unconscious and nursed back to health under heavy guard. In a long letter to Henri written on 7 July the ambassador attempted to reassure Henri concerning the affair. He claimed he had heard no reports tying Rondela to his household. Longlée opined that perhaps Rondela knew Saint-Gouard in Konstantiniyye or Vlaanderen. As for relations with him, he protested that when he had met with the man it had been in public, as with many other men he was acquainted with. He derided Rondela as being imprudent and incautious. He assured Henri that nothing could tarnish the king by this affair.

Longlée wrote that only two men knew of the visits he had enjoyed with Rondela. He requested Henri send him 600 écus for the purpose of buying Rondela's silence. In September 1585 he reported with great relief that in Rondela's final days (he had been sentenced to death) he had not incriminated his relationship with the French government.

Two representatives (the baron de Larboust and the vicomte de Duras) of the queen of Navarre arrived in España for secret negotiations with the Spanish king. Having discovered of their covert arrival, Longlée quickly demonstrated to them that their cover was blown by sending a representative to meet with them and offer Longlée's services to them during their stay in the country. His knowledge of their movements was very intimate including details about their audiences with Felipe. Ribera postulates this means he had a very highly placed informant on the affair. Longlée sent a second representative to inform Duras of his displeasure, after which the covert envoy feigned illness to avoid leaving his residence. Despite this, Longlée remained aware of continued dealings between Duras and the secretario Idiáquez, making sure that everyone else shared his awareness by spreading the information.

In October Duras returned to España for further negotiations, Longlée believed to the end of securing the provision of money for the queen of Navarre. Duras complained to Idiáquez about the close surveillance he was kept under by the French ambassador, letting the secretario know that Longlée must have a great number of spies in the Spanish court. He would later report that Duras had departed with 12,000 écus in January 1586.

Returning to the subject of the Spanish ambassador in France in October, Longlée reported to his sovereign that Mendoza desired the instigation of 'perpetual war' between the king's subjects. He sarcastically remarked that this was all one could expect from the ambassadors 'friendship'. At the same time he reported to the French crown of a Spanish treasure fleet loaded down with around 12,000,000 écus worth of gold. A couple years later he would make a similar report on the activities of Spanish treasure fleets.

The ambassador expressed his belief in December 1585 to Villeroy, that Henri, and the Catholic nobility were all committed to the destruction of Protestantism and the suppression of rebellion in the kingdom.

Longlée was greatly desirous to know the details of Spanish preparations for a naval expedition against England. He spoke proudly in March 1586 to Henri of the quality of the informants he had on preparations for the operation from ports such as Lisboa. Among the informants he boasted in Spanish ports would have been French merchants, this was true of Breton merchants who resided in Bilbao.

Longlée again stressed Mendoza's seditious role in France in April 1586, arguing to Henri that the Spanish representative was fostering seditions to bring about the ruin of the French state, and prepare the kingdom to operate as a launching point for an invasion of England. Indeed the governor of Calais, the seigneur de Gourdon was on bored with the Spanish ambitions in this regard. In May, Longlée reported to Henri that Mendoza had received 100,000 écus which he was to use to buy the allegiance of French seigneurs. From this point on the French ambassador campaigned to get Henri to secure the dismissal of Mendoza. A little while later in July he wrote to Henri that the French king could clearly see the game Felipe was playing to induce discord in France. In October he wrote to the sécretaire d'État Villeroy to argue that Mendoza was inciting seditions against the king. For the Spanish king, all troubles and discords in neighbouring realms were opportunities for his benefit according to Longlée.

The English ambassador in France, Edward Stafford became a conduit for contact between the Spanish and the duc de Guise during 1586. In April, Guise provided Stafford 3,000 écus as compensation for information that Stafford had imparted to him. In July 1587, Felipe warned his agent in France, Mendoza, that Longlée had become aware of the meetings the Spanish ambassador undertook with Stafford, and that while he desired continuity in the employ of the English that Mendoza should take care to do so with subtlety.

In 1586, the marquis de Poigny was selected to replace Longlée as ambassador to the Spanish court, however he was never sent to España and thus Longlée remained at his post.

Writing to Villeroy in October of 1586, Longlée regaled the sécretaire with the history of Mendoza's ambassadorship to France. He explained how in conversation with the Spanish secretario Idiáquez he had complained that Mendoza might cause grief to Henri (given his recent expulsion from England), but had been reassured he was only in the country temporarily to offer his condolences for the recent passing of the duc d'Alençon. Since that time they had born the many wicked actions of Mendoza without protest to the Spanish. The only protest they wished to make to Felipe was to relieve the king of his ambassador. He urged Henri to make a strong case for the ambassadors removal so that Felipe would take it seriously. If no such case was made, he argued the only circumstance in which Felipe would remove his ambassador would be if he went blind. This letter was followed by another a couple of weeks later in which he accused Mendoza of wishing to 'conspire against the state, incite rebellion and induce people to attack the king's person.

In February 1588, Longlée wrote that the Spanish ambassador endeavoured to foster evil and division in the realms he found himself in. He would diminish Henri's prestige if allowed to. In addition to accusing the ambassador of being 'pernicious' and 'insolent' Longlée suggested the ambassador was responsible for the poor relations between Henri and the English queen Elizabeth.

Longlée reported to the French court on the movements of the Spanish Armada. Longlée was quite correct in the hostile intentions of Mendoza to the French crown, in July the ambassador sent funds to the duc d'Aumale in the hopes that he would seize useful towns in Picardie that could serve as staging grounds for the invasion of England. Aumale would have success in this endeavour, capturing Doullens and Le Crotoy.

By 1589, Longlée was the only man of the church of Henri's foreign ambassadors. This was a significant contrast with the diplomatic situation of the kingdom on the death of Henri II, where 66% of the crowns ambassadors were men of the church.

In April 1589, an extraordinary ambassador named de Fresne was sent to España. The purpose of his visit was to protest against Spanish seizures of French shipping and discuss the Portuguese question with Felipe. Gellard speculates de Fresne may have initially been intended as a new ordinary ambassador to relieve Longlée, however this did not come to pass.

After the assassination of Henri III, Longlée transferred his allegiance to the king's Protestant heir the king of Navarre, who now styled himself Henri IV. Ribera describes the reasoning for his allegiance to the Protestant king as being one of 'loyalty'. Felipe did not recognise Henri, and thus for him Longlée ceased to be the representative of the French king in August 1589. Nevertheless, Longlée would stay in the country as his representative into 1590 before finally deciding to withdraw. On 29 January 1590 he received his letters of recall from Henri. In 1590 he would send four despatches to Henri.

He wrote to Henri that anything that even hinted of the Protestant king was rejected in the Spanish court.

His residence in España had concluded by May 1590 and he was back in Paris during this month. Unlike many of his contemporary ambassadors to España he did not derive much reward for his service upon his return to France.

In May 1592 Longlée described himself as a gentilhomme ordinaire de la chambre du roi. He would hold court office until his death.

It is not exactly clear when Longlée died, however it was prior to 1598 when an inventory drawn up by his sister described him as dead.

Notes

^α In 1581 Cambrai had come under the protection of the duc d'Alençon. In his will he bequeathed Cambrai to Henri and it would fall under the protection of Henri's mother Catherine.

Sources

• Amalric, Jean-Pierre (2018). "Préface". Diplomatie et Espionnage: Les Ambassadeurs du Roi de France auprès de Philippe II - Du Traité du Cateau-Cambrésis (1559) à la mort de Henri III (1589). Classiques Garnier.
• Cloulas, Ivan (1979). Catherine de Médicis. Fayard.
• Gellard, Matthieu (2014). Une Reine Épistolaire: Lettres et Pouvoir au Temps de Catherine de Médicis. Classiques Garnier.
• Le Roux, Nicolas (2006). Un Régicide au nom de Dieu: L'Assassinat d'Henri III. Gallimard.
• Le Roux, Nicolas (2022). 1559-1629 Les Guerres de Religion. Gallimard.
• Ribera, Jean-Michel (2018). Diplomatie et Espionnage: Les Ambassadeurs du Roi de France auprès de Philippe II - Du Traité du Cateau-Cambrésis (1559) à la mort de Henri III (1589). Classiques Garnier.
• Sutherland, Nicola (1962). The French Secretaries of State in the Age of Catherine de Medici. The Athlone Press.