Pontus de la Gardie (1520-5 November 1585) was a French general and nobleman in the service of Denmark and Sweden.
Biography[]
Pontus de la Gardie was born in Caunes-Minervois, Languedoc, France in 1520, and he abandoned his priesthood studies to become a mercenary. He became the commander of a regiment of mercenaries fighting for Denmark during the Northern Seven Years' War, and he was captured by Sweden in 1565, after which he switched sides. He quickly became a favorite of King John III of Sweden and was ennobled in 1569 and made a baron in 1571. He was later involved in a plot to assassinate the king, but the plot was never carried out, and Pontus was never arrested. In 1574, during the Livonian War, De la Gardie became supreme commander of the Swedish forces in Finland and Estonia, and he achieved considerable military success. In 1580, he conquered Karelia, and he stormed Narva in September 1581. In 1582, upon the war's end, it was agreed that Sweden would keep the conquests made in Karelia and Ingria. He drowned in the Narva River in 1585. His son Jacob de la Gardie would become Lord High Constable of Sweden, and his descendants became important nobles.