Charles III, Duke of Bourbon was a French military leader, the count of Montpensier, Clermont and Auvergne, and dauphin of Auvergne from 1501 to 1523, then duke of Bourbon and Auvergne, count of Clermont-en-Beauvaisis, Forez and La Marche, and lord of Beaujeu from 1505 to 1521. He was also the constable of France from 1515 to 1521. Also known as the Constable of Bourbon, he was the last of the great feudal lords to oppose the king of France. He commanded the troops of Holy Roman Emperor Charles V in what became known as the Sack of Rome in 1527, where he was killed.

The Constable of France was lieutenant to the King of France, the first of the original five Great Officers of the Crown and the commander-in-chief of the Royal Army. He was, at least on paper, the highest-ranking member of the French nobility.