
François de Neufville, duc de
Villeroi, by Alexandre-François Caminade
François de Neufville, 2nd duc de
Villeroi (7 April 1644 in Lyon
- 18 July 1730 in Paris
), French
soldier,
came of a noble family
which had risen into prominence in the reign of Charles IX.
His father
Nicolas de
Neufville, marquis de Villeroi,
Marshal of France (1598-1685) was governor
of the young King
Louis XIV who
later created him a duke. François was brought up in close
relations with Louis and became a member of his inner circle. An
intimate of the king, a finished courtier and leader of society and
a man of great personal gallantry, Villeroi was marked out for
advancement in the army, which he loved, but where career soldiers
had always a juster appreciation of his incapacity than Louis. In
1693, without having exercised any really important and responsible
command, he was made
Marshal of
France. In 1695, when
François Henri de Montmorency-Bouteville, duc de Luxembourg
died, he obtained the command of the army in
Flanders (see
War of the Grand Alliance);
William III found him a far
easier opponent than the "little hunchback" (the duc de
Luxembourg).
Villeroi was responsible for the senseless
bombardment of Brussels
in 1695,
which occasioned its reconstruction in the 18th century giving it
the regularity and unity of architecture seen today (although it
was again damaged in both World
Wars).
In 1701
Villeroi was sent to Italy
to supersede
Nicolas Catinat and was soon beaten
by the inferior army of Prince
Eugene of Savoy at Chieri
(see
War of Spanish
Succession). In February 1702 he was made prisoner at
the surprise of the
Battle of
Cremona, and the wits of the army made at his expense the
famous rhyme:
"Par la faveur de Bellone,
et par un bonheur sans égal,
Nous avons conservé Crémone
--et perdu notre général."
In the following years he was pitted against the
Duke of Marlborough
in the
Low Countries.
Marlborough's own
difficulties with the Dutch and other allied commissioners, rather
than Villeroi's own skill, put off the inevitable disaster for some
years, but in 1706 Marlborough attacked him and thoroughly defeated
him at Ramillies
. Louis consoled his old friend with the
remark,
"At our age, one is no longer lucky," but
superseded him in the command, and henceforward Villeroi lived the
life of a courtier, and although suspected of being involved in
plots, maintained his friendship with Louis.
Under the
Régence Villeroi was governor of the
child King Louis XV and held
several other high posts between 1717 and 1722, when he fell in
disgrace for plotting against Philippe II of Orléans, the
regent for Louis XV, and was sent
to be governor of Lyon
, virtually
in exile. His family suffered a further disgrace when two
younger members, the
duc de Retz and the
marquis d'Alincourt were exiled
for having
sexual relations in the
gardens at
Versailles. Louis XV recalled
Villeroi into high office when he came of age.
References