Claude Louis Hector de Villars, Prince de Martigues, Marquis then Duc de Villars, Vicomte de Melun (, 8 May 1653 – 17 June 1734) was a French military commander and an illustrious general of
Louis XIV of France
, house = Bourbon
, father = Louis XIII
, mother = Anne of Austria
, birth_date =
, birth_place = Château de Saint-Germain-en-Laye, Saint-Germain-en-Laye, France
, death_date =
, death_place = Palace of Versa ...
. He was one of only six
Marshals
Marshal is a term used in several official titles in various branches of society. As marshals became trusted members of the courts of Medieval Europe, the title grew in reputation. During the last few centuries, it has been used for elevated o ...
to have been promoted
Marshal General of France
Marshal General of France, originally "Marshal General of the King's camps and armies" (french: maréchal général des camps et armées du roi), was a title given to signify that the recipient had authority over all of the French armies, in the da ...
.
Early career
Villars was born at
Moulins (in the present-day département of
Allier
Allier ( , , ; oc, Alèir) is a department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region that borders Cher to the west, Nièvre to the north, Saône-et-Loire and Loire to the east, Puy-de-Dôme to the south, and Creuse to the south-west. Named afte ...
)
in a noble but poor family — his father was the diplomat
Pierre de Villars
Pierre de Villars (1623, Paris - 20 March 1698, Paris), known by courtesy as the Marquis de Villars, was a French diplomat and Councillor of State.
He was the son of Claude de Villars, mestre de camp and gentleman of the King's bedchamber, and o ...
. He entered the French army through the corps of pages in 1671. He distinguished himself at twenty in the
Siege of Maastricht in 1673 during the
Franco-Dutch War
The Franco-Dutch War, also known as the Dutch War (french: Guerre de Hollande; nl, Hollandse Oorlog), was fought between France and the Dutch Republic, supported by its allies the Holy Roman Empire, Spain, Brandenburg-Prussia and Denmark-Nor ...
and after the bloody
Battle of Seneffe
The Battle of Seneffe took place on 11 August 1674 near Seneffe in present-day Belgium during the 1672 to 1678 Franco-Dutch War. It was fought between a primarily French force commanded by Condé and a combined Dutch, Imperial, and Spanish forc ...
a year later he was promoted on the field to mestre de camp (
colonel
Colonel (abbreviated as Col., Col or COL) is a senior military officer rank used in many countries. It is also used in some police forces and paramilitary organizations.
In the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries, a colonel was typically in charge of ...
) of a cavalry regiment.
The next promotion would take time in spite of a long record of service under
Turenne
Henri de La Tour d'Auvergne, vicomte de Turenne (11 September 161127 July 1675), commonly known as Turenne , was a French general and one of only six Marshals to have been promoted Marshal General of France. The most illustrious member of the ...
,
The Great Condé and
Luxembourg
Luxembourg ( ; lb, Lëtzebuerg ; french: link=no, Luxembourg; german: link=no, Luxemburg), officially the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, ; french: link=no, Grand-Duché de Luxembourg ; german: link=no, Großherzogtum Luxemburg is a small lan ...
, and of his aristocratic birth, as he had incurred the enmity of the powerful
Louvois. He was finally made ''
maréchal de camp
''Maréchal de camp'' (sometimes incorrectly translated as field marshal) was a general officer rank used by the French Army until 1848.
The rank originated from the older rank of sergeant major general ( French: ''sergent-major général''). Se ...
'' in 1687.
In the interval between the Dutch wars and the formation of the
League of Augsburg
The Grand Alliance was the anti-French coalition formed on 20 December 1689 between the Dutch Republic, England and the Holy Roman Empire. It was signed by the two leading opponents of France: William III, Stadtholder of the Dutch Republic and ( ...
, Villars, who combined with his military gifts the tact and subtlety of a diplomat, was employed in an unofficial mission to the court of
Bavaria
Bavaria ( ; ), officially the Free State of Bavaria (german: Freistaat Bayern, link=no ), is a state in the south-east of Germany. With an area of , Bavaria is the largest German state by land area, comprising roughly a fifth of the total lan ...
, and there became the constant companion of
Maximilian II Emanuel, Elector of Bavaria
Maximilian, Maximillian or Maximiliaan (Maximilien in French) is a male given name.
The name " Max" is considered a shortening of "Maximilian" as well as of several other names.
List of people
Monarchs
*Maximilian I, Holy Roman Emperor (1459†...
.
He returned to France in 1690 and was given a command in the cavalry of the army in Flanders, but towards the end of the
War of the Grand Alliance
The Nine Years' War (1688–1697), often called the War of the Grand Alliance or the War of the League of Augsburg, was a conflict between France and a European coalition which mainly included the Holy Roman Empire (led by the Habsburg monarch ...
, in 1698, he went to
Vienna
en, Viennese
, iso_code = AT-9
, registration_plate = W
, postal_code_type = Postal code
, postal_code =
, timezone = CET
, utc_offset = +1
, timezone_DST ...
as ambassador.
War of the Spanish Succession
It was Villars' part in the next war, beginning with
Friedlingen
The Battle of Friedlingen was fought in 1702 between France and the Holy Roman Empire. The Imperial forces were led by Louis William, Margrave of Baden-Baden, while the French were led by Claude Louis Hector de Villars. The French were victori ...
(1702) and
Hochstadt (1703) and ending with
Denain
Denain (; pcd, Dnain) is a commune in the Nord department in northern France. Denain had a population of 19,877, on a land area of 11.52 km² (4.448 sq mi).
It is the largest of 47 communes which comprise the Communauté d'agglomération d ...
(1712), that has made him most famous. For his part in the battle of Friedlingen he received the marshalate, and for the
pacification of the insurgent Cévennes
, etymology=
, photo=Point Sublime-Gorges du Tarn-Frankreich.jpg
, photo_caption=The Gorges du Tarn
, country= France
, subdivision2=
, subdivision2_type=Départements
, parent= Massif Central
, area_km2=
, length_km=
, length_orient ...
he received the Saint-Esprit order and the title of duke. Friedlingen and Hochstadt were barren victories, and the campaigns of which they formed were characterized by lost opportunities. Villars' glory thus begins with the year 1709 when France, apparently helpless, was roused to a great effort of self-defence by the stringent demands of the Coalition.
In that year he was called to command the main army opposing
Prince Eugène of Savoy and
Marlborough
Marlborough may refer to:
Places United Kingdom
* Marlborough, Wiltshire, England
** Marlborough College, public school
* Marlborough School, Woodstock in Oxfordshire, England
* The Marlborough Science Academy in Hertfordshire, England
Austral ...
on the northern frontier.
During the famine of the winter he shared the soldiers' miserable rations. When the campaign opened the old
Marshal Boufflers volunteered to serve under him, and after the terrible
battle of Malplaquet
The Battle of Malplaquet took place on 11 September 1709 during the War of the Spanish Succession and was fought between a French army commanded by the Duke of Villars and a Grand Alliance force under the Duke of Marlborough. In one of the blo ...
, in which he was gravely wounded (by a musketball to the knee), he was able to tell the king: "If it please God to give your majesty's enemies another such victory, they are ruined."
Two more campaigns passed without a battle and with scarcely any advance on the part of the invaders, but at last Marlborough
manoeuvred Villars out of the famous ''Ne plus ultra'' lines, and the power of the defence seemed to be broken. But Louis made a last effort, the English contingent and its great leader were withdrawn from the enemy's camp, and Villars, though still suffering from his Malplaquet wounds, outmanoeuvred and decisively defeated Eugène at
Denain
Denain (; pcd, Dnain) is a commune in the Nord department in northern France. Denain had a population of 19,877, on a land area of 11.52 km² (4.448 sq mi).
It is the largest of 47 communes which comprise the Communauté d'agglomération d ...
.
This victory saved France, though the war dragged on for another year, where Villars led the
Rhine campaign (1713)
The Rhine campaign of 1713 was a successful French military campaign against the Holy Roman Empire, the sole remaining member of the once-formidable Grand Alliance which had refused to make peace with France. The campaign, which did not result i ...
, in which he took
Landau
Landau ( pfl, Landach), officially Landau in der Pfalz, is an autonomous (''kreisfrei'') town surrounded by the Südliche Weinstraße ("Southern Wine Route") district of southern Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It is a university town (since 1990 ...
, led the stormers at
Freiburg
Freiburg im Breisgau (; abbreviated as Freiburg i. Br. or Freiburg i. B.; Low Alemannic: ''Friburg im Brisgau''), commonly referred to as Freiburg, is an independent city in Baden-Württemberg, Germany. With a population of about 230,000 (as o ...
and negotiated the
Treaty of Rastatt
The Treaty of Rastatt was a peace treaty between France and Austria that was concluded on 7 March 1714 in the Baden city of Rastatt to end the War of the Spanish Succession between both countries. The treaty followed the Treaty of Utrecht of 11 A ...
and the
Treaty of Baden with Prince Eugène.
As a result of his contribution, his title was granted
Grandee of Spain
Grandee (; es, Grande de España, ) is an official aristocratic title conferred on some Spanish nobility. Holders of this dignity enjoyed similar privileges to those of the peerage of France during the , though in neither country did they ha ...
status by
Philip V Philip V may refer to:
* Philip V of Macedon (221–179 BC)
* Philip V of France (1293–1322)
* Philip II of Spain, also Philip V, Duke of Burgundy (1526–1598)
* Philip V of Spain
Philip V ( es, Felipe; 19 December 1683 – 9 July 1746) was ...
.
''Villars'' residence
''Villars,'' named for Marshal Villars, was built in
Moulins, Allier
Moulins (; oc, Molins) is a Communes of France, commune in central France, capital of the Allier Departments of France, department. It is located on the river Allier (river), Allier.
Among its many tourist attractions are the Maison Mantin, t ...
during the reign of
Louis XV
Louis XV (15 February 1710 – 10 May 1774), known as Louis the Beloved (french: le Bien-Aimé), was King of France from 1 September 1715 until his death in 1774. He succeeded his great-grandfather Louis XIV at the age of five. Until he reache ...
. The 18th century
historical monument
A monument is a type of structure that was explicitly created to commemorate a person or event, or which has become relevant to a social group as a part of their remembrance of historic times or cultural heritage, due to its artistic, his ...
was used as a cavalry barracks.
It was partially destroyed during
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
and was restored by François Voinchet, Architect of Historic Monuments and is now the
Centre National du Costume de Scene
Centre National du Costume de Scene (CNCS) (English: National Center of Stage Costume (CNCS)), is a French museum dedicated to stage costumes and sets.
It was inaugurated on 1 July 2006 in Moulins, Allier by Renaud Donnedieu de Vabres the Minist ...
museum.
Regency
![armoiries Villars Vaux](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/42/Armoiries_Villars_Vaux.jpg)
Villars played a conspicuous part in the politics of the Regency period as the principal opponent of
Cardinal Dubois, and only the memories of Montmorency's rebellion prevented his being made
constable of France
The Constable of France (french: Connétable de France, from Latin for 'count of the stables') was lieutenant to the King of France, the first of the original five Great Officers of the Crown (along with seneschal, chamberlain, butler, and ...
. He took the field for the last time in the
War of the Polish Succession
The War of the Polish Succession ( pl, Wojna o sukcesję polską; 1733–35) was a major European conflict sparked by a Polish civil war over the succession to Augustus II of Poland, which the other regional power, European powers widened in p ...
(1734), with the title ''marshal-general of the king's armies'', that Turenne had held before him. But he was over eighty years old at this point, and after opening the campaign energetically he died at
Turin
Turin ( , Piedmontese language, Piedmontese: ; it, Torino ) is a city and an important business and cultural centre in Northern Italy. It is the capital city of Piedmont and of the Metropolitan City of Turin, and was the first Italian capital ...
on 17 June 1734.
Legacy
Villars's memoirs show us a ''fanfaron plein d'honneur'', as
Voltaire
François-Marie Arouet (; 21 November 169430 May 1778) was a French Age of Enlightenment, Enlightenment writer, historian, and philosopher. Known by his ''Pen name, nom de plume'' M. de Voltaire (; also ; ), he was famous for his wit, and his ...
calls him. He was indeed boastful, and also covetous of honours and wealth. But he was also described as an honourable man of high courage, moral and physical, and certainly a very skilled soldier. He was famous for his love for young men as wrote
the Duchess of Orleans in her letters.
[Didier Godard, ''Le Goût de Monsieur. L'homosexualité masculine au XVIIe siècle'', Montblanc, ed. H & O, 2002, p. 171]
The memoirs, part of which was published in 1734 and afterwards several times republished in untrustworthy versions, were for the first time completely edited by
the Marquis de Vogüé in 1884–92.
References
* Sturgill, Claude C., ''Marshal Villars and the War of the Spanish Succession'',
exington University of Kentucky Press,
965
External links
The French Army 1600–1900
{{DEFAULTSORT:Villars, Claude-Louis-Hector De
1653 births
1734 deaths
Military personnel from Moulins, Allier
People of the Regency of Philippe d'Orléans
People of the Ancien Régime
French military personnel of the Franco-Dutch War
French military personnel of the Nine Years' War
French army commanders in the War of the Spanish Succession
French military personnel of the War of the Polish Succession
Marshals General of France
Members of the Académie Française
Princes of Martigues
Dukes of Villars
Marquesses of Villars
Viscounts of Melun
Secretaries of State for War (France)
Governors of Provence
Knights of the Golden Fleece of Spain
Peers created by Louis XIV