John Gaspar Ferdinand de Marchin, or Marsin, Comte de Granville (1601–1673) was a Walloon military commander from the

Spanish Netherlands Spanish Netherlands (Spanish: Países Bajos Españoles; Dutch: Spaanse Nederlanden; French: Pays-Bas espagnols; German: Spanische Niederlande.) (historically in Spanish: ''Flandes'', the name "Flanders" was used as a ''pars pro toto'') was the Ha ...

Life

At the age of thirteen Marchin was enlisted in the regiment of the

Count of Tilly Johann Tserclaes, Count of Tilly ( nl, Johan t'Serclaes Graaf van Tilly; german: Johann t'Serclaes Graf von Tilly; french: Jean t'Serclaes de Tilly ; February 1559 – 30 April 1632) was a field marshal who commanded the Catholic League's ...

and fought many battles in the

Thirty Years War The Thirty Years' War was one of the longest and List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, most destructive conflicts in History of Europe, European history, lasting from 1618 to 1648. Fought primarily in Central Europe, an es ...

. He later served under

Louis II de Bourbon, Prince de Condé Louis may refer to: * Louis (coin) * Louis (given name), origin and several individuals with this name * Louis (surname) * Louis (singer), Serbian singer * HMS ''Louis'', two ships of the Royal Navy See also Derived or associated terms * Lewis (d ...

. By 1647, he was lieutenant general and in command of the Army in

Catalonia Catalonia (; ca, Catalunya ; Aranese Occitan: ''Catalonha'' ; es, Cataluña ) is an autonomous community of Spain, designated as a ''nationality'' by its Statute of Autonomy. Most of the territory (except the Val d'Aran) lies on the north ...

. During the

Fronde The Fronde () was a series of civil wars in France between 1648 and 1653, occurring in the midst of the Franco-Spanish War, which had begun in 1635. King Louis XIV confronted the combined opposition of the princes, the nobility, the law cour ...

he sided with the Great Condé against King

Louis XIV , 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 Vers ...

. He was imprisoned in

Perpignan Perpignan (, , ; ca, Perpinyà ; es, Perpiñán ; it, Perpignano ) is the prefecture of the Pyrénées-Orientales department in southern France, in the heart of the plain of Roussillon, at the foot of the Pyrenees a few kilometres from the ...

for 13 months. When the peace was signed on 30 July 1653, Marchin, like Condé, refused the amnesty and went to Spain where

Philip IV Philip IV may refer to: * Philip IV of Macedon (died 297 BC) * Philip IV of France (1268–1314), Avignon Papacy * Philip IV of Burgundy or Philip I of Castile (1478–1506) * Philip IV, Count of Nassau-Weilburg (1542–1602) * Philip IV of Spain ...

appointed him company commander in his army. In 1658

Charles II of England Charles II (29 May 1630 – 6 February 1685) was King of Scotland from 1649 until 1651, and King of England, Scotland and Ireland from the 1660 Restoration of the monarchy until his death in 1685. Charles II was the eldest surviving child of ...

made him a

Knight of the Garter The Most Noble Order of the Garter is an order of chivalry founded by Edward III of England in 1348. It is the most senior order of knighthood in the British honours system, outranked in precedence only by the Victoria Cross and the George ...

. He participated in the disastrous campaign in the

Portuguese Restoration War The Portuguese Restoration War ( pt, Guerra da Restauração) was the war between History of Portugal (1640–1777), Portugal and Habsburg Spain, Spain that began with the Portuguese revolution of 1640 and ended with the Treaty of Lisbon (1668), ...

under

John of Austria John of Austria ( es, Juan, link=no, german: Johann; 24 February 1547 – 1 October 1578) was the natural son born to Holy Roman Emperor Charles V late in life when he was a widower. Charles V met his son only once, recognizing him in a secret ...

(1663–1664). He also led the Spanish troops against the French in the north of France, where he was defeated in 1667 by

François de Créquy François de Blanchefort de Créquy, later Marquis de Marines, 2 October 1629 to 3 February 1687, was a 17th-century French noble and soldier, who served in the wars of Louis XIV of France. He came from a powerful and well-connected family, hi ...

. Marchin then retired to his estate at

Modave Castle Modave (; wa, Modåve) is a municipality of Wallonia located in the province of Liège, Belgium. On January 1, 2006, Modave had a total population of 3,722. The total area is 40.37 km² which gives a population density of 92 inhabitants pe ...

, where he spent his entire fortune on its restoration, which took 15 years.

Family

Marchin married Marie de Balzac d'Entragues, daughter of the Marquis de Clermont, counsellor to the King of France. They had two children : *

Ferdinand de Marsin Ferdinand, comte de Marsin (or ''Marchin'') (February 10, 1656 – September 9, 1706) was a French general and diplomat, who was Marshal of France. Biography He was born in Liège as the son of John Gaspar Ferdinand de Marchin, Comte de Granvill ...

(1651–1706),

Marshal of France Marshal of France (french: Maréchal de France, plural ') is a French military distinction, rather than a military rank, that is awarded to generals for exceptional achievements. The title has been awarded since 1185, though briefly abolished (1 ...

, killed in the

Battle of Turin The siege of Turin took place from June to September 1706, during the War of the Spanish Succession, when a French army led by Louis de la Feuillade besieged the Savoyard capital of Turin. The campaign by Prince Eugene of Savoy that led to i ...

. * Agnes de Marsin, died young.

Sources

Modave Castle official website

Eupedia: Modave Castle
{{DEFAULTSORT:Marchin, John Gaspar Ferdinand De 1601 births 1673 deaths e South Netherlandish people of the Thirty Years' War Prince-Bishopric of Liège military personnel Knights of the Garter Military personnel of the Thirty Years' War Military personnel of the Franco-Spanish War (1635–1659)