Leopold Philippe of Arenberg (14 October 1690 – 4 March 1754) was the 4th

Duke of Arenberg The House of Arenberg is an aristocratic lineage that is constituted by three successive families that took their name from Arenberg, a small territory of the Holy Roman Empire in the Eifel region. The inheritance of the House of Croÿ-Aarschot ...

, 10th

Duke of Aarschot The Duke of Aarschot (or ''Aerschot'') was one of the most important aristocratic titles in the Low Countries, named after the Brabantian city of Aarschot. The title was held by the House of Croÿ and the House of Arenberg. The present Duke is Leo ...

and an Austrian field marshal.''The New International Encyclopædia'', Vol.1, Ed. Daniel Coit Gilman, Harry Thurston Peck and Frank Moore Colby, (Dodd, Mead and Company, 1902), 767.

Biography

Leopold Philippe was the son of Duke Philippe Charles d'Arenberg, who fell in the

Battle of Slankamen The Battle of Slankamen was fought on 19 August 1691, near Stari Slankamen, Slankamen in the Ottoman Empire, Ottoman Sanjak of Syrmia (modern-day Vojvodina, Serbia), between the Ottoman Empire, and Habsburg monarchy, Habsburg Austrian forces ...

against the Turks on 19 August 1691, when Leopold Philippe was just one year old.
He fought in the

War of Spanish Succession The War of the Spanish Succession was a European great power conflict fought between 1701 and 1714. The immediate cause was the death of the childless Charles II of Spain in November 1700, which led to a struggle for control of the Spanish ...

in 1706, including the

battle of Malplaquet The Battle of Malplaquet took place on 11 September 1709 during the War of the Spanish Succession, near Taisnières-sur-Hon in modern France, then part of the Spanish Netherlands. A French army of around 75,000 men, commanded by the Duke of V ...

and in the Austro-Turkish War of 1716–18 as General-major in Hungary. He distinguished himself during the Battle of Belgrad, leading the infantry on the right wing. In 1718, he became governor of Hainaut in the Austrian Netherlands. At the outbreak of the War of Polish Succession against the French, he served again under

Eugene of Savoy Prince Eugene Francis of Savoy-Carignano (18 October 1663 – 21 April 1736), better known as Prince Eugene, was a distinguished Generalfeldmarschall, field marshal in the Army of the Holy Roman Empire and of the Austrian Habsburg dynasty durin ...

on the

Rhine The Rhine ( ) is one of the List of rivers of Europe, major rivers in Europe. The river begins in the Swiss canton of Graubünden in the southeastern Swiss Alps. It forms part of the Swiss-Liechtenstein border, then part of the Austria–Swit ...

. He became Field Marshal in 1737 and was appointed Supreme Commander of the Austrian forces in the Netherlands. During the

War of Austrian Succession The War of the Austrian Succession was a European conflict fought between 1740 and 1748, primarily in Central Europe, the Austrian Netherlands, Italy, the Atlantic Ocean and Mediterranean Sea. Related conflicts include King George's War in Nort ...

, he forged a military alliance between Austria, Britain and the Netherlands. He led the Austrian Army in the

Battle of Dettingen The Battle of Dettingen took place on 27 June 1743 during the War of the Austrian Succession, near Karlstein am Main in Bavaria. An alliance composed of British, Hanoverian and Austrian troops, known as the Pragmatic Army, defeated a French ...

.''The Encyclopedia Americana: a library of universal knowledge'', Vol.2, (1918), 191. After the war he returned to the governorship of Hainaut and died in 1754 in his

Arenberg Castle Arenberg, also spelled as Aremberg or Ahremberg, is a former county, principality and finally duchy that was located in what is now Germany. The Dukes of Arenberg remain a prominent Belgian noble family. History First mentioned in the 12th c ...

Heverlee Heverlee () is a sub-municipality of the city of Leuven located in the province of Flemish Brabant, Flemish Region, Belgium. It was a separate municipality until 1977. On 1 January 1977, it was merged into Leuven. According to the official websit ...

. He was an advocate of science, a friend of

Voltaire François-Marie Arouet (; 21 November 169430 May 1778), known by his ''Pen name, nom de plume'' Voltaire (, ; ), was a French Age of Enlightenment, Enlightenment writer, philosopher (''philosophe''), satirist, and historian. Famous for his wit ...

and mecenas of

Jean-Jacques Rousseau Jean-Jacques Rousseau (, ; ; 28 June 1712 – 2 July 1778) was a Republic of Geneva, Genevan philosopher (''philosophes, philosophe''), writer, and composer. His political philosophy influenced the progress of the Age of Enlightenment through ...

. On 20 March 1711 he married Marie-Françoise Pignatelli, princess of Bisaccia and countess d'Egmont. They had six children, amongst whom was Charles Marie Raymond, 5th Duke of Arenberg (1754–1778). Another child was Marie Victoire Pauline d'Arenberg, wife of August Georg Simpert, Margrave of Baden-Baden. A third one, Marie Flore, was the wife of Jean Charles Joseph, Count of Merode, Marquis of Deynze. Together with this son-in-law and the Duke of Ursel, Leopold became one of the co-directors of the Théatre de la Monnaie in 1750–1752.

Notes

References

*''The Encyclopedia Americana: a library of universal knowledge'', Vol.2, 1918. *''The New International Encyclopædia'', Vol.1, Ed. Daniel Coit Gilman, Harry Thurston Peck and Frank Moore Colby, Dodd, Mead and Company, 1902.

Biography

Notes

References

Further reading