François de Neufville, duc de Villeroi

François de Neufville, 2nd Duke of Villeroy (7 April 164418 July 1730) was a French Royal Army officer and nobleman. He was involved in a number of military losses such as the Siege of Namur, the Battle of Chiari in 1701, and the Battle of Ramillies in 1706. He was also responsible for the Bombardment of Brussels in 1695.

He was head of the royal Council of Finances and ministre of State under Louis XIV (1714), then head of the and a member of the Regency council (1715), and head of the Council of Commerce (1716). As an obstacle to the policies of the Regent and cardinal Dubois, he was exiled to Lyon from 1722 to 1724.

Biography

Family and early life Villeroy was born in Lyon into noble family which had risen into prominence in the reign of Charles IX (1560 - 1574). His father Nicolas V de Neufville, Marquis of Villeroy, Marshal of France (1598–1685) was governor of the young King Louis XIV who later made him a duke.

François was brought up in close relations with Louis XIV and became a member of his inner circle. As a young child, he played with the King and his younger brother the Prince Philippe in the Palais Royal (home of Louis XIV and his mother Anne of Austria) and the nearby Hôtel de Villeroy (the home of the young François de Villeroy and his father the governor Nicolas V de Villeroy, the historic Hôtel de Villeroy is a 500 m walk from the Palais-Royal on 34 rue des Bourdonnais or 9 rue des Déchargeurs). Even though Francois de Villeroy was six years younger than Louis XIV, they were friends, probably because the young Louis XIV enjoyed the role of protector to a younger child.

Career In 1693, he was made Marshal of France. In 1695, when François-Henri de Montmorency, duc de Luxembourg died, he obtained the command of the army in Flanders (see War of the Grand Alliance). Villeroy was responsible for the bombardment of Brussels in 1695, which occasioned its reconstruction in the 18th century.

In 1701, Villeroy was sent to Italy to supersede Nicolas Catinat and was beaten by the army of Prince Eugene of Savoy at the Battle of Chiari (see War of the Spanish Succession). In February 1702 he was made prisoner at the Battle of Cremona. Louis XV recalled Villeroy into high office when he came of age.

Villeroy died in Paris in 1730.

Marriage and children

He married on March 28, 1662 with Marguerite Marie de Cossé (1648–1708), and had 7 children: Louis Nicolas de Neufville (1663–1734), Duke of Villeroy, who married Marguerite Le Tellier, daughter of the Marquis of Louvois; Camille de Neufville François Paul de Neufville (1677–1731), Archbishop of Lyon (1714); François Catherine de Neufville (died 1700); Madeleine Thérèse de Neufville (1666–1723), a nun; Françoise Madeleine de Neufville, married João de Sousa, 3rd Marquis of Minas; Catherine Anne de Neufville (1674–1715), a nun;