François Louis Rousselet de Châteaurenault

Vice-Admiral François-Louis Rousselet, marquis de Châteaurenault (1637 – 15 November 1716) was a French Navy officer who served in the Nine Years' War and War of the Spanish Succession.

Biography In his youth, he fought in the Battle of the Dunes (1658) against the Spanish. In 1661 he joined the French navy and distinguished himself in the conquest of Jijel under François de Vendôme, duc de Beaufort (23 July 1664). In 1672 he became captain of his own ship and fought in the Mediterranean against the pirates from Salé. In 1673 he led a squadron in the North Sea and fought Michiel de Ruyter in 1675. In 1677, along the Spanish coast and with only six ships, he withstood an attack by a fleet of 25 Dutch ships under Cornelis Evertsen the younger.

He became a Marshal of France on 14 January 1703 and governor of Brittany in 1704. He was made a member of the Order of the Holy Spirit on 2 February 1705.

A number of ships of the French navy have been named Châteaurenault in his honour. Further, a street in Rennes has been named after him.

Marriage and children On 7 September 1684 he had married Marie Anne de La Porte, vicomtesse d'Artois and dame de Crozon (1661–1696). They had : François-Louis-Ignace, killed in the Battle of Málaga (1704). Anne-Albert, Knight Hospitaller, died young in 1708. Louis Emmanuel, also pursued a career in the French Navy. Andrée-Marie-Dreuse, married Louis-Jean-Baptiste de Matignon, comte de Gacé.