Maréchal general des camps et armées du roi

Maréchal général des camps et armées du roi (German about: General Marshal of the Field Camps and Armies of the King) was a military title in the French royal army of the Ancien Régime , which was abolished in the course of the Revolution and then re-established during the July Monarchy . He was ranked above all other Marshals of France (Maréchaux de France)

The Maréchal général des camps et armées du roi was provided to support the Connétable as military commander in chief and represented it when it was absent. After Cardinal Richelieu abolished the Connétable in 1627 , its tasks were transferred to the respective Maréchal général des camps et armées du roi , who thus became the highest military incumbent in France . In contrast to the Marshals of France, the Marshal General (or the maréchalat général) only rarely dealt with active troop leadership. In the 18th and 19th centuries, this item was only as a reward for deserving nobles of the officer class without were expected of them nor any activities.

The title was awarded only seven times:

• 1594–1602: Charles de Gontaut, duc de Biron (1562–1602)
• 1621–1622: François de Bonne, duc de Lesdiguières (1543–1626)
• 1660–1675: Henri de La Tour d'Auvergne, vicomte de Turenne (1611–1675)
• 1733–1734: Charles, duc de Villars (1653–1734)
• 1747–1750: Maurice, comte de Saxe (1696–1750)
• 1789: Victor-François duc de Broglie
• 1847–1848: Nicolas Soult, duc de Dalmatie (1769–1851)

literature

• Service historique de la Defense (ed.): Les grades dans l'amée française . Paris 2007.
• Frank Moore Colby , Talcott Williams, Herbert Treadwell Wade: The New International Encyclopædia. Dodd, Mead, New York 1922, p. 532.
• Geneviève Maze-Sencier: Dictionnaire des maréchaux de France. You Moyen Age à nos jours . Perrin, Paris 2000, ISBN 2-262-01735-2 .