René de Froulay de Tessé
René III. de Froulay, Comte de Tessé (* around 1650 ; † May 10, 1725 ) was Marshal of France , diplomat and most recently Camaldolese .
Life
He came from an old French aristocratic family and was the great-grandson of Jean de Beaumanoir (1551-1614), and son of René II de Tessé and Madeleine de Maugé († 1682).
He entered the military at a young age and served in the staff of Maréchal de Créquy in 1669. He married Marie Francoise Auber Aunay in 1674. With this he had seven children. Among them was Charles Louis de Froulay , Bishop of Le Mans . In the same year he set up the regiment "Tessé-Dragons" as regiment owner ( Mestre de camp ) and with this he joined the Armée du Roussillon, which was commanded by Count Schomberg. In 1674 he became Mestre de camp général of the Dragoons.
He fought in the French campaign in 1690 during the War of the Palatinate Succession in Savoy and was Governor of Ypres in 1691 and Lieutenant général des armées du roi and Colonel général des dragons in 1692 . As such he served under Nicolas de Catinat . In 1693 he managed to force Duke Viktor Amadeus II to lift the siege of Pignerol . In Catinat's absence, Froulay de Tessé acted as French commander-in-chief in northern Italy . In 1696, Louis XIV gave him an embassy to Savoy. Together with Jeanne Baptiste d'Albert de Luynes , he brought about the marriage of Louis de Bourbon and Marie Adelaide of Savoy.
During the War of the Spanish Succession he was defeated in the Battle of Carpi in 1701 , but was able to defeat the Imperial General Trautmannsdorf near Mantua and Castiglione . In 1702 he successfully commanded the left wing of the French troops in the battle of Luzzara . In 1702 he was appointed Marshal of France . In 1704 and 1705, Froulay de Tessé commanded a united Franco-Spanish army in the siege of Gibraltar . Despite considerable losses, it was not possible to conquer the fortress and town. He was therefore forced to lift the siege. In October of the same year he succeeded in relieving Badajoz . In 1706 he tried to regain the city of Barcelona , which had previously been lost to the Allies . After some initial success, Froulay de Tessé had to lift the siege when an English fleet under John Leake entered the port. The Franco-Spanish army had to give way so quickly that large supplies fell into the hands of the enemy.
Froulay de Tessé was recalled from Spain and commanded the French troops at the siege of Toulon in 1707 . He succeeded in repelling an advance by Eugene of Savoy . He then commanded a corps under Claude-Louis-Hector de Villars in the Dauphiné against the Duke of Savoy. He played a major role in driving the opponents out of this province.
He was an envoy in Rome in 1708 . He also helped build the army of Pope Clement XI. reorganize. In 1712 he was in command of the galleys .
After the end of the war he turned to the sciences, lived at court and was diplomatic. He was the French special envoy to the court of Philip V in Madrid. His attempt to get a marriage between Louis XV. and to donate to a Spanish Infanta failed. Then returned to France in 1720.
In 1722 he resigned all his titles and offices and entered a Camaldolese monastery . At times he took over the post of envoy to Spain again in 1724, and then returned to his monastery.
literature
- Hanns Eggert Willibald von der Lühe: Military conversation lexicon. Vol. 8. Leipzig, 1841 p.93
- Pierers Universallexikon Vol. 17. Altenburg, 1863 p. 397
Web links
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Tessé, René de Froulay de |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Tessé, René III. de Froulay Comte de (full name) |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | Marshal of France, diplomat and most recently Camaldolese |
| DATE OF BIRTH | around 1650 |
| DATE OF DEATH | May 10, 1725 |