Victor-François de Broglie

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Victor-François de Broglie

Victor-François de Broglie, 2nd Duke of Broglie ([ vikˈtɔʀ fʀɑ̃ˈswa də ˈbʀœj ]; born October 19, 1718 in Broglie , † March 31, 1804 in Munster ) was a French military leader and statesman. He was one of only seven Marshals General of France .

Life

Victor-François de Broglie fought under his father, François-Marie de Broglie , in 1734 in Italy in the Battle of Parma and the Battle of Guastalla , as well as in the War of the Austrian Succession in Bohemia , Bavaria and the Rhine and rose to become Maréchal de camp .

After the death of his father he followed as duke and participated in the Seven Years' War under Marshal d'Estrées in the battle of Hastenbeck and under Soubise in the battle of Roßbach , then commanded in Hesse, conquered Kassel (1758), and won over the Hessians in battle Sandershausen , became commandant in Frankfurt am Main and defeated Duke Ferdinand of Braunschweig on April 13, 1759 near Bergen , for which he was raised to the rank of German imperial prince by the emperor.

He then took Minden, made his way to Hanover and, after Marshal Contades' defeat in the Battle of Minden (August 1759), was appointed Commander-in-Chief in his place and on December 16, 1759, Marshal of France.

He held up successfully in the next few years and proved himself to be the most capable general of the French in the Seven Years' War. He did not shy away from major destruction, such as in Hersfeld . But then he got into a dispute with the Prince of Soubise, who was in command next to him, and was relieved of his command in 1762 and banished to his property , with reference to some lost battles as a result of court intrigues of the Marquise de Pompadour . In 1764 he received the General Government of Metz and Lorraine (→ Province of Trois-Évêchés ).

In 1789 he was appointed Maréchal général des camps et armées du roi and was appointed Minister of War at the outbreak of the Revolution . He commanded the troops that had gathered between Paris and Versailles , after which he emigrated. In 1792 he took over the supreme command of the army of the king's brothers, was after Louis XVI. Execution Member of the Regency Council of the so-called. foreign France, established a corps in the service of England in 1794 and, after its dissolution in 1797, entered Russian service with the rank of field marshal , but remained inactive. In the course of his exile he stayed in various cities in Germany and Russia, most recently in Münster in Westphalia.

The consular government invited him to return to France in 1804, but he refused, with reference to his age. He died in Münster that same year and was buried in the choir of St. Lamberti Church. He had previously refused to have his body returned to France. Heir to the ducal title was his grandson Achille-Léon-Victor de Broglie . After the coffin had been transferred from the Charterhouse in Dülmen to France, the bones were finally buried on September 24, 1976 in the church of Saint-Martin in Broglie, where he was born . The bronze tombstone from the Lamberti Church with a long, eloquent text is in the depot of the LWL Museum for Art and Culture in Münster.

Military background

Further honors

Lieutenant-général was not a military rank, but a civil service that brought the owner only reputation and financial advantages.
Maréchal de France and Maréchal général des camps et armées du roi was also not a military rank, but an increase in rank for earned merit. The owners usually wore no uniform, and there were no insignia either. It was enough for them that you knew who you were on the staff and (almost more importantly) at court.

Marriages and offspring

Victor-François de Broglie married Marie-Anne du Bois de Villiers (1720–1751) in his first marriage in 1736. The four sons of this marriage died in childhood. His second wife was Louise-Augustine-Salbigothon Crozat de Thiers (1733–1813) in 1752, with whom he had the following children, who reached adulthood:

  • Louise-Augustine-Thérèse (1753–1771) ⚭ 1768 Count Louis-Etienne de Damas-Crux.
  • Charlotte-Amédée-Salbigothon (1754–1795) ⚭ 1774 Count Franz Ludwig von Helmstadt .
  • Claude Victor (1756–1794) ⚭ Sophie-Rose von Rosen-Kleinroop.
  • Auguste-Joseph (1762–1795), Prince de Broglie Comte de Revel ⚭ 1782 Françoise de La Brousse de distribution.
  • Adélaide-Françoise (1764–1852) ⚭ 1782 Marquis Stanislas de Boisse.
  • Charles-Louis-Victor (1765–1849), Abbot of Saint-Quentin .
  • Maurice (1766–1821), Bishop of Acqui and Ghent .
  • Aglaé-Charlotte-Marie (1771–1846) ⚭ 1788 Marquis Casimir de Murat de l'Estang.
  • Victor-Amédée-Marie (1772–1851) ⚭ 1801 Charlotte-Olive-Geneviève de Montreuil.

literature

  • Peter Veddeler: Victor-François Duc de Broglie (1718–1804), Marshal of France, and his connections with Westphalia , in: Westfalen 93, 2015, pp. 47–138.

Web links

Commons : Victor-François de Broglie  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Catherine Grisel, André Niel: Hommes et traditions populaires en Normandie . Martelle, Bar-le-Duc 1998, ISBN 2-87890-071-5 , pp. 182 .
  2. ↑ Deaths - KB022 | Münster, St. Lamberti | Münster, rk. Diocese | Germany | Matricula Online. Retrieved June 6, 2020 .
predecessor Office successor
Louis-Pierre de Chastenet Minister of War of France
July 13, 1789–16. July 1789 		Jean-Frédéric de la Tour du Pin-Gouvernet
personal data
SURNAME Broglie, Victor-François de
BRIEF DESCRIPTION French military leader and statesman, Marshal of France
DATE OF BIRTH October 19, 1718
PLACE OF BIRTH Broglie
DATE OF DEATH March 31, 1804
Place of death Muenster