View source for François de Neufville, 2nd Duke of Villeroy

{{Short description|French Royal Army officer and nobleman}}
{{Infobox noble
| name = François de Neufville
| title = 2nd [[Duke of Villeroy]]
| image = Rigaud - François de Neufville, 2e. Duc de Villeroy, Maréchal de France.jpg
| caption = Portrait by [[Hyacinthe Rigaud]], 17th century
| birth_date = {{birth date|1644|04|07|df=y}}
| full name = François de Neufville
| birth_place = [[Lyon]], [[Kingdom of France]]
|death_place= ''[[Hôtel de Villeroy (Paris, 1st arrondissement)|Hôtel de Villeroy]]'', Paris, France
|death_date = 18 July 1730 (aged 86)
| signature = [[File:1693 signature of François de Neufville, Duke of Villeroy.jpg|180px]]
| father = [[Nicolas de Neufville de Villeroy|Nicolas de Neufville, Marquis of Villeroy]]
| mother = Madeleine de Blanchefort
| house =
| spouse = [[Marguerite Marie de Cossé]] (March 28, 1662)
| issue = Louis Nicolas de Neufville
Camille de Neufville  [[François Paul de Neufville de Villeroy|Francois Paul de Neufville]]
François Catherine de Neufville Madeleine Thérèse de Neufville Françoise Madeleine de Neufville
Catherine Anne de Neufville
| module            = {{Infobox military person| embed=yes
| allegiance        = {{Plainlist|
* {{flag|Kingdom of France}}
}}
| battles           = {{Tree list}}
* [[Franco-Dutch War]]
** [[Battle of Saint-Denis (1678)|Battle of Saint-Denis]]
* [[Nine Years' War]]
** [[Battle of Landen]]
** [[Bombardment of Brussels (1695)|Bombardment of Brussels]]
* [[War of the Spanish Succession]]
** [[Battle of Chiari]]
** [[Battle of Cremona]]
** [[Battle of Ramillies]]
{{tree list/end}}
| battles_label     = Wars
| awards            = {{Plainlist|
* [[Order of the Holy Spirit]]
* [[Order of Saint Michael]]
}}
| rank              = [[Marshal of France]]
| module            = {{center|[[File:Coat of Arms of Nicolas de Neufville de Villeroy, marshal of France.svg|100px]]}}
}}
}}
'''François de Neufville, 2nd Duke of Villeroy''' (7 April 1644{{snd}}18 July 1730) was a [[French Royal Army]] officer and nobleman.
==Biography==
Villeroy was born in [[Lyon]] into [[Neufville de Villeroy family|noble family]] which had risen into prominence in the reign of [[Charles IX of France|Charles IX]]. His father [[Nicolas de Neufville de Villeroy|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.<ref name="EB1911">{{EB1911|inline=1|wstitle=Villeroi, François de Neufville, Duc de|volume=28|pages=85-86}}</ref>
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 (Paris, 1st arrondissement)|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.
An intimate of the king, a finished courtier, and leader of society and a man of great personal gallantry, Villeroy was marked out for advancement in the [[French Royal Army]], which he loved, but career soldiers had a more just appreciation of his abilities than Louis. In 1693, without having exercised any really-important or responsible command, 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]]); [[William III of England|William III]] found him a far easier opponent than the "little hunchback"<ref name="EB1911"/> (the duc de Luxembourg). Villeroy was responsible for the senseless [[Bombardment of Brussels (1695)|bombardment of Brussels]] in 1695, which occasioned its reconstruction in the 18th century by giving it the regularity and unity of architecture seen today although it was again damaged in both World Wars.{{Citation needed|date=March 2016}}
In 1701, Villeroy was sent to Italy to supersede [[Nicolas Catinat]] and was soon beaten by the inferior 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 surprise of the [[Battle of Cremona]].<ref name="EB1911"/>
In the following years he was pitted against [[John Churchill, 1st Duke of Marlborough]] in the [[Low Countries]]. Marlborough's own difficulties with the Dutch and other allied commissioners, rather than Villeroy's own skill, put off the inevitable disaster for some years, but in 1706 Marlborough attacked him and thoroughly defeated him at the [[Battle of Ramillies]]. Louis consoled his old friend with this remark: "At our age, one is no longer lucky". However, Louis superseded Villeroy in the command, and Villeroy lived the life of a courtier and, although suspected of being involved in plots, maintained his friendship with Louis.<ref name="EB1911"/> During this time, his secretary was [[Pierre-François Godard de Beauchamps]].
Villeroy died in Paris in 1730.
== Marriage and children ==
He married on March 28, 1662 <ref>{{Cite web | url=http://racineshistoire.free.fr/LGN/PDF/Neufville-de-Villeroy.pdf | title=Famille de Neufville-Villeroy | language=fr | access-date=2024-07-05}}</ref> 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 [[François Michel Le Tellier de Louvois|Marquis of Louvois]];<ref>[[Luc-Normand Tellier]], ''Face aux Colbert : les Le Tellier, Vauban, Turgot ... et l'avènement du libéralisme'', Presses de l'Université du Québec, 1987, pp. 448-451.[http://www.puq.ca/catalogue/livres/face-aux-colbert-1409.html Etext]</ref>
# Camille de Neufville
# [[François Paul de Neufville de Villeroy|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 ;
==References==
{{reflist}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Villeroy, Francois de Neufville, duc de}}
[[Category:1644 births]]
[[Category:1730 deaths]]
[[Category:Military personnel from Lyon]]
[[Category:Dukes of Villeroy]]
[[Category:House of Neufville]]
[[Category:Marshals of France]]
[[Category:French military personnel of the Nine Years' War]]
[[Category:French army commanders in the War of the Spanish Succession]]
[[Category:People of the Regency of Philippe d'Orléans]]
[[Category:People of the Ancien Régime]]
[[Category:Governors of the Children of France]]