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Louis Joseph de Bourbon, Duke of Vendôme (Louis Joseph; 1 July 1654 – 11 June 1712) was a French military commander during the War of the Grand Alliance and War of the Spanish Succession, Marshal of France. ==Biography== He was the son of Louis de Bourbon, and the illegitimate great-grandson of Henry IV of France and his mistress, Gabrielle d'Estrées. He was born in Paris. His mother was Laura Mancini, the elder sister of Olympia Mancini, the mother of Prince Eugene of Savoy, his future opponent. Orphaned at the age of fifteen, he inherited a vast fortune from his father that had been handed down from his great-grand mother, the ''duchesse de Mercœur et Penthièvre'' in her own right. Prior to succeeding his father in 1669, he was known as the ''duc de Penthièvre''. He was raised by his aunt, Marie Anne Mancini, ''duchesse de Bouillon''. Entering the army at the age of eighteen, he soon distinguished himself by his vigour and personal courage in the Dutch wars, and by 1688 he had risen to the rank of lieutenant-general. In the Nine Years' War he rendered conspicuous service under the ''duc de Luxembourg'' at the Battle of Steenkerke and under Nicolas Catinat at Marsaglia. In 1695, he was placed in command of the army operating in Catalonia where he took Barcelona in 1697. Soon afterwards, he was made a maréchal. In 1702, after the first unsuccessful campaign of Catinat and Villeroi, he was placed in command of the Franco-Spanish army in Italy. During three campaigns in that country he proved himself a worthy antagonist to Prince Eugène of Savoy, whom he at last defeated in 1705 at Cassano in a magnificent show of courage and command over his troops, converting the impending defeat that his indolent brother, Philippe, the Grand Prior, had incurred, into a glorious success. The next year, after holding his own as before, and gaining another victory at Calcinato, he was sent to Flanders to repair the disaster of Ramillies. Following the departure of Vendôme to shore up the shattered army in the Flanders, Prince Eugène and the Duke of Savoy inflicted a heavy loss on the French under the ''duc d'Orléans'' and Ferdinand de Marsin at the Battle of Turin, driving the French out of Italy by the end of the year. In Flanders, meanwhile, Vendôme quarrelled with the king's unenterprising grandson, the ''duc de Bourgogne'', and was unable to prevent the French defeat at the Battle of Oudenarde. In disgust, Vendôme retired to his estates. It wasn't long, however, before he was summoned back to take command of the army of his cousin, Philip, in Spain. There he won his last victories, crowning his work triumphantly in the battles of Brihuega and Villaviciosa. Before the end of the war, he died suddenly at Vinaròs on 11 June 1712 and was buried in the El Escorial in Spain. Vendôme was one of the most remarkable soldiers in the history of the French army. He had, besides the skill and the fertile imagination of the true army leader, the brilliant courage of a soldier. The real secret of his continuous success, however, was his extraordinary influence over his men. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Louis Joseph, Duke of Vendôme」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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