Prince Eugene of Savoy
Prince Eugene Francis of Savoy-Carignano[1] (18 October 1663 – 21 April 1736), better known as Prince Eugene, was a distinguished field marshal in the Army of the Holy Roman Empire and of the Austrian Habsburg dynasty during the 17th and 18th centuries. Renowned as one of the greatest military commanders of his era, Prince Eugene also rose to the highest offices of state at the Imperial court in Vienna spending six decades in the service of three emperors.
Eugene of Savoy
18 October 1663
Hôtel de Soissons, Paris, Kingdom of France
21 April 1736 (aged 72)
Vienna, Archduchy of Austria, Holy Roman Empire
- Battle of Carpi (1701)
- Battle of Chiari (1701)
- Battle of Cremona (1702)
- Battle of Luzzara (1702)
- Battle of Blenheim (1704)
- Battle of Cassano (1705)
- Siege of Turin (1706)
- Battle of Toulon (1707)
- Battle of Oudenarde (1708)
- Siege of Lille (1708)
- Battle of Malplaquet (1709)
- Battle of Denain (1712)
- Rhine campaign (1713)
Born in Paris, to the son of a French count and a niece of Cardinal Mazarin, Eugene was raised at the court of King Louis XIV. Initially destined for the priesthood as the youngest son of a noble family, he chose to pursue a military career at 19. Due to his poor physique and possibly a scandal involving his mother, Louis XIV denied him a commission in the French Royal Army and forbade him from enlisting elsewhere. Embittered, Eugene fled France and entered the service of Holy Roman Empire's Emperor Leopold I, cousin and rival of Louis XIV, where his elder brother, Louis of Savoy, was already serving.
At 20, Prince Eugene of Savoy distinguished himself during the Ottomans Siege of Vienna in 1683. Commanding troops at Budapest (1686) and Belgrade (1688), he became a field marshal by age 25. In the Nine Years' War, he fought alongside his distant cousin, the Duke of Savoy. As commander-in-chief in Hungary, Eugene's decisive victory at the Battle of Zenta (1697) ended the Ottoman threat for nearly 20 years. During the War of the Spanish Succession (1701–1714), he served Emperor Leopold I, achieving victories in Italy and forming a crucial partnership with the Duke of Marlborough, securing wins at Blenheim (1704), Oudenaarde (1708), and Malplaquet (1709). His success continued in Italy, notably at Turin (1706). Renewed Austro-Turkish conflicts saw Eugene triumph at Petrovaradin (1716) and Belgrade (1717), solidifying his legacy as one of Europe's greatest military commanders and securing peace in 1718.
Throughout the late 1720s, Eugene's diplomatic skills secured powerful allies for the Emperor in dynastic struggles with the Bourbon powers. Physically and mentally fragile in his later years, Eugene saw less success as commander-in-chief during the War of the Polish Succession (1733–1735). Despite his opposition to the conflict, he loyally led a defensive campaign, preventing enemy invasion of Bavaria. During his peaceful years, Eugene accumulated a vast collection of art and literature and corresponded with contemporary artists, scientists, and philosophers. His architectural legacy includes Baroque palaces like the Belvedere in Vienna. He died on 21 April 1736, aged 72.
Later life (1721–36)[edit]
Governor-General of the Austrian Netherlands[edit]
Eugene had become governor of the Austrian Netherlands—in June 1716, but he was an absent ruler, directing policy from Vienna through his chosen representative the Marquis of Prié.[105] Prié proved unpopular with the local population and the guilds who, following the Barrier Treaty of 1715, were obliged to meet the financial demands of the administration and the Dutch barrier garrisons; with Eugene's backing and encouragement, civil disturbances in Antwerp and Brussels were forcibly suppressed. After displeasing the Emperor over his initial opposition to the formation of the Ostend Company, Prié also lost the support of the native nobility from within his own council of state in Brussels, particularly from the Marquis de Mérode-Westerloo. One of Eugene's former favourites, General Bonneval, also joined the noblemen in opposition to Prié, further undermining the Prince. When Prié's position became untenable, Eugene felt compelled to resign his post as governor of the Austrian Netherlands on 16 November 1724. As compensation, Charles VI conferred on him the honorary position as vicar-general of Italy, worth 140,000 gulden a year, and an estate at Siebenbrunn in Lower Austria said to be worth double that amount.[106] But his resignation distressed him, and to compound his concerns Eugene caught a severe bout of influenza that Christmas, marking the beginning of permanent bronchitis and acute infections every winter for the remaining twelve years of his life.[107]
'Cold war'[edit]
The 1720s saw rapidly changing alliances between the European powers and almost constant diplomatic confrontation, largely over unsolved issues regarding the Quadruple Alliance. The Emperor and the Spanish king continued to use each other's titles, and Charles VI still refused to remove the remaining legal obstacles to Don Charles' eventual succession to the duchies of Parma and Tuscany. Yet in a surprise move Spain and Austria moved closer with the signing of the Treaty of Vienna in April/May 1725.[108] In response Britain, France, and Prussia joined together in the Alliance of Hanover to counter the danger to Europe of an Austro-Spanish hegemony.[109] For the next three years there was the continual threat of war between the Hanover Treaty powers and the Austro-Spanish bloc.