Prince Eugene of
Savoy
Savoy (French: François-Eugène de Savoie, Italian:
Principe Eugenio di Savoia-Carignano, German: Prinz Eugen von Savoyen;
18 October 1663 – 21 April 1736) was a general of the Imperial Army
and statesman of the
Holy Roman Empire
.svg/250px-Banner_of_the_Holy_Roman_Emperor_with_haloes_(1400-1806).svg.png)
Holy Roman Empire and the Archduchy of Austria
and one of the most successful military commanders in modern European
history, rising to the highest offices of state at the Imperial court
in Vienna.
Prince Eugene of Savoy
Born in Paris, Eugene grew up around the French court of King Louis
XIV. Based on his poor physique and bearing, the Prince was initially
prepared for a career in the church, but by the age of 19 he had
determined on a military career. Following a scandal involving his
mother Olympe, he was rejected by Louis XIV for service in the French
army. Eugene moved to Austria and transferred his loyalty to the
Habsburg Monarchy.
Spanning six decades, Eugene served three Holy Roman Emperors: Leopold
I, Joseph I, and Charles VI. He first saw action against the Ottoman
Turks at the Siege of
Vienna
Vienna in 1683 and the subsequent War of the
Holy League, before serving in the Nine Years' War, fighting alongside
his cousin, the Duke of Savoy. However, the Prince's fame was secured
with his decisive victory against the Ottomans at the Battle of Zenta
in 1697, earning him Europe-wide fame. Eugene enhanced his standing
during the War of the Spanish Succession, where his partnership with
the Duke of
Marlborough secured victories against the French on the
fields of Blenheim (1704), Oudenarde (1708), and Malplaquet (1709); he
gained further success in the war as Imperial commander in northern
Italy, most notably at the
Battle of Turin
Battle of Turin (1706). Renewed hostilities
against the Ottomans in the Austro-Turkish War consolidated his
reputation, with victories at the battles of
Petrovaradin
_-_panorama_from_the_fortress_(by_Pudelek).jpg/500px-Petrovaradin_(Peterwardein)_-_panorama_from_the_fortress_(by_Pudelek).jpg)
Petrovaradin (1716), and
the decisive encounter at
Belgrade
Belgrade (1717).
Throughout the late 1720s, Eugene's influence and skilful diplomacy
managed to secure the Emperor powerful allies in his dynastic
struggles with the Bourbon powers, but physically and mentally fragile
in his later years, Eugene enjoyed less success as commander-in-chief
of the army during his final conflict, the War of the Polish
Succession. Nevertheless, in Austria, Eugene's reputation remains
unrivalled. Although opinions differ as to his character, there is no
dispute over his great achievements: he helped to save the Habsburg
Empire from French conquest; he broke the westward thrust of the
Ottomans, liberating central Europe after a century and a half of
Turkish occupation; and he was one of the great patrons of the arts
whose building legacy can still be seen in
Vienna
Vienna today. Eugene died
in his sleep at his home on 21 April 1736, aged 72.
Contents
1 Early life (1663–99)
1.1 Hôtel de Soissons
1.2 Great Turkish War
1.2.1 Holy League
1.2.2 Interlude in the west: Nine Years' War
1.2.3 Zenta
2 Mid life (1700–20)
2.1 War of the Spanish Succession
2.1.1 President of the Imperial War Council
2.1.2 Blenheim
2.1.3
Turin
Turin and Toulon
2.1.4 Oudenarde and Malplaquet
2.1.5 Final campaigning: Eugene alone
2.2 Austro-Turkish War
2.3 Quadruple Alliance
3 Later life (1721–36)
3.1 Governor-General of the Southern Netherlands
3.2 'Cold war'
3.3 War of the Polish Succession
3.4 Homosexuality
3.5 Last years and death
4 Patron of the arts
5 Assessment
6 Usage
7 See also
8 Ancestry
9 Notes
10 References
10.1 Primary
10.2 Secondary
10.3 Further reading
Early life (1663–99)[edit]
Hôtel de Soissons[edit]
Genealogy of Prince Eugene, showing his close relationships with the
French Royal family and the family of Cardinal Mazarin. Eugene never
married and had no children.
Arms of Prince Eugene showing the greater arms of the possessions of
the house of
Savoy
Savoy and overall the
Savoy
Savoy Arms impaled with those of
Bourbon-Soissons.[1][2][3]
Prince Eugene was born in the
Hôtel de Soissons
Hôtel de Soissons in
Paris
Paris on 18
October 1663. His mother, Olympia Mancini, was one of Cardinal
Mazarin's nieces whom he had brought to
Paris
Paris from
Rome
Rome in 1647 to
further his, and, to a lesser extent, their ambitions. The Mancinis
were raised at the
Palais-Royal
Palais-Royal along with the young Louis XIV, with
whom Olympia formed an intimate relationship. Yet to her great
disappointment, her chance to become queen passed by, and in 1657,
Olympia married Eugene Maurice, Count of Soissons,
Count of Dreux
Count of Dreux and
Prince of Savoy. Together they had had five sons (Eugene being the
youngest) and three daughters, but neither parent spent much time with
the children: his father, a brave, unglamorous French soldier, spent
much of his time away campaigning, while Olympia's passion for court
intrigue meant the children received little attention from her.[4]
Hôtel de Soissons, Eugene's birthplace. Engraving by Israel Silvestre
c. 1650.
The King remained strongly attached to Olympia, so much so that many
believed them to be lovers;[5] but her scheming eventually led to her
downfall. After falling out of favour at court, Olympia turned to
Catherine Deshayes (known as La Voisin), and the arts of black magic
and astrology. It was a fatal relationship. Embroiled in the affaire
des poisons, suspicions now abounded of her involvement in her
husband's premature death in 1673, and even implicated her in a plot
to kill the King himself. Whatever the truth, Olympia, rather than
face trial, subsequently fled France for
Brussels
Brussels in January 1680,
leaving Eugene in the care of his father's mother, Marie de Bourbon,
and her daughter, Hereditary Princess of Baden, mother of Prince Louis
of Baden.[6]
From the age of ten, Eugene had been brought up for a career in the
church; a personal choice of the King, basing the decision on the
young Prince's poor physique and bearing. Certainly Eugene's
appearance was not impressive — "He was never good-looking …"
wrote the Duchess of Orléans, "It is true that his eyes are not ugly,
but his nose ruins his face; he has two large teeth which are visible
at all times."[7]
In February 1683, to the surprise of his family, Eugene declared his
intention of joining the army. Now 19 years old, Eugene applied
directly to Louis XIV for command of a company in French service, but
the King—who had shown no compassion for Olympia's children since
her disgrace—refused him out of hand. "The request was modest, not
so the petitioner," he remarked. "No one else ever presumed to stare
me out so insolently."[8] Whatever the case, Louis XIV's choice would
cost him dearly twenty years later, for it would be precisely Eugene,
in collaboration with the Duke of Marlborough, who would defeat the
French army at Blenheim, a decisive battle which checked French
military supremacy and political power.
Denied a military career in France, Eugene decided to seek service
abroad. One of Eugene's brothers, Louis Julius, had entered Imperial
service the previous year, but he had been immediately killed fighting
the Ottoman Turks in 1683. When news of his death reached Paris,
Eugene decided to travel to Austria in the hope of taking over his
brother's command. It was not an unnatural decision: his cousin, Louis
of Baden, was already a leading general in the Imperial army, as was a
more distant cousin, Maximilian II Emanuel, Elector of Bavaria. On the
night of July 26, 1683, Eugene left
Paris
Paris and headed east.[9]
Great Turkish War[edit]
Main article: Great Turkish War
The relief of
Vienna
Vienna on September 12, 1683.
By May 1683, the Ottoman threat to Emperor Leopold I's capital,
Vienna, was very real. The Grand Vizier, Kara Mustafa
Pasha—encouraged by Imre Thököly's Magyar rebellion—had invaded
Hungary with between 100,000–200,000 men;[10] within two months
approximately 90,000 were beneath Vienna's walls. With the 'Turks at
the gates', the Emperor fled for the safe refuge of
Passau
Passau up the
Danube, a more distant and secure part of his dominion.[11] It was at
Leopold I's camp that Eugene arrived in mid-August.
Although Eugene was not of Austrian extraction, he did have Habsburg
antecedents. His grandfather, Thomas Francis, founder of the Carignano
line of the House of Savoy, was the son of Catherine Michelle—a
daughter of Philip II of Spain—and the great-grandson of the Emperor
Charles V. But of more immediate consequence to Leopold I was the fact
that Eugene was the second cousin of Victor Amadeus, the Duke of
Savoy, a connection that the Emperor hoped might prove useful in any
future confrontation with France.[12] These ties, together with his
ascetic manner and appearance (a positive advantage to him at the
sombre court of Leopold I),[13] ensured the refugee from the hated
French king a warm welcome at Passau, and a position in Imperial
service.[12] Though French was his favored language, he communicated
with Leopold in Italian, as the Emperor (though he knew it perfectly)
disliked French. But Eugene also had a reasonable command of German,
which he understood very easily, something that helped him much in the
military.[14]
Eugene was in no doubt where his new allegiance lay—"I will devote
all my strength, all my courage, and if need be, my last drop of
blood, to the service of your Imperial Majesty."[15] This loyalty was
immediately put to the test. By September, the Imperial forces under
the Duke of Lorraine, together with a powerful Polish army under King
John III Sobieski, were poised to strike the Sultan's army. On the
morning of 12 September, the Christian forces drew up in line of
battle on the south-eastern slopes of the
Vienna
Vienna Woods, looking down
on the massed enemy camp. The day-long Battle of
Vienna
Vienna resulted in
the lifting of the 60-day siege, and the Sultan's forces were routed
and in retreat. Serving under Baden, Eugene distinguished himself in
the battle, earning commendation from Lorraine and the Emperor; he
later received the nomination for the colonelcy of the Dragoon
Regiment Kufstein.[16]
Holy League[edit]
Recapture of Buda castle in 1686 by Gyula Benczúr.
In March 1684, Leopold I formed the Holy League with Poland and Venice
to counter the Ottoman threat. For the next two years, Eugene
continued to perform with distinction on campaign and establish
himself as a dedicated, professional soldier; by the end of 1685,
still only 22 years old, he was made a Major-General. However, little
is known of Eugene's life during these early campaigns. Contemporary
observers make only passing comments of his actions, and his own
surviving correspondence, largely to his cousin Victor Amadeus, are
typically reticent about his own feelings and experiences.[17]
Nevertheless, it is clear that Baden was impressed with Eugene's
qualities—"This young man will, with time, occupy the place of those
whom the world regards as great leaders of armies."[18]
Max Emanuel (1662–1726) by Joseph Vivien. The Elector of
Bavaria
.svg/240px-Flag_of_Bavaria_(striped).svg.png)
Bavaria was
Eugene's early mentor before becoming his opponent in the War of the
Spanish Succession.
In June 1686, the Duke of Lorraine besieged Buda (Budapest), the
centre of the Ottoman occupation in Hungary. After resisting for 78
days, the city fell on 2 September, and Turkish resistance collapsed
throughout the region as far away as Transylvania and Serbia. Further
success followed in 1687, where, commanding a cavalry brigade, Eugene
made an important contribution to the victory at the Battle of Mohács
on 12 August. Such was the scale of their defeat that the Ottoman army
mutinied—a revolt which spread to Constantinople. The Grand Vizier,
Suluieman Pasha, was executed and Sultan Mehmed IV, deposed.[19] Once
again, Eugene's courage earned him recognition from his superiors, who
granted him the honour of personally conveying the news of victory to
the Emperor in Vienna.[20] For his services, Eugene was promoted to
Lieutenant-General in November 1687. He was also gaining wider
recognition. King
Charles II of Spain
Charles II of Spain bestowed upon him the Order of
the Golden Fleece, while his cousin, Victor Amadeus, provided him with
money and two profitable abbeys in Piedmont.[21] However, Eugene's
military career suffered a temporary setback in 1688 when, on 6
September, the Prince suffered a severe wound to his knee by a musket
ball during the Siege of Belgrade. It was not until January 1689 that
he could return to active service.[21]
Interlude in the west: Nine Years' War[edit]
Main article: Nine Years' War
Just as
Belgrade
Belgrade was falling to Imperial forces under Max Emmanuel in
the east, French troops in the west were crossing the
Rhine
Rhine into the
Holy Roman Empire. Louis XIV had hoped that a show of force would lead
to a quick resolution to his dynastic and territorial disputes with
the princes of the Empire along his eastern border, but his
intimidatory moves only strengthened German resolve, and in May 1689,
Leopold I and the Dutch signed an offensive compact aimed at repelling
French aggression.[22]
The
Nine Years' War
.JPG/600px-Siege_of_Namur_(1692).JPG)
Nine Years' War was professionally and personally frustrating for
the Prince. Initially fighting on the
Rhine
Rhine with Max
Emmanuel—receiving a slight head wound at the Siege of Mainz in
1689—Eugene subsequently transferred himself to
Piedmont
Piedmont after
Victor Amadeus joined the Alliance against France in 1690. Promoted to
general of cavalry, he arrived in
Turin
Turin with his friend the Prince of
Commercy; but it proved an inauspicious start. Against Eugene's
advice, Amadeus insisted on engaging the French at Staffarda and
suffered a serious defeat—only Eugene's handling of the Savoyard
cavalry in retreat saved his cousin from disaster.[23] Eugene remained
unimpressed with the men and their commanders throughout the war in
Italy. "The enemy would long ago have been beaten," he wrote to
Vienna, "if everyone had done their duty."[24] So contemptuous was he
of the Imperial commander, Count Caraffa, he threatened to leave
Imperial service.[25]
In Vienna, Eugene's attitude was dismissed as the arrogance of a young
upstart, but so impressed was the Emperor by his passion for the
Imperial cause, he promoted him to Field-Marshal in 1693.[26] When
Caraffa's replacement, Count Caprara, was himself transferred in 1694,
it seemed that Eugene's chance for command and decisive action had
finally arrived. But Amadeus, doubtful of victory and now more fearful
of Habsburg influence in Italy than he was of French, had begun secret
dealings with Louis XIV aimed at extricating himself from the war. By
1696, the deal was done, and Amadeus transferred his troops and his
loyalty to the enemy. Eugene was never to fully trust his cousin
again; although he continued to pay due reverence to the Duke as head
of his family, their relationship would forever after remain
strained.[27]
Military honours in Italy undoubtedly belonged to the French commander
Marshal Catinat, but Eugene, the one Allied general determined on
action and decisive results, did well to emerge from the Nine Years'
War with an enhanced reputation.[27] With the signing of the Treaty of
Ryswick in September/October 1697, the desultory war in the west was
finally brought to an inconclusive end, and Leopold I could once again
devote all his martial energies into defeating the Ottoman Turks in
the east.
Zenta[edit]
Battle of Zenta
Battle of Zenta by Jacques Parrocel.
The distractions of the war against Louis XIV had enabled the Turks to
recapture
Belgrade
Belgrade in 1690. In August 1691, the Austrians, under Louis
of Baden, regained the advantage by heavily defeating the Turks at the
Battle of Slankamen
Battle of Slankamen on the Danube, securing Habsburg possession of
Hungary and Transylvania.[28] However, when Baden was transferred west
to fight the French in 1692, his successors, first Caprara, then from
1696, Frederick Augustus, the Elector of Saxony, proved incapable of
delivering the final blow. On the advice of the President of the
Imperial War Council, Rüdiger Starhemberg, Eugene was offered supreme
command of Imperial forces in April 1697.[29] This was Eugene's first
truly independent command—no longer need he suffer under the
excessively cautious generalship of Caprara and Caraffa, or be
thwarted by the deviations of Victor Amadeus. But on joining his army,
he found it in a state of 'indescribable misery'.[30] Confident and
self-assured, the Prince of
Savoy
Savoy (ably assisted by Commercy and Guido
Starhemberg) set about restoring order and discipline.[31]
Portrait of Prince Eugene of
Savoy
Savoy (1663–1736) c. 1700. Flemish
School.
Leopold I had warned Eugene to act cautiously, but when the Imperial
commander learnt of Sultan Mustafa II's march on Transylvania, Eugene
abandoned all ideas of a defensive campaign and moved to intercept the
Turks as they crossed the River
Tisza
Tisza at Zenta on 11 September 1697.
It was late in the day before the Imperial army struck. The Turkish
cavalry had already crossed the river so Eugene decided to attack
immediately, arranging his men in a half-moon formation.[32] The
vigour of the assault wrought terror and confusion amongst the Turks,
and by nightfall, the battle was won. For the loss of some 2,000 dead
and wounded, Eugene had inflicted approximately 25,000 casualties on
his enemy—including the Grand Vizier, Elmas Mehmed
Pasha—annihilating the Turkish army.[33] Although the Ottomans
lacked western organisation and training, the Savoyard prince had
revealed his tactical skill, his capacity for bold decision, and his
ability to inspire his men to excel in battle against a dangerous
foe.[34]
After a brief terror-raid into Ottoman-held Bosnia, culminating in the
sack of Sarajevo, Eugene returned to
Vienna
Vienna in November to a triumphal
reception.[35] His victory at Zenta had turned him into a European
hero, and with victory came reward. Land in Hungary, given him by the
Emperor, yielded a good income, enabling the Prince to cultivate his
newly acquired tastes in art and architecture (see below); but for all
his new-found wealth and property, he was, nevertheless, without
personal ties or family commitments. Of his four brothers, only one
was still alive at this time. His fourth brother, Emmanuel, had died
aged 14 in 1676; his third, Louis Julius (already mentioned) had died
on active service in 1683, and his second brother, Philippe, died of
smallpox in 1693. Eugene's remaining brother, Louis
Thomas—ostracised for incurring the displeasure of Louis
XIV—travelled Europe in search of a career, before arriving in
Vienna
Vienna in 1699. With Eugene's help, Louis found employment in the
Imperial army, only to be killed in action against the French in 1702.
Of Eugene's sisters, the youngest had died in childhood. The other
two, Marie Jeanne-Baptiste and Louise Philiberte, led dissolute lives.
Expelled from France, Marie joined her mother in Brussels, before
eloping with a renegade priest to Geneva, living with him unhappily
until her premature death in 1705. Of Louise, little is known after
her early salacious life in Paris, but in due course, she lived for a
time in a convent in
Savoy
Savoy before her death in 1726.[36]
The
Battle of Zenta
Battle of Zenta proved to be the decisive victory in the long war
against the Turks. With Leopold I's interests now focused on Spain and
the imminent death of Charles II, the Emperor terminated the conflict
with the Sultan, and signed the
Treaty of Karlowitz
Treaty of Karlowitz on 26 January
1699.[37]
Mid life (1700–20)[edit]
War of the Spanish Succession[edit]
Main article: War of the Spanish Succession
Europe at the beginning of the War of the Spanish Succession. Eugene
fought primarily in northern Italy in the early years of the war, then
later in the Low Countries.
With the death of the infirm and childless
Charles II of Spain
Charles II of Spain on 1
November 1700, the succession of the Spanish throne and subsequent
control over her empire once again embroiled Europe in war—the War
of the Spanish Succession. On his deathbed Charles II had bequeathed
the entire Spanish inheritance to Louis XIV's grandson, Philip, Duke
of Anjou. This threatened to unite the Spanish and French kingdoms
under the House of Bourbon—something unacceptable to England, the
Dutch Republic, and Leopold I, who had himself a claim to the Spanish
throne.[38] From the beginning, the Emperor had refused to accept the
will of Charles II, and he did not wait for England and the Dutch
Republic to begin hostilities. Before a new Grand Alliance could be
concluded Leopold I prepared to send an expedition to seize the
Spanish lands in Italy.
Prince Eugene crossing the Alps, 1701. Coloured copperplate engraving.
Eugene crossed the
Alps
Alps with some 30,000 men in May/June 1701. After a
series of brilliant manoeuvres the Imperial commander defeated Catinat
at the
Battle of Carpi
Battle of Carpi on 9 July. "I have warned you that you are
dealing with an enterprising young prince," wrote Louis XIV to his
commander, "he does not tie himself down to the rules of war."[39] On
1 September Eugene defeated Catinat's successor, Marshal Villeroi, at
the Battle of Chiari, in a clash as destructive as any in the Italian
theatre.[40] But as so often throughout his career the Prince faced
war on two fronts—the enemy in the field and the government in
Vienna.[41] Starved of supplies, money and men, Eugene was forced into
unconventional means against the vastly superior enemy. During a
daring raid on Cremona on the night of 31 January/1 February 1702
Eugene captured the French commander-in-chief. Yet the coup was less
successful than hoped: Cremona remained in French hands, and the Duke
of Vendôme, whose talents far exceeded Villeroi's, became the
theatre's new commander. Villeroi's capture caused a sensation in
Europe, and had a galvanising effect on English public opinion. "The
surprise at Cremona," wrote the diarist John Evelyn, "… was the
greate discourse of this weeke"; but appeals for succour from Vienna
remained unheeded, forcing Eugene to seek battle and gain a 'lucky
hitt'.[42] The resulting
Battle of Luzzara on 15 August proved
inconclusive. Although Eugene's forces inflicted double the number of
casualties on the French the battle settled little except to deter
Vendôme trying an all-out assault on Imperial forces that year,
enabling Eugene to hold on south of the Alps.[43] With his army
rotting away, and personally grieving for his long standing friend
Prince Commercy who had died at Luzzara, Eugene returned to
Vienna
Vienna in
January 1703.[44]
President of the Imperial War Council[edit]
Eugene's European reputation was growing (Cremona and Luzzara had been
celebrated as victories throughout the Allied capitals), yet because
of the condition and morale of his troops the 1702 campaign had not
been a success.[45] Austria itself was now facing the direct threat of
invasion from across the border in
Bavaria
Bavaria where the state's Elector,
Maximilian Emanuel, had declared for the Bourbons in August the
previous year. Meanwhile, in Hungary a small-scale revolt had broken
out in May and was fast gaining momentum. With the monarchy at the
point of complete financial breakdown Leopold I was at last persuaded
to change the government. At the end of June 1703 Gundaker Starhemberg
replaced Gotthard Salaburg as President of the Treasury, and Prince
Eugene succeeded Henry Mansfeld as the new President of the Imperial
War Council (Hofkriegsratspräsident).[46]
As head of the war council Eugene was now part of the Emperor's inner
circle, and the first president since Montecuccoli to remain an active
commander. Immediate steps were taken to improve efficiency within the
army: encouragement and, where possible, money, was sent to the
commanders in the field; promotion and honours were distributed
according to service rather than influence; and discipline improved.
But the Austrian monarchy faced severe peril on several fronts in
1703: by June the Duke of Villars had reinforced the Elector of
Bavaria
Bavaria on the
Danube
Danube thus posing a direct threat to Vienna, while
Vendôme remained at the head of a large army in northern Italy
opposing Guido Starhemberg's weak Imperial force. Of equal alarm was
Francis II Rákóczi's revolt which, by the end of the year, had
reached as far as
Moravia
Moravia and Lower Austria.[47]
Blenheim[edit]
The Duke of
Marlborough greeting Prince Eugene of
Savoy
Savoy mounted after
their victory at Blenheim by Robert Alexander Hillingford.
Dissension between Villars and the Elector of
Bavaria
Bavaria had prevented an
assault on
Vienna
Vienna in 1703, but in the Courts of Versailles and Madrid,
ministers confidently anticipated the city's fall.[48] The Imperial
ambassador in London, Count Wratislaw, had pressed for Anglo-Dutch
assistance on the
Danube
Danube as early as February 1703, but the crisis in
southern Europe seemed remote from the
Court of St. James's
.svg/250px-Royal_Coat_of_Arms_of_the_United_Kingdom_(HM_Government).svg.png)
Court of St. James's where
colonial and commercial considerations were more to the fore of men's
minds.[49] Only a handful of statesmen in England or the Dutch
Republic realised the true implications of Austria's peril; foremost
amongst these was the English Captain-General, the Duke of
Marlborough.[50]
By early 1704
Marlborough had resolved to march south and rescue the
situation in southern Germany and on the Danube, personally requesting
the presence of Eugene on campaign so as to have "a supporter of his
zeal and experience".[51] The Allied commanders met for the first time
at the small village of
Mundelsheim
Mundelsheim on 10 June, and immediately formed
a close rapport—the two men becoming, in the words of Thomas
Lediard, 'Twin constellations in glory'.[52] This professional and
personal bond ensured mutual support on the battlefield, enabling many
successes during the Spanish Succession war. The first of these
victories, and the most celebrated, came on 13 August 1704 at the
Battle of Blenheim. Eugene commanded the right wing of the Allied
army, holding the Elector of Bavaria's and Marshal Marsin's superior
forces, while
Marlborough broke through the Marshal Tallard's center,
inflicting over 30,000 casualties. The battle proved decisive: Vienna
was saved and
Bavaria
Bavaria was knocked out of the war. Both Allied
commanders were full of praise for each other's performance. Eugene's
holding operation, and his pressure for action leading up to the
battle, proved crucial for the Allied success.[53]
In Europe Blenheim is regarded as much a victory for Eugene as it is
for Marlborough, a sentiment echoed by Sir Winston Churchill
(Marlborough's descendant and biographer), who pays tribute to "the
glory of Prince Eugene, whose fire and spirit had exhorted the
wonderful exertions of his troops."[54] France now faced the real
danger of invasion, but Leopold I in
Vienna
Vienna was still under severe
strain: Rákóczi's revolt was a major threat; and Guido Starhemberg
and Victor Amadeus (who had once again switched loyalties and rejoined
the Grand Alliance in 1703) had been unable to halt the French under
Vendôme in northern Italy. Only Amadeus' capital, Turin, held on.
Turin
Turin and Toulon[edit]
Eugene returned to Italy in April 1705, but his attempts to move west
towards
Turin
Turin were thwarted by Vendôme's skilful manoeuvres. Lacking
boats and bridging materials, and with desertion and sickness rife
within his army, the outnumbered Imperial commander was helpless.
Leopold I's assurances of money and men had proved illusory, but
desperate appeals from Amadeus and criticism from
Vienna
Vienna goaded the
Prince into action, resulting in the Imperialists' bloody defeat at
the Battle of Cassano on 16 August.[55] However, following Leopold I's
death and the accession of Joseph I to the Imperial throne in May
1705, Eugene at last began to receive the personal backing he desired.
Joseph I proved to be a strong supporter of Eugene's supremacy in
military affairs; he was the most effective emperor the Prince served
and the one he was happiest under.[56] Promising support, Joseph I
persuaded Eugene to return to Italy and restore Habsburg honour.
Eugene's major engagements in the Italian theatre during the War of
the Spanish Succession.
The Imperial commander arrived in theatre in mid-April 1706, just in
time to organise an orderly retreat of what was left of Count
Reventlow's inferior army following his defeat by Vendôme at the
Battle of Calcinato
Battle of Calcinato on 19 April. Vendôme now prepared to defend the
lines along the river Adige, determined to keep Eugene cooped to the
east while the Marquis of La Feuillade threatened Turin. However,
feigning attacks along the Adige, Eugene descended south across the
river Po in mid-July, outmanoeuvring the French commander and gaining
a favourable position from which he could at last move west towards
Piedmont
Piedmont and relieve Savoy's capital.[57]
Prince Eugene by Jacob van Schuppen.
Events elsewhere were now to have major consequences for the war in
Italy. With Villeroi's crushing defeat by
Marlborough at the Battle of
Ramillies on 23 May, Louis XIV recalled Vendôme north to take command
of French forces in Flanders. It was a transfer that Saint-Simon
considered something of a deliverance for the French commander who was
"now beginning to feel the unlikelihood of success [in Italy] … for
Prince Eugene, with the reinforcements[58] that had joined him after
the Battle of Calcinato, had entirely changed the outlook in that
theatre of the war."[59] The Duke of Orléans, under the direction of
Marsin, replaced Vendôme, but indecision and disorder in the French
camp led to their undoing. After uniting his forces with Victor
Amadeus at
Villastellone
Villastellone in early September, Eugene attacked,
overwhelmed, and decisively defeated the French forces besieging Turin
on 7 September. Eugene's success broke the French hold on northern
Italy, and the whole Po valley fell under Allied control. Eugene had
gained a victory as signal as his colleague had at Ramillies—"It is
impossible for me to express the joy it has given me;" wrote
Marlborough, "for I not only esteem but I really love the prince. This
glorious action must bring France so low, that if our friends could
but be persuaded to carry on the war with vigour one year longer, we
cannot fail, with the blessing of God, to have such a peace as will
give us quiet for all our days."[60]
The Imperial victory in Italy marked the beginning of Austrian rule in
Lombardy, and earned Eugene the Governorship of Milan. But the
following year was to prove a disappointment for the Prince and the
Grand Alliance as a whole. The Emperor and Eugene (whose main goal
after
Turin
Turin was to take Naples and
Sicily
Sicily from Philip duc d'Anjou's
supporters), reluctantly agreed to Marlborough's plan for an attack on
Toulon—the seat of French naval power in the Mediterranean. However,
disunion between the Allied commanders—Victor Amadeus, Eugene, and
the English Admiral Shovell—doomed the Toulon enterprise to failure.
Although Eugene favoured some sort of attack on France's south-eastern
border it was clear he felt the expedition impractical, and had shown
none of the "alacrity which he had displayed on other occasions."[61]
Substantial French reinforcements finally brought an end to the
venture, and on 22 August 1707 the Imperial army began its retirement.
The subsequent capture of Susa could not compensate for the total
collapse of the Toulon expedition and with it any hope of an Allied
war-winning blow that year.[62]
Oudenarde and Malplaquet[edit]
Prince Eugene at Oudenarde (detail) by Jan van Huchtenburg, who was
employed round 1709 to depict ten battle scenes.
At the beginning of 1708 Eugene successfully evaded calls for him to
take charge in Spain (in the end
Guido Starhemberg
Guido Starhemberg was sent), thus
enabling him to take command of the Imperial army on the Moselle and
once again unite with
Marlborough in the Spanish Netherlands.[63]
Eugene (without his army) arrived at the Allied camp at Assche, west
of Brussels, in early July, providing a welcome boost to morale after
the early defection of
Bruges
Bruges and
Ghent
Ghent to the French. " … our
affairs improved through God's support and Eugene's aid," wrote the
Prussian General Natzmer, "whose timely arrival raised the spirits of
the army again and consoled us."[64] Heartened by the Prince's
confidence the Allied commanders devised a bold plan to engage the
French army under Vendôme and the Duke of Burgundy. On 10 July the
Anglo-Dutch army made a forced march to surprise the French, reaching
the river
Scheldt
Scheldt just as the enemy were crossing to the north. The
ensuing battle on 11 July—more a contact action rather than a
set-piece engagement—ended in a resounding success for the Allies,
aided by the dissension of the two French commanders.[65] While
Marlborough remained in overall command, Eugene had led the crucial
right flank and centre. Once again the Allied commanders had
co-operated remarkably well. "Prince Eugene and I," wrote the Duke,
"shall never differ about our share of the laurels."[66]
Duke of
Marlborough (1650–1722) by Adriaen van der Werff. Eugene
became Allied commander-in-chief following Marlborough's dismissal in
1711.
Marlborough now favoured a bold advance along the coast to bypass the
major French fortresses, followed by a march on Paris. But fearful of
unprotected supply-lines, the Dutch and Eugene favoured a more
cautious approach.
Marlborough acquiesced and resolved upon the siege
of Vauban's great fortress, Lille.[67] While the Duke commanded the
covering force, Eugene oversaw the siege of the town which surrendered
on 22 October; however, it was not until 10 December that the resolute
Marshal Boufflers yielded the citadel. Yet for all the difficulties of
the siege (Eugene was badly wounded above his left eye by a musket
ball, and even survived an attempt to poison him), the campaign of
1708 had been a remarkable success. The French were driven out of
almost all the Spanish Netherlands. "He who has not seen this," wrote
Eugene, "has seen nothing."[68]
The recent defeats, together with the severe winter of 1708–09, had
caused extreme famine and privation in France. Louis XIV was close to
accepting Allied terms, but the conditions demanded by the leading
Allied negotiators, Anthonie Heinsius, Charles Townshend, Marlborough,
and Eugene—principally that Louis XIV should use his own troops to
force Philip V off the Spanish throne—proved unacceptable to the
French. Neither Eugene nor
Marlborough had objected to the Allied
demands at the time, but neither wanted the war with France to
continue, and would have preferred further talks to deal with the
Spanish issue. But the French King offered no further proposals.[69]
Lamenting the collapse of the negotiations, and aware of the vagaries
of war, Eugene wrote to the Emperor in mid-June 1709. "There can be no
doubt that the next battle will be the biggest and bloodiest that has
yet been fought."[70]
After the fall of
Tournai
Tournai on 3 September (itself a major
undertaking),[71] the Allied generals turned their attention towards
Mons. Marshal Villars, recently joined by Boufflers, moved his army
south-west of the town and began to fortify his position. Marlborough
and Eugene favoured an engagement before Villars could render his
position impregnable; but they also agreed to wait for reinforcements
from
Tournai
Tournai which did not arrive until the following night, thus
giving the French further opportunity to prepare their defences.
Notwithstanding the difficulties of the attack, however, the Allied
generals did not shrink from their original determination.[72] The
subsequent Battle of Malplaquet, fought on 11 September 1709, was the
bloodiest engagement of the war. On the left flank, the Prince of
Orange led his Dutch infantry in desperate charges only to have it cut
to pieces; on the other flank, Eugene attacked and suffered almost as
severely. But sustained pressure on his extremities forced Villars to
weaken his centre, thus enabling
Marlborough to breakthrough and claim
victory. Villars was unable to save Mons, which subsequently
capitulated on 21 October, but his resolute defence at
Malplaquet—inflicting up to 25% casualties on the Allies—may have
saved France from destruction.[73]
Final campaigning: Eugene alone[edit]
Following his victory in northern Italy, Eugene fought primarily in
the
Low Countries
Low Countries during the War of the Spanish Succession.
In August 1709 Eugene's chief political opponent and critic in Vienna,
Prince Salm, retired as court chamberlain. Eugene and Wratislaw were
now the undisputed leaders of the Austrian government: all major
departments of state were in their hands or those of their political
allies.[74] However, another attempt at a negotiated settlement at
Geertruidenberg
Geertruidenberg in April 1710 failed, largely because the English
Whigs still felt strong enough to refuse concessions, while Louis XIV
saw little reason to accept what he had refused the previous year.
Eugene and
Marlborough could not be accused of wrecking the
negotiations, but neither showed regret at the breakdown of the talks.
There was no alternative but to continue the war, and in June the
Allied commanders captured Douai. This success was followed by a
series of minor sieges, and by the close of 1710 the Allies had
cleared much of France's protective ring of fortresses. Yet there had
been no final, decisive breakthrough, and this was to be the last year
that Eugene and
Marlborough would work together.[75]
Portrait of Eugene from the school of Godfrey Kneller, 1712.
Following the death of Joseph I on 17 April 1711 his brother, Charles,
the pretender to the Spanish throne, became emperor. In England the
new Tory government (the 'peace party' who had deposed the Whigs in
October 1710) declared their unwillingness to see Charles VI become
Emperor as well as King of Spain, and had already begun secret
negotiations with the French. In January 1712 Eugene arrived in
England hoping to divert the government away from its peace policy,
but despite the social success the visit was a political failure:
Queen Anne and her ministers remained determined to end the war
regardless of the Allies. Eugene had also arrived too late to save
Marlborough who, seen by the Tories as the main obstacle to peace, had
already been dismissed on charges of embezzlement. Elsewhere, however,
the Austrians had made some progress—the Hungarian revolt had
finally came to end. Although Eugene would have preferred to crush the
rebels the Emperor had offered lenient conditions, leading to the
signing of the
Treaty of Szatmár
Treaty of Szatmár on 30 April 1711.[76]
Hoping to influence public opinion in England and force the French
into making substantial concessions, Eugene prepared for a major
campaign. However, on 21 May 1712—when the Tories felt they had
secured favourable terms with their unilateral talks with the
French—the Duke of Ormonde (Marlborough's successor) received the
so-called 'restraining orders', forbidding him to take part in any
military action.[77] Eugene took the fortress of
Le Quesnoy
.JPG/333px-0_Le_Quesnoy_-_Hôtel_de_ville_(1).JPG)
Le Quesnoy in early
July, before besieging Landrecies, but Villars, taking advantage of
Allied disunity, outmanoeuvred Eugene and defeated the Earl of
Albermarle's Dutch garrison at Denain on 24 July. The French followed
the victory by seizing the Allies' main supply magazine at
Marchiennes, before reversing their earlier losses at Douai, Le
Quesnoy and Bouchain. In one summer the whole forward Allied position
laboriously built up over the years to act as the springboard into
France had been precipitously abandoned.[78]
With the death in December of his friend and close political ally,
Count Wratislaw, Eugene became undisputed 'first minister' in Vienna.
His position was built on his military successes, but his actual power
was expressed through his role as president of the war council, and as
de facto president of the conference which dealt with foreign
policy.[79] In this position of influence Eugene took the lead in
pressing Charles VI towards peace. The government had come to accept
that further war in the Netherlands or Spain was impossible without
the aid of the Maritime Powers; yet the Emperor, still hoping that
somehow he could place himself on the throne in Spain, refused to make
peace at the Utrecht conference along with the other Allies.
Reluctantly, Eugene prepared for another campaign, but lacking troops,
finance, and supplies his prospects in 1713 were poor. Villars, with
superior numbers, was able to keep Eugene guessing as to his true
intent. Through successful feints and stratagems
Landau
Landau fell to the
French commander in August, followed in November by Freiburg.[80]
Eugene was reluctant to carry on the war, and wrote to the Emperor in
June that a bad peace would be better than being 'ruined equally by
friend and foe'.[81] With Austrian finances exhausted and the German
states reluctant to continue the war, Charles VI was compelled to
enter into negotiations. Eugene and Villars (who had been old friends
since the Turkish campaigns of the 1680s) initiated talks on 26
November. Eugene proved an astute and determined negotiator, and
gained favourable terms by the
Treaty of Rastatt
Treaty of Rastatt signed on 7 March
1714 and the Treaty of Baden signed on 7 September 1714.[82] Despite
the failed campaign in 1713 the Prince was able to declare that, "in
spite of the military superiority of our enemies and the defection of
our Allies, the conditions of peace will be more advantageous and more
glorious than those we would have obtained at Utrecht."[80]
Austro-Turkish War[edit]
Main article: Austro-Turkish War of 1716–18
Prince Eugene during the Austro-Turkish War. Artist: Jacob van
Schuppen.
Eugene's main reason for desiring peace in the west was the growing
danger posed by the Turks in the east. Turkish military ambitions had
revived after 1711 when they had mauled Peter the Great's army on the
river Pruth: in December 1714 Sultan Ahmed III's forces attacked the
Venetians in the Morea.[83] To
Vienna
Vienna it was clear that the Turks
intended to attack Hungary and undo the whole Karlowitz settlement of
1699. After the Porte rejected an offer of mediation in April 1716,
Charles VI despatched Eugene to Hungary to lead his relatively small
but professional army. Of all Eugene's wars this was the one in which
he exercised most direct control; it was also a war which, for the
most part, Austria fought and won on her own.[84]
Eugene left
Vienna
Vienna in early June 1716 with a field army of between
80,000–90,000 men. By early August 1716 the Ottoman Turks, some
200,000 men under the sultan's son-in-law, the
Grand Vizier
Grand Vizier Damat Ali
Pasha, were marching from
Belgrade
Belgrade towards Eugene's position west of
the fortress of
Petrovaradin
Petrovaradin on the north bank of the Danube.[85] The
Grand Vizier
Grand Vizier had intended to seize the fortress; but Eugene gave him
no chance to do so. After resisting calls for caution and forgoing a
council of war, the Prince decided to attack immediately on the
morning of 5 August with approximately 70,000 men.[86] The Turkish
janissaries had some initial success, but after an Imperial cavalry
attack on their flank, Ali Pasha's forces fell into confusion.
Although the Imperials lost almost 5,000 dead or wounded, the Turks,
who retreated in disorder to Belgrade, seem to have lost double that
amount, including the
Grand Vizier
Grand Vizier himself who had entered the mêlée
and subsequently died of his wounds.[85]
Eugene at the Battle of
Belgrade
Belgrade 1717. Artist: Johann Gottfried
Auerbach. The battle was Eugene's last great victory.
Eugene proceeded to take the
Banat
Banat fortress of
Timișoara
Timișoara (Temeswar in
German) in mid-October 1716 (thus ending 164 years of Turkish rule),
before turning his attention to the next campaign and to what he
considered the main goal of the war, Belgrade. Situated at the
confluence of the Rivers
Danube
Danube and Sava,
Belgrade
Belgrade held a garrison of
30,000 men under Mustapha Pasha.[87] Imperial troops besieged the
place in mid-June 1717, and by the end of July large parts of the city
had been destroyed by artillery fire. By the first days of August,
however, a huge Turkish field army (150,000–200,000 strong), under
the new Grand Vizier, Halil Pasha, had arrived on the plateau east of
the city to relieve the garrison.[88] News spread through Europe of
Eugene's imminent destruction; but he had no intention of lifting the
siege.[89] With his men suffering from dysentery, and continuous
bombardment from the plateau, Eugene, aware that a decisive victory
alone could extricate his army, decided to attack the relief force. On
the morning of 16 August 40,000 Imperial troops marched through the
fog, caught the Turks unawares, and routed Halil Pasha's army; a week
later
Belgrade
Belgrade surrendered, effectively bringing an end to the war.
The victory was the crowning point of Eugene's military career and had
confirmed him as the leading European general. His ability to snatch
victory at the moment of defeat had shown the Prince at his best.[90]
The principal objectives of the war had been achieved: the task Eugene
had begun at Zenta was complete, and the Karlowitz settlement secured.
By the terms of the Treaty of Passarowitz, signed on 21 July 1718, the
Turks surrendered the
Banat
Banat of Temeswar, along with
Belgrade
Belgrade and most
of Serbia, although they regained the
Morea
Morea from the Venetians. The
war had dispelled the immediate Turkish threat to Hungary, and was a
triumph for the Empire and for Eugene personally.[91]
Quadruple Alliance[edit]
Main article: War of the Quadruple Alliance
Charles VI (1685–1740), by Johann Gottfried Auerbach. Eugene served
Emperor Charles VI for the last 25 years of his life.
While Eugene fought the Turks in the east, unresolved issues following
the Utrecht/Rastatt settlements led to hostilities between the Emperor
and
Philip V of Spain
Philip V of Spain in the west. Charles VI had refused to recognise
Philip V as King of Spain, a title which he himself claimed; in
return, Philip V had refused to renounce his claims to Naples, Milan,
and the Netherlands, all of which had transferred to the House of
Austria following the Spanish Succession war. Philip V was roused by
his influential wife, Elisabeth Farnese, daughter of the Hereditary
Prince of Parma, who personally held dynastic claims in the name of
her son, Don Charles, to the duchies of Tuscany, Parma and
Piacenza.[92] Representatives from a newly formed Anglo-French
alliance—who were desirous of European peace for their own dynastic
securities and trade opportunities—called on both parties to
recognise each other's sovereignty. Yet Philip V remained intractable,
and on 22 August 1717 his chief minister, Alberoni, effected the
invasion of Austrian
Sardinia
Sardinia in what seemed like the beginning of the
reconquest of Spain's former Italian empire.[93]
Eugene returned to
Vienna
Vienna from his recent victory at
Belgrade
Belgrade (before
the conclusion of the Turkish war) determined to prevent an escalation
of the conflict, complaining that, "two wars cannot be waged with one
army";[93] only reluctantly did the Prince release some troops from
the Balkans for the Italian campaign. Rejecting all diplomatic
overtures Philip V unleashed another assault in June 1718, this time
against Savoyard
Sicily
Sicily as a preliminary to attacking the Italian
mainland. Realising that only the British fleet could prevent further
Spanish landings, and that pro-Spanish groups in France might push the
regent, Duke of Orléans, into war against Austria, Charles VI had no
option but to sign the Quadruple Alliance on 2 August 1718, and
formally renounce his claim to Spain.[94] Despite the Spanish fleet's
destruction off Cape Passaro, Philip V and Elisabeth remained
resolute, and rejected the treaty.
Although Eugene could have gone south after the conclusion of the
Turkish war, he chose instead to conduct operations from Vienna; but
Austria's military effort in
Sicily
Sicily proved derisory, and Eugene's
chosen commanders, Zum Jungen, and later Count Mercy, performed
poorly.[95] It was only from pressure exerted by the French army
advancing into the Basque provinces of northern Spain in April 1719,
and the British Navy's attacks on the Spanish fleet and shipping, that
compelled Philip V and Elisabeth to dismiss Alberoni and join the
Quadruple Alliance on 25 January 1720. Nevertheless, the Spanish
attacks had strained Charles VI's government, causing tension between
the Emperor and his Spanish Council[96] on the one hand, and the
conference, headed by Eugene, on the other. Despite Charles VI's own
personal ambitions in the Mediterranean it was clear to the Emperor
that Eugene had put the safeguarding of his conquests in Hungary
before everything else, and that military failure in
Sicily
Sicily also had
to rest on Eugene. Consequently, the Prince's influence over the
Emperor declined considerably.[97]
Later life (1721–36)[edit]
Governor-General of the Southern Netherlands[edit]
Eugene had become governor of the Southern Netherlands—then the
Austrian Netherlands—in June 1716, but he was an absent ruler,
directing policy from
Vienna
Vienna through his chosen representative the
Marquis of Prié.[98] De Prié proved unpopular with the local
population and the guilds who, following the
Barrier Treaty
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
Brussels were forcibly suppressed.
After displeasing the Emperor over his initial opposition to the
formation of the Ostend Company, de 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 nobles in
opposition to de Prié, further undermining the Prince. When de
Prié's position became untenable Eugene felt compelled to resign his
post as governor 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.[99] 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.[100]
'Cold war'[edit]
Prince Eugene by Jan Kupecký.
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
Vienna in April/May 1725.[101] In response Britain, France,
and Prussia joined together in the Alliance of Hanover to counter the
danger to Europe of an Austro-Spanish hegemony.[102] For the next
three years there was the continual threat of war between the Hanover
Treaty powers and the Austro-Spanish bloc.
From 1726 Eugene gradually began to regain his political influence.
With his many contacts throughout Europe Eugene, backed by Gundaker
Starhemberg and Count Schönborn, the Imperial vice-chancellor,
managed to secure powerful allies and strengthen the Emperor's
position—his skill in managing the vast secret diplomatic network
over the coming years was the main reason why Charles VI once again
came to depend upon him.[103] In August 1726 Russia acceded to the
Austro-Spanish alliance, and in October Frederick William of Prussia
followed suit by defecting from the Allies with the signing of a
mutual defensive treaty with the Emperor.[104] Despite the conclusion
of the brief Anglo-Spanish conflict, war between the European powers
persisted throughout 1727–28. However, in 1729 Elisabeth Farnese
abandoned the Austro-Spanish alliance. Realizing that Charles VI could
not be drawn into the marriage pact she wanted, Elisabeth concluded
that the best way to secure her son's succession to Parma and Tuscany
now lay with Britain and France. To Eugene it was 'an event that which
is seldom to be found in history'.[105] Following the Prince's
determined lead to resist all pressure, Charles VI sent troops into
Italy to prevent the entry of Spanish garrisons into the contested
duchies. By the beginning of 1730 Eugene, who had remained bellicose
throughout the whole period, was again in control of Austrian
policy.[105]
Coalitions in Europe between 1725 and 1730. Signatories of the Treaty
of
Vienna
Vienna (April 30, 1725) in blue and signatories of the Treaty of
Hanover (September 3, 1725) in red. Prussia, in brown, first joined
the Hanoverian Alliance, but later changed sides after the Treaty of
Berlin on December 23, 1728.
In Britain there now emerged a new political re-alignment as the
Anglo-French entente became increasingly defunct.[106] Believing that
a resurgent France now posed the greatest danger to their security
British ministers, headed by Robert Walpole, moved to reform the
Anglo-Austrian alliance, leading to the signing of the Second Treaty
of
Vienna
Vienna on 16 March 1731.[107] Eugene had been the Austrian minister
most responsible for the alliance, believing once again it would
provide security against France and Spain. The treaty compelled
Charles VI to sacrifice the
Ostend Company
Ostend Company (a rival to the English and
Dutch trading companies) and accept, unequivocally, the accession of
Don Charles to Parma and Tuscany. In return King George II as King of
Great Britain and Elector of Hanover guaranteed the Pragmatic
Sanction, the device to secure the rights of the Emperor's daughter,
Maria Theresa, to the entire Habsburg inheritance. It was largely
through Eugene's diplomacy that in January 1732 the Imperial diet also
guaranteed the Pragmatic Sanction which, together with the Treaties
with Britain, Russia, and Prussia, marked the culmination of the
Prince's diplomacy. But the Treaty of
Vienna
Vienna had infuriated the court
of King Louis XV: the French had been ignored and the Pragmatic
Sanction guaranteed, thus increasing Habsburg influence and confirming
Austria's vast territorial size. The Emperor also intended Maria
Theresa to marry Francis Stephen of Lorraine which would present an
unacceptable threat on France's border. By the beginning of 1733 the
French army was ready for war: all that was needed was the
excuse.[108]
War of the Polish Succession[edit]
Main article: War of the Polish Succession
Portrait of Prince Eugene of
Savoy
Savoy by Jan Kupecký. Shown here in late
middle age.
In 1733 the Polish King and Elector of Saxony, Augustus the Strong,
died. There were two candidates for his successor: first, Stanisław
Leszczyński, the father-in-law of Louis XV; second, the Elector of
Saxony's son, Augustus, supported by Russia, Austria, and Prussia. The
Polish succession had afforded Louis XV's chief minister, Fleury, the
opportunity to attack Austria and take Lorraine from Francis Stephen.
In order to gain Spanish support France backed the succession of
Elisabeth Farnese's sons to further Italian lands.[109]
Eugene entered the
War of the Polish Succession
War of the Polish Succession as President of the
Imperial War Council
Imperial War Council and commander-in-chief of the army, but he was
severely handicapped by the quality of his troops and the shortage of
funds; now in his seventies, the Prince was also burdened by rapidly
declining physical and mental powers. France declared war on Austria
on 10 October 1733, but without the funds from the Maritime
Powers—who, despite the
Vienna
Vienna treaty, remained neutral throughout
the war—Austria could not hire the necessary troops to wage an
offensive campaign. "The danger to the monarchy," wrote Eugene to the
Emperor in October, "cannot be exaggerated".[110] By the end of the
year Franco-Spanish forces had seized Lorraine and Milan; by early
1734 Spanish troops had taken Sicily.
Eugene's Stadtpalais, Vienna, where he conducted most of his business.
Eugene took command on the
Rhine
Rhine in April 1734, but vastly outnumbered
he was forced onto the defensive. In June Eugene set out to relieve
Philippsburg, yet his former drive and energy was now gone.
Accompanying Eugene was a young Frederick the Great, sent by his
father to learn the art of war. Frederick gained considerable
knowledge from Eugene, recalling in later life his great debt to his
Austrian mentor, but the Prussian prince was aghast at Eugene's
condition, writing later, "his body was still there but his soul had
gone."[111] Eugene conducted another cautious campaign in 1735, once
again pursuing a sensible defensive strategy on limited resources; but
his short-term memory was by now practically non-existent, and his
political influence disappeared completely—
Gundaker Starhemberg and
Johann Christoph von Bartenstein now dominated the conference in his
place. However, fortunately for Charles VI Fleury was determined to
limit the scope of the war, and in October 1735 he granted generous
peace preliminaries to the Emperor.[112]
Homosexuality[edit]
Despite being one of the richest and most celebrated men of his age,
Eugene never married and the suggestion is that he was predominantly
homosexual. History knows little of his life before 1683. In his early
boyhood in
Paris
Paris "he belonged to a small, effeminate set that included
such unabashed perverts as the young abbé de Choisy who was
invariably dressed as a girl" wrote the English historian Nicholas
Henderson in the 1960s.[113] The Duchess of Orléans, who had known
Eugene from those days, would later write to her aunt, Princess Sophia
of Hanover, describing Eugene's antics with lackeys and pages. He was
"a vulgar whore" along with the Prince of Turenne, and "often played
the woman with young people" with the nickname of 'Madame Simone' or
'Madam l'Ancienne'. He preferred a "couple of fine page boys" to any
woman, and was refused an ecclesiastical benefice due to his
"depravity".[7][114]
Of related interest is a popular soldier's song which parodied an
imaginary voyage by Eugene and the marquis de la Moussaye on the
Rhine. A storm breaks and the general fears the worst, but the Marquis
consoles him: "Our lives are safe/ For we are sodomites/ Destined to
perish only by fire/ We shall land." A comment made by Johann Matthias
von der Schulenburg in 1709, who had served under Eugene, could be
read that the prince enjoyed "la petite débauche et la p[ine]
au-delà de tout," or that he derived his sexual gratification from
the virile member of others.[115]
Last years and death[edit]
During the last 20 years of his life Eugene was particularly close to
Countess Eleonora Batthyány, daughter of Count Theodor von
Strattman.[116] Much about their acquaintance remains speculative
(Eugene never mentions her in any of his surviving letters), and there
is certainly no suggestion of a sexual relationship, but although they
lived apart most foreign diplomats regarded Eleonora as his "official
lover". Eugene and Eleonora were constant companions, meeting for
dinner, receptions and card games almost every day till his death. But
their surviving correspondence does not indicate any real intimacy in
the relationship. Eugene's other friends such as the papal nuncio,
Passionei, made up for the family he still lacked.
For his only surviving nephew, Emmanuel, the son of his brother Louis
Thomas, Eugene arranged a marriage with one of the daughters of Prince
Liechenstein, but Emmanuel died of smallpox in 1729. With the death of
Emmanuel's son in 1734, no close male relatives remained to succeed
the Prince. His closest relative, therefore, was Louis Thomas's
unmarried daughter, Princess Maria Anna Victoria of Savoy, whom Eugene
had never met and, as he had heard nothing but bad of her, made no
effort to do so.[117]
Eugene returned to
Vienna
Vienna from the
War of the Polish Succession
War of the Polish Succession in
October 1735, weak and feeble; when Maria Theresa and Francis Stephen
married in February 1736 Eugene was too ill to attend. After playing
cards at Countess Batthyány's on the evening of 20 April he returned
to his bed at the Stadtpalais. When his servants arrived to wake him
the next morning, 21 April 1736, they found Prince Eugene dead after
choking from phlegm in his throat, presumably after suffering from
pneumonia. Eugene's heart was buried with those of others of his
family in Turin. His remains were carried in a long procession to St.
Stephen's Cathedral, where the body was interred in the
Kreuzkapelle.[118]
Countess Batthyány expressed in a letter dated 23 December 1720, that
at the Kreuzkapelle a solemn requiem would be held annually. She
dedicated for this purpose two thousand guilders.[119]
Patron of the arts[edit]
Portrait of Prince Eugene by Jacob van Schuppen.
Eugene's rewards for his victories, his share of booty, his revenues
from his abbeys in Savoy, and a steady income from his Imperial
offices and governorships, enabled him to contribute to the landscape
of Baroque architecture.[120] Eugene spent most of his life in Vienna
at his Winter Palace, the Stadtpalais, built by Fischer von Erlach.
The palace acted as his official residence and home, but for reasons
that remain speculative the Prince's association with Fischer ended
before the building was complete, favouring instead Johann Lukas von
Hildebrandt as his chief architect.[121] Eugene first employed
Hildebrandt to finish the Stadtpalais before commissioning him to
prepare plans for a palace (
Savoy
Savoy Castle) on his Danubian island at
Ráckeve. Began in 1701 the single-story building took twenty years to
complete; yet, probably because of the Rákóczi revolt, the Prince
seems to have visited it only once—after the siege of
Belgrade
Belgrade in
1717.[122]
Upper Belvedere, Vienna.
Of more importance was the grandiose complex of the two Belvedere
palaces in Vienna. The single-storey Lower Belvedere, with its exotic
gardens and zoo, was completed in 1716. The Upper Belvedere, completed
between 1720 and 1722, is a more substantial building; with sparkling
white stucco walls and copper roof it became a wonder of Europe.
Eugene and Hildebrandt also converted an existing structure on his
Marchfeld estate into a country seat, the Schlosshof, situated between
the Rivers
Danube
Danube and Morava.[123] The building, completed in 1729,
was far less elaborate than his other projects but it was strong
enough to serve as a fortress in case of need. Eugene spent much of
his spare time there in his last years accommodating large hunting
parties.[124]
In the years following the Peace of Rastatt Eugene became acquainted
with a large number of scholarly men. Given his position and
responsiveness they were keen to meet him: few could exist without
patronage and this was probably the main reason for Gottfried
Leibniz's association with him in 1714.[125] Eugene also befriended
the French writer
Jean-Baptiste Rousseau
.jpg)
Jean-Baptiste Rousseau who, by 1716, was receiving
financial support from Eugene. Rousseau stayed on attached to the
Prince's household, probably helping in the library, until he left for
the Netherlands in 1722.[126] Another acquaintance, Montesquieu,
already famous for his
Persian Letters
Persian Letters when he arrived in
Vienna
Vienna in
1728, favourably recalled his time spent at the Prince's table.
Nevertheless, Eugene had no literary pretensions of his own, and was
not tempted like
Maurice de Saxe
.PNG/440px-Maurice_de_Saxe_(1696-1750).PNG)
Maurice de Saxe or Marshal Villars to write his
memoirs or books on the art of war. He did, however, become a
collector on the grandest scale: his picture galleries were filled
with 16th- and 17th-century Italian, Dutch and Flemish art;[127] his
library at the Stadtpalais crammed with over 15,000 books, 237
manuscripts as well as a huge collection of prints (of particular
interest were books on natural history and geography). "It is hardly
believable," wrote Rousseau, "that a man who carries on his shoulders
the burden of almost all the affairs of Europe … should find as much
time to read as though he had nothing else to do."[128] At Eugene's
death his possessions and estates, except those in Hungary which the
crown reclaimed, went to his niece, Princess Maria Anna Victoria, who
at once decided to sell everything. The artwork was bought by Charles
Emmanuel III of Sardinia. Eugene's library, prints and drawings were
purchased by the Emperor in 1737 and have since passed into Austrian
national collections.[118]
Assessment[edit]
Eugene's monument in Heldenplatz, Vienna, by Anton Dominik Fernkorn.
Napoleon
Napoleon considered Eugene one of the seven greatest commanders of
history.[129] Although later military critics have disagreed with that
assessment, Eugene was undoubtedly the greatest Austrian general.[130]
He was no military innovator, but he had the ability to make an
inadequate system work. He was equally adept as an organizer,
strategist, and tactician, believing in the primacy of battle and his
ability to seize the opportune moment to launch a successful
attack.[130] "The important thing," wrote
Maurice de Saxe
Maurice de Saxe in his
Reveries, "is to see the opportunity and to know how to use it. Prince
Eugene possessed this quality which is the greatest in the art of war
and which is the test of the most elevated genius."[131] This fluidity
was key to his battlefield successes in Italy and in his wars against
the Turks. Nevertheless, in the Low Countries, particularly after the
battle of Oudenarde in 1708, Eugene, like his cousin Louis of Baden,
tended to play safe and become bogged down in a conservative strategy
of sieges and defending supply lines. After the attempt on Toulon in
1707, he also became very wary of combined land/sea operations.[67] To
historian Derek McKay, however, the main criticism of him as a general
is his legacy—he left no school of officers nor an army able to
function without him.[130]
Eugene's statue, Buda Castle, Budapest, Hungary.
Eugene was a disciplinarian—when ordinary soldiers disobeyed orders
he was prepared to shoot them himself—but he rejected blind
brutality, writing "you should only be harsh when, as often happens,
kindness proves useless".[132] On the battlefield Eugene demanded
courage in his subordinates, and expected his men to fight where and
when he wanted; his criteria for promotion were based primarily on
obedience to orders and courage on the battlefield rather than social
position. On the whole his men responded because he was willing to
push himself as hard as them. However, his position as President of
the
Imperial War Council
Imperial War Council proved less successful. Following the long
period of peace after the Austro-Turkish War, the idea of creating a
separate field army or providing garrison troops with effective
training for them to be turned into such an army quickly was never
considered by Eugene. By the time of the War of the Polish Succession,
therefore, the Austrians were outclassed by a better prepared French
force. For this Eugene was largely to blame—in his view (unlike the
drilling and manoeuvres carried out by the Prussians which to Eugene
seemed irrelevant to real warfare) the time to create actual fighting
men was when war came.[132] But although Frederick the Great had been
struck by the muddle of the Austrian army and its poor organisation
during the Polish Succession war, he later amended his initial harsh
judgements. "If I understand anything of my trade," commented
Frederick in 1758, "especially in the more difficult aspects, I owe
that advantage to Prince Eugene. From him I learnt to hold grand
objectives constantly in view, and direct all my resources to those
ends."[133] To historian
Christopher Duffy it was this awareness of
the 'grand strategy' that was Eugene's legacy to Frederick.[133]
To his responsibilities Eugene attached his own personal
values—physical courage, loyalty to his sovereign, honesty,
self-control in all things—and he expected these qualities from his
commanders. Eugene's approach was dictatorial, but he was willing to
co-operate with someone he regarded as his equal, such as Baden or
Marlborough. Yet the contrast to his co-commander of the Spanish
Succession war were stark. "Marlborough," wrote Churchill, "was the
model husband and father, concerned with building up a home, founding
a family, and gathering a fortune to sustain it"; whereas Eugene, the
bachelor, was "disdainful of money, content with his bright sword and
his lifelong animosities against Louis XIV.[134] The result was an
austere figure, inspiring respect and admiration rather than
affection.[135] The huge equestrian statue in the centre of Vienna
commemorates Eugene's achievements. It is inscribed on one side, 'To
the wise counsellor of three Emperors', and on the other, 'To the
glorious conqueror of Austria's enemies'.[136]
Usage[edit]
Several ships have been named in Eugene's honour: Prinz Eugen, an
Austrian World War I battleship; the HMS Prince Eugene, British Royal
Navy World War I monitor; Italian light cruiser Eugenio di Savoia and
the
German cruiser Prinz Eugen
_at_sea_during_Operation_)
German cruiser Prinz Eugen (later USS Prinz Eugen), a World War II
heavy cruiser.
See also[edit]
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Prince Eugene of Savoy.
Prinz Eugen, der edle Ritter
20 euro Baroque commemorative coin
7th SS Volunteer Mountain Division Prinz Eugen
Ancestry[edit]
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Ancestors of Prince Eugene of Savoy
16. Emmanuel Philibert, Duke of Savoy
8. Charles Emmanuel I, Duke of Savoy
17. Margaret of France, Duchess of Berry
4. Thomas Francis, Prince of Carignano
18. Philip II of Spain
9. Infanta Catherine Michelle of Spain
19. Elisabeth of Valois
2. Eugene Maurice, Count of Soissons
20. Louis, Prince of Condé
10. Charles, Count of Soissons
21. Françoise d'Orléans-Longueville
5. Marie de Bourbon, Countess of Soissons
22. Louis de Montafié, Count of Montafié, Lord of Piedmont, Prince
of Carignano
11. Anne de Montafié
23. Jeanne de Coësmes, Dame de Lucé and de Bonnétable
1. Eugene of Savoy
24. Lorenzo II Mancini
12. Paolo Mancini
25. Olimpia Massimo
6. Lorenzo Mancini
26. Vincent Capocci
13. Vittoria Capocci
27. Lucrèce Glorieri
3. Olympia Mancini
28. Girolamo Mazarini
14. Pietro Mazzarini
29. Margherita de Franchis Passavera
7. Girolama Mazzarini
30. Giulio Buffalini, Count of San Giustino
15. Ortensia Bufalini
31. Francesca Belloni
Notes[edit]
^ The literature of the arms of Prince Eugene is small. Franz Gall:
Österreichische Wappenkunde. Handbuch der Wappenwissenschaft, Wien
1992, S. 369/70 und bei Andreas Cornaro: Das Gesamtwappen des Prinzen
Eugen in: Festschrift zum zehnjährigen Bestand des Reiterordens Prinz
Eugen, Wien 1983. Another 2 depictions are given in Karl Gutkas in
Prinz Eugen und das barocke Österreich, Wien 1986, S. 88. Cornaro und
Gutkas nahmen an, dass das spanische Wappen dem Wappen von Savoyen
nach dem
Frieden von Utrecht
.jpg/400px-The_Treaty_of_Utrecht_(clean).jpg)
Frieden von Utrecht hinzugefügt wurde. In Korbinian Erdmann:
Das Wappen des Prinzen Eugen von Savoyen, Univ., Bachelorarbeit,
Passau
Passau 2011, S. 41-45 wherein most of it is laid out. Also depicted is
the arms of Eugene's fathere Eugene Maurice of Savoy-Carignan. This
shield appear after or around 1585, after the marriage of Karl
Emmanuelle I. of
Savoy
Savoy with Catherine Maria of Spain. Both arms
variants are in Erdmann, S. 4/5 parallel verwendet.
^ Karl Gutkas: Prinz Eugen und das barocke Österreich, Wien 1986, S.
87. Siehe hierzu auch Andreas Cornaro: Das Gesamtwappen des Prinzen
Eugen in: Festschrift zum zehnjährigen Bestand des Reiterordens Prinz
Eugen, Wien 1983, S. 8-19 sowie Korbinian Erdmann: Das Wappen des
Prinzen Eugen von Savoyen, Univ., Bachelorarbeit,
Passau
Passau 2011.
^ see also Armorial of the House of Savoy(fr)
^ McKay: Prince Eugene of Savoy, 9–10
^ Somerset: The Affair of the Poisons: Murder, Infanticide and
Satanism at the Court of Louis XIV, 252
^ McKay: Prince Eugene of Savoy, 9
^ a b Henderson: Prince Eugen of Savoy, 9
^ Heer: The Holy Roman Empire, 228. This was a clear infringement of
taboo which Louis could not tolerate. There is speculation of other
reasons. Louvois, Louis' Secretary of State for War, detested Eugene's
mother after she had rejected a proposed marriage between her daughter
and his son.
^ Heer states Eugene's departure date was 21 July.
^ Childs: Warfare in the Seventeenth Century, 133. Childs puts the
number at 100,000; John Wolf, as high as 200,000.
^ Stoye: The Siege of Vienna, 114
^ a b Henderson: Prince Eugen of Savoy, 12
^ Churchill: Marlborough: His Life and Times, Bk. 1, 467
^ The life of Prince Eugene of Savoy, Charles de Ligne
^ Henderson: Prince Eugen of Savoy, 13
^ MacMunn: Prince Eugene: Twin Marshal with Marlborough, 32
^ McKay: Prince Eugene of Savoy, 22
^ MacMunn: Prince Eugene: Twin Marshal with Marlborough, 35
^ Setton: Venice, Austria, and the Turks in the Seventeenth Century,
pp. 287–89
^ MacMunn: Prince Eugene: Twin Marshal with Marlborough, p. 39.
Leopold responded with a gift of a portrait of himself set in a
diamond encrusted frame
^ a b McKay: Prince Eugene of Savoy, p. 27
^ Lynn: The Wars of Louis XIV, 1667–1714, pp. 192–193
^ McKay: Prince Eugene of Savoy, p. 33
^ Henderson: Prince Eugen of Savoy, p. 32
^ Henderson: Prince Eugen of Savoy, p. 33
^ Henderson: Prince Eugen of Savoy, p. 34. His promotion, however, had
as much to do with the lack of good Imperial commanders as much as
Eugene's proven ability thus far. There were more than 20 other
Field-Marshals in Imperial service at that time.
^ a b McKay: Prince Eugene of Savoy, p. 37
^ Setton: Venice, Austria, and the Turks in the Seventeenth Century,
p. 390
^ Spielman: Leopold I of Austria, 165. Augustus II left for
Kraków
Kraków to
contest the election for the Polish throne, vacant since the death of
John III Sobieski
John III Sobieski the previous year.
^ McKay: Prince Eugene of Savoy, p. 43
^ Spielman: Leopold I of Austria, p. 166
^ Coxe: History of the House of Austria, II, pp. 455–456
^ Setton: Venice, Austria, and the Turks in the Seventeenth Century,
401–02. Eugene lost 401 men and 28 officers killed, and 133 officers
and 1,435 men were wounded.
^ Henderson: Prince Eugen of Savoy, p. 43
^ McKay: Prince Eugene of Savoy, p. 46
^ Henderson: Prince Eugen of Savoy, 50–51
^ Coxe. History of Austria, II, p. 457
^ Wolf: The Emergence of the Great Powers: 1685–1715, p. 59
^ McKay: Prince Eugene of Savoy, p. 60
^ Coxe: History of the House of Austria, II, p. 483
^ Henderson: Prince Eugen of Savoy, p. 67
^ McKay: Prince Eugene of Savoy, p. 64
^ Lynn: The Wars of Louis XIV, 1667–1714, 276
^ Spielman: Leopold I of Austria, p. 188
^ McKay: Prince Eugene of Savoy, p. 66. Eugene was in no doubt the
blame lay with Leopold and his ministry, namely Henry Mansfeld and
Gotthard Salaburg.
^ Spielman: Leopold I of Austria, p. 189
^ McKay: Prince Eugene of Savoy, p. 73
^ Chandler:
Marlborough as Military Commander p. 124
^ Chandler:
Marlborough as Military Commander p. 125
^ Chandler:
Marlborough as Military Commander p. 126
^ Churchill: Marlborough: His Life and Times, Bk. 1 vol II, p. 731
^ Lediard: The Life of John, Duke of Marlborough, I, p. 199
^ McKay: Prince Eugene of
Savoy
Savoy p. 87
^ Churchill: Marlborough: His Life and Times, Bk. 1 vol II, p. 865
^ Coxe: History of the House of Austria, III, p. 15
^ McKay: Prince Eugene of Savoy, p. 94
^ Coxe: History of the House of Austria, III, 17
^ The Duke of
Marlborough had supplied Eugene with 10,000
reinforcements, as well as a loan of £250,000.
^ Saint-Simon. Memoirs, 303
^ Churchill: Marlborough: His Life and Times, Bk. 2, III, p. 182.
Eugene took little interest in Milan: he never returned after 1707.
^ Coxe: History of the House of Austria, III, p. 28
^ Chandler:
Marlborough as Military Commander, p. 199
^ Eugene's army was made up almost entirely of Germans paid for by
Britain and the Dutch Republic.
^ Churchill: Marlborough: His Life and Times, Bk. 2, III, p. 350. It
was also at this time that Eugene visited his mortally ill mother in
Brussels
Brussels for the last time. She died later that year in 1708.
^ Lynn: The Wars of Louis XIV, 1667–1714, 319
^ Henderson: Prince Eugen of Savoy, p. 162
^ a b Chandler:
Marlborough as Military Commander, p. 224
^ McKay: Prince Eugene of Savoy, p. 117: When King Louis XIV heard
about Eugene's wound, he remarked, "I certainly don't want Prince
Eugene to die but I should not be sorry if his wound stopped him
taking any further part in the campaign."
^ McKay: Prince Eugene of Savoy, p. 121
^ Henderson: Prince Eugen of Savoy, p. 171
^ Chandler:
Marlborough as Military Commander, p. 249. Coxe says the
citadel fell on 4 September. Chandler describes the siege as one of
the hardest fought and least pleasant of modern history. This time,
Marlborough conducted the siege while Eugene commanded the covering
force.
^ Coxe: History of the House of Austria, III, p. 58
^ Lynn: The Wars of Louis XIV, 1667–1714, p. 335
^ McKay: Prince Eugene of Savoy, p. 128
^ McKay: Prince Eugene of Savoy, p. 130–131
^ Lynn gives the signing date as 1 May
^ Wolf: The Emergence of the Great Powers: 1685–1715, p. 89.
Although the Tory ministers did not inform Eugene of the restraining
orders, they did inform Marshal Villars. In October 1712 the Tory
government even communicated to the French what they knew of Eugene's
war plans.
^ Lynn: The Wars of Louis XIV, 1667–1714, p. 352–354
^ McKay: Prince Eugene of Savoy, 154
^ a b Lynn: The Wars of Louis XIV, 1667–1714, p. 357
^ McKay: Prince Eugene of Savoy, p. 145
^ For a detailed description of Prince Eugene's role in the peace
conference and treaty of Baden see Das Diarium des Badener Friedens
1714 von Caspar Joseph Dorer. Mit Einleitung und Kommentar
herausgegeben von Barbara Schmid (= Beiträge zur Aargauer Geschichte.
18). Baden: Hier und Jetzt, 2014, ISBN 978-3-03919-327-1.
^ Coxe: History of the House of Austria, III, p. 100
^ McKay: Prince Eugene of Savoy, pp. 159–160
^ a b Setton: Venice, Austria, and the Turks in the Seventeenth
Century, p. 435
^ Setton: Venice, Austria, and the Turks in the Seventeenth Century,
p. 435; McKay: Prince Eugene of Savoy, p. 161
^ Setton: Venice, Austria, and the Turks in the Seventeenth Century,
pp. 438–439
^ Coxe: History of the House of Austria, III, p. 102
^ McKay: Prince Eugene of Savoy, p. 165
^ McKay: Prince Eugene of Savoy, p. 166
^ Henderson: Prince Eugen of Savoy, p. 221. By 1720 the Kingdom of
Serbia
Serbia was (re)established, under the governorship of Charles
Alexander of Wurttemberg.
^ Coxe: History of the House of Austria, III, 106
^ a b McKay: Prince Eugene of Savoy, 170
^ Coxe: History of the House of Austria, III, 108
^ McKay: Prince Eugene of Savoy, 172. Isolated Spanish troops held on
around
Palermo
Palermo till the end of 1719, while no expedition could even be
attempted on Sardinia.
^ The Spanish Council consisted of Spaniards and Italians who had
followed Charles VI from Spain after the Spanish Succession war. The
most senior member of the council and an implacable enemy of Eugene
was the Archbishop of Valencia, Antonio Folch de Cardona; but the most
important members were Count Stella and the Marquis Ramon de Rialp.
The council controlled Charles VI's lands in Italy.
^ McKay: Prince Eugene of Savoy, 177
^ McKay: Prince Eugene of Savoy, 180. Eugene was reluctant to leave
his palaces and friends: it would probably have meant his resignation
from his chief interest, the war council.
^ McKay: Prince Eugene of Savoy, 186. De Prié stood down in the
spring of 1725 to avoid dismissal.
^ McKay: Prince Eugene of Savoy, 187
^ Philip V and Elisabeth approached Austria to exploit Charles VI's
isolation, and his differences with the Maritime Powers over the
Ostend Company. They intended to conclude marriage alliances for their
two sons to the Emperor's daughters, aiming to bring their children
control of Habsburg hereditary lands and most of Italy.
^ Hatton: George I, 274–75: Sweden, Denmark, and the Dutch Republic
signed the Treaty of Hanover in 1727.
^ McKay: Prince Eugene of Savoy, 213
^ Coxe: History of the House of Austria, III, 139. The Allies failed
to support Frederick William's claims to Jülich-Berg.
^ a b McKay: Prince Eugene of Savoy, 219
^ Simms: Three Victories and a Defeat: The Rise and Fall of the First
British Empire, 218
^ Simms: Three Victories and a Defeat: The Rise and Fall of the First
British Empire, 215–19; McKay and Scott: The Rise of the Great
Powers: 1648–1815, 136
^ McKay & Scott: The Rise of the Great Powers: 1648–1815,
136–37
^ Simms: Three Victories and a Defeat: The Rise and Fall of the First
British Empire, 231; McKay & Scott: The Rise of the Great Powers:
1648–1815, 141
^ Henderson: Prince Eugen of Savoy, 278
^ McKay: Prince Eugene of Savoy, 239
^ McKay: Prince Eugene of Savoy, 240
^ Nicholas Henderson, Eugen of Savoy, London, 1964
^ Wilhelm Ludwig Holland (ed), Briefe der Herzogin Elisabeth Charlotte
von Orleans, Stuttgart, 1867
^ Curt Riess, Auch Du, Casar, Homosexualitat als Schicksal, Munich:
Universitas, 1981
^ There was one reference to another woman before Batthyány. The
Swedish minister in
Vienna
Vienna makes reference to Countess Maria
Thürheim. There is, however, no evidence for or against this
suggestion.
^ McKay: Prince Eugene of Savoy, 203
^ a b McKay: Prince Eugene of Savoy, 243
^ Strattmann, Theodor Heinrich, von Hanns Schlitter in: Allgemeine
Deutsche Biographie, herausgegeben von der Historischen Kommission bei
der Bayerischen Akademie der Wissenschaften, Band 36 (1893), S.
518–520
^ McKay: Prince Eugene of Savoy, p. 189. Eugene's presidency of the
Imperial War Council
Imperial War Council was probably worth 100,000 gulden a year, while
his governorships of Milan and the Netherlands were likely to have
brought in 150,000 gulden annually.
^ There is no indication of a quarrel with Erlach, just a desired
change in style. Hildebrandt had accompanied Eugene in Italy as his
siege engineer in 1695–96 and made Imperial court engineer in 1701.
^ McKay: Prince Eugene of Savoy, p. 193
^ Eugene had purchased this land in 1726.
^ McKay: Prince Eugene of Savoy, p. 195. Maria Theresa brought the
Schlosshof in 1755.
^ McKay: Prince Eugene of Savoy, p. 199. The German philosopher got to
know the Prince during his visit to
Vienna
Vienna in 1714, trying to persuade
Charles VI to found an Academy of Science.
^ Rousseau had not been long in the Netherlands before he joined the
conspiracy to remove Eugene from the post of Governor General.
^ Henderson: Prince Eugen of Savoy, p. 256. Amongst the list of
artists who worked for Eugene was the Italian, Giuseppe Maria Crespi.
^ Henderson: Prince Eugen of Savoy, p. 259
^ Henderson, Prince Eugen of Savoy, xi. The others were Alexander the
Great, Hannibal, Julius Caesar, Gustavus Aldolphus, Turenne, and
Frederick the Great.
^ a b c McKay, Prince Eugene of Savoy, p. 246–247
^ De Saxe, Maurice. Reveries on the Art of War, p. 119
^ a b McKay, Prince Eugene of Savoy, p. 228–232
^ a b Duffy, Frederick the Great: A Military Life, p. 17
^ Churchill, Winston. Marlborough: His Life and Times, Bk. 1, II, pp.
774–775
^ McKay, Prince Eugene of Savoy, p. 248
^ Henderson, Prince Eugen of Savoy, p. xi
References[edit]
Primary[edit]
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1691–1709. Volume 1. Prion Books Ltd. ISBN 978-1-85375-352-7
OCLC 835927465
Saxe, Maurice de (2007 [1757]). Reveries on the Art of War. Dover
Publications Inc. ISBN 978-0-486-46150-2 OCLC 84903033
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Chandler, David G (1990). The Art of Warfare in the Age of
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Coxe, William (1864). History of the House of Austria. 6 Volumes.
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Duffy, Christopher (1985). Frederick the Great: A Military Life.
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War of the Spanish Succession 1701 - 1714 (2015)
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1648–1815. Longman. ISBN 978-0-582-48554-9 OCLC 8194784
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Setton, Kenneth M. (1991). Venice, Austria, and the Turks in the
Seventeenth Century. American Philosophical Society.
ISBN 978-0-87169-192-7 OCLC 24198465
Simms, Brendan (2008). Three Victories and a Defeat: The Rise and Fall
of the First British Empire. Penguin. ISBN 978-0-14-028984-8
OCLC 230193500, 881283102
Somerset, Anne (2004). The Affair of the Poisons: Murder, Infanticide
and Satanism at the Court of Louis XIV. Phoenix.
ISBN 978-0-7538-1784-1 OCLC 59264609
Spielman, John (1977). Leopold I of Austria. Thames and Hudson Ltd.
ISBN 978-0-500-87005-1 OCLC 2857311
Stoye, John (2000). The Siege of Vienna. Birlinn Ltd.
ISBN 978-1-84341-037-9 OCLC 219959588
Sweet, Paul R. "Prince Eugene of
Savoy
Savoy and Central Europe." American
Historical Review 57.1 (1951): 47-62. in JSTOR
Sweet, Paul R. "Prince Eugene of Savoy: Two New Biographies." Journal
of Modern History 38.2 (1966): 181-186. in JSTOR
Wolf, John B (1962). The Emergence of the Great Powers: 1685–1715.
Harper & Row. ISBN 978-0-06-139750-9 OCLC 464788044,
680101808
Further reading[edit]
Arneth, Alfred. (1858–64). Prinz Eugen von Savoyen. 3 Volumes.
Vienna
Vienna OCLC 180451821, 180452392, 180452386
Braubach, Max. (1963–65). Prinz Eugen von Savoyen. 5 Volumes. Vienna
OCLC 697500
Ingrao, Charles; Samardžić, Nikola; Pešalj, Jovan, eds. (2011). The
Peace of Passarowitz, 1718. West Lafayette: Purdue University
Press.
v
t
e
Princes of Savoy
1st Generation
None
2nd Generation
Prince Anthony
Prince Anthony
Louis, Duke of Savoy
Amadeus, Prince of Piemont
Philip, Prince of Achaea
3rd Generation
Amadeus, Duke of Savoy
Louis, Count of Geneva
Prince Giovanni
Philip, Duke of Savoy
Giano, Count of Faucigny and Geneva
Pietro, Bishop of Geneva
Prince Aimone
Prince Giacomo
Giovanni Ludovico, Bishop of Geneva
Jacques, Count of Romont
4th Generation
Prince Luigi
Carlo, Prince of Piedmont
Philibert, Duke of Savoy
Prince Bernardo
Charles, Duke of Savoy
James Louis, Count of Genevois
Prince Gian Claudio Galeazzo
Prince Girolamo
Philibert, Duke of Savoy
Charles, Duke of Savoy
Prince Louis
Philippe, Duke of Nemours
Prince Assolone
Prince Giovanni Amedeo
Prince Emanuele Filiberto Adriano
Prince Louis
Emmanuel Philibert, Duke of Savoy
5th Generation
Charles Emmanuel I, Duke of Savoy
Jacques, Duke of Nemours
6th Generation
Filippo Emanuele, Prince of Piedmont
Victor Amadeus I, Duke of Savoy
Charles Emmanuel, Duke of Nemours
Henri, Prince de Genevois
Prince Louis
Prince François Paul
Henri, Duke of Nemours
Thomas Francis, Prince of Carignano
Maurice, Cardinal of Savoy
Prince Emmanuel Filibert
7th Generation
Prince Louis Amadeus
Francis Hyacinth, Duke of Savoy
Charles Emmanuel II, Duke of Savoy
Emmanuel Philibert, Prince of Carignano
Joseph Emmanuel, Count of Soissons
Eugene Maurice, Count of Soissons
8th Generation
Victor Amadeus II, King of Sardinia
Victor Amadeus, Prince of Carignano
Louis Thomas, Count of Soissons
Emanuel Philibert, Count of Dreux
Prince Philippe
Prince Eugene
Prince Louis Jules
9th Generation
Victor Amadeus, Prince of Piedmont
Charles Emmanuel III, King of Sardinia
Emanuele Philibert, Duke of Chablais
Louis Victor, Prince of Carignano
Eugenio, Count of Villafranca
Prince Tommaso
Emmanuel Thomas, Count of Soissons
10th Generation
Victor Amadeus, Duke of Aosta
Victor Amadeus III, King of Sardinia
Emanuele Filiberto, Duke of Aosta
Carlo, Duke of Chablais
Carlo, Duke of Aosta
Benedetto, Duke of Chablais
Victor Amadeus II, Prince of Carignano
Prince Tommaso
Eugene Jean, Count of Soissons
Giuseppe Maria, Count of Villafranca
11th Generation
Charles Emmanuel IV, King of Sardinia
Amedeus Alexander, Duke of Montferrat
Victor Emmanuel I, King of Sardinia
Maurizio, Duke of Montferrat
Charles Felix, King of Sardinia
Giuseppe, Count of Asti
Charles Emmanuel, Prince of Carignano
Eugenio, Duke of Carignano
12th Generation
Charles Albert, King of Sardinia
13th Generation
King Victor Emmanuel II of Italy
Ferdinand, Duke of Genoa
14th Generation
King Umberto I of Italy
King Amadeo I of Spain
Oddone, Duke of Montferrat
Tommaso, Duke of Genoa**
15th Generation
King Victor Emmanuel III of Italy
Emanuele Filiberto, Duke of Aosta***
Vittorio Emanuele, Count of Turin***
Luigi Amedeo, Duke of the Abruzzi***
Umberto, Count of Salemi***
Ferdinando, Duke of Genoa**
Filiberto, Duke of Genoa**
Adalberto, Duke of Bergamo**
Eugenio, Duke of Genoa**
16th Generation
King Umberto II of Italy
Amedeo, Duke of Aosta***
Aimone, Duke of Aosta***
17th Generation
Vittorio Emanuele, Prince of Naples
Amedeo, Duke of Aosta***
18th Generation
Emanuele Filiberto, Prince of Venice and Piedmont
Aimone, Duke of Apulia***
19th generation
Prince Umberto of Savoy-Aosta, Prince of Piedmont***
Prince Amedeo, Duke of the Abruzzi***
* member of a cadet branch of the House of Savoy
** Prince of Savoy-Genoa
*** Prince of Savoy-Aosta
Preceded by
Maximilian II Emanuel, Elector of Bavaria
As Governor of the
Spanish Netherlands
Spanish Netherlands
Governor of the Austrian Netherlands
1716–1725
Succeeded by
Count Wirich Philipp von Daun
Authority control
WorldCat Identities
VIAF: 64800019
LCCN: n81108980
ISNI: 0000 0001 2281 0256
GND: 118605941
SELIBR: 205895
SUDOC: 027297969
BNF: cb119370512 (data)
BIBSYS: 13006035
N
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