Franz Freiherr von Mercy (or Merci), Lord of Mandre and Collenburg ( 1597 – 3 August 1645), was a German field marshal in the

Thirty Years' War The Thirty Years' War, fought primarily in Central Europe between 1618 and 1648, was one of the most destructive conflicts in History of Europe, European history. An estimated 4.5 to 8 million soldiers and civilians died from battle, famine ...

who fought for the Imperial side and was commander-in-chief of the Bavarian army from 1643 to 1645. In that role, he destroyed a French army at Tuttlingen (1643), stalemated another at

Freiburg Freiburg im Breisgau or simply Freiburg is the List of cities in Baden-Württemberg by population, fourth-largest city of the German state of Baden-Württemberg after Stuttgart, Mannheim and Karlsruhe. Its built-up area has a population of abou ...

(1644), destroyed a third French army at Herbsthausen (1645) and was killed at the Second Battle of Nördlingen (1645).

Biography

Early life and career

Franz von Mercy was born at Longwy around 1597. His parents were Pierre Ernest de Mercy († 1619), governor of Longwy and Chamberlain of Duke Charles III of Lorraine, and Anne du Hautoy. Of his many siblings, his brothers Heinrich (1596–1659) and Kaspar (1600–1644) also became generals in the Imperial or Bavarian army. Franz entered military service most likely in the army of the Catholic League around the beginning of the

and changed over to imperial service later on. In 1625 he held the rank of captain in the regiment of Hannibal von Schauenburg and in 1626 he was mentioned as chamberlain of Archduke Leopold V of Tyrol.Pechtl, Andreas (2009): ''Nochmals Grimmelshausens „tapferer General" Franz von Mercy. Anmerkungen und Ergänzungen zum Beitrag von Martin Ruch.'' Simpliciana, XXXI, Frankfurt am Main: Peter Lang, pp. 479–504. By 1630 he had attained the rank of ''Obristwachtmeister'', and after distinguishing himself at the first Battle of Breitenfeld, where the Imperial army was destroyed and Mercy wounded, he commanded a regiment of foot with the rank of '' Obrist'' on the

Rhine The Rhine ( ) is one of the List of rivers of Europe, major rivers in Europe. The river begins in the Swiss canton of Graubünden in the southeastern Swiss Alps. It forms part of the Swiss-Liechtenstein border, then part of the Austria–Swit ...

. He repelled a Swedish attack led by Gustaf Horn on Konstanz in 1633. For his brother Ludwig (born 1614), who died of his injuries at the age of 19 on 6 October 1633 shortly after the last attack by the Swedes, Franz von Mercy had an artistic bronze epitaph made in the Konstanz Minster, which is still preserved today. On 2 March 1634, Mercy was taken prisoner in a battle near Thann against the Rhine Count Otto Louis of Salm-Kyrburg-Mörchingen. He was exchanged and from April onward he defended Rheinfelden against a Swedish siege, surrendering on 29 August after running out of food. He became a general with the rank of '' General-Feldwachtmeister'', and in 1635, 1636 and 1637 took part in further campaigns under command of Duke Charles IV of Lorraine on the Rhine and

Doubs Doubs (, ; ; ) is a department in the Bourgogne-Franche-Comté region in Eastern France. Named after the river Doubs, it had a population of 543,974 in 2019. In 1636 the Imperial army stationed in Lorraine and Burgundy under Matthias Gallas planned an attack on

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

from the south, but was stopped by French troops under

Bernard of Saxe-Weimar Bernard of Saxe-Weimar (; 16 August 160418 July 1639) was a German prince and general in the Thirty Years' War. Biography Born in Weimar in the Duchy of Saxe-Weimar, Bernard was the eleventh son of Johann, Duke of Saxe-Weimar, and Dorothea ...

. In the course of these campaigns Mercy took part in the siege of Colmar and in the successful relief of the French-besieged Dole in 1636. He besieged Héricourt unsuccessfully from 2 to 26 January 1637 and in June 1637 was defeated by Bernard at Gray with the loss of 1,000 men.

Bavarian general

In September 1638, the

elector of Bavaria The following is a list of monarchs during the history of Bavaria. Bavaria was ruled by several dukes and kings, partitioned and reunited, under several dynasties. Since 1918, Bavaria has been under a republican form of government, and from 19 ...

made him ''Generalfeldzeugmeister'' in the army of

Bavaria Bavaria, officially the Free State of Bavaria, is a States of Germany, state in the southeast of Germany. With an area of , it is the list of German states by area, largest German state by land area, comprising approximately 1/5 of the total l ...

, then the second largest army in

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

. During 1639, he screened the Imperial siege of Hohentwiel Castle under field marshal Geleen against attacks from the Breisgau. Confronted with a French-Weimarian incursion of the Lower Palatinate under the Duke of Longueville, Mercy and Geleen turned north, crossed the Rhine at

Speyer Speyer (, older spelling ; ; ), historically known in English as Spires, is a city in Rhineland-Palatinate in the western part of the Germany, Federal Republic of Germany with approximately 50,000 inhabitants. Located on the left bank of the r ...

and entrenched themselves in front of Longueville's army. In November, Longueville entered the

Rheingau The Rheingau (; ) is a region on the northern side of the Rhine between the German towns of Wiesbaden and Lorch, Hesse, Lorch near Frankfurt, reaching from the Western Taunus to the Rhine. It is situated in the German state of Hesse and is part ...

but was soon pushed back by Mercy and Geleen who ended their campaign with regaining Alzey and Bacharach. The following year, Mercy took part at the campaign of the main Imperial army under Archduke Leopold Wilhelm and Ottavio Piccolomini against the Swedes under

Johan Banér Johan Banér (23 June 1596 – 10 May 1641) was a Swedish field marshal in the Thirty Years' War. Early life Johan Banér was born at Djursholm Castle in Uppland. As a four-year-old he was forced to witness the execution of his father, the ...

. Mercy helped prevent the Swedes from invading Franconia. Repelling the Swedes and their allies to Hesse-Kassel, the Imperials and Bavarians laid in camp near

Fritzlar Fritzlar () is a small town (pop. 15,000) in the Schwalm-Eder-Kreis, Schwalm-Eder district in northern Hesse, Germany, north of Frankfurt, with a storied history. The town has a medieval center ringed by a wall with numerous watch towers. high ...

for weeks in the immediate vicinity of their opponents. As both sides avoided a major battle, the Archduke concluded his campaign with capturing Höxter at the

Weser The Weser () is a river of Lower Saxony in north-west Germany. It begins at Hannoversch Münden through the confluence of the Werra and Fulda. It passes through the Hanseatic city of Bremen. Its mouth is further north against the ports o ...

river in October. Mercy himself returned to south-west Germany in late autumn. Snayers Einnahme Neunburg

Mercy protected the Imperial Diet in

Regensburg Regensburg (historically known in English as Ratisbon) is a city in eastern Bavaria, at the confluence of the rivers Danube, Naab and Regen (river), Regen, Danube's northernmost point. It is the capital of the Upper Palatinate subregion of the ...

with his troops from a Swedish attack by Banér in January 1641. When the thawing of the icy Danube stopped the Swedish advance, Imperial and Bavarian troops rallied and forced the Swedes to retreat in flight. In pursuit of the Swedes into Bohemia, the vanguard under Mercy's brother Kaspar repulsed the Swedish rearguard under Erik Slang into Neunburg vorm Wald, where they capitulated to the Imperial-Bavarian army under Piccolomini and Franz von Mercy after several days resistance. Banér escaped just ahead of Mercy and Piccolomini over the Preßnitz Pass into Saxony. Continuing on the heels of the Swedes, Mercy had to hand over command to his superior Joachim Christian von Wahl at

Zeitz Zeitz (; , ) is a town in the Burgenlandkreis district, in Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. It is situated on the river White Elster, in the triangle of the federal states Saxony-Anhalt, Thuringia, and Saxony. History First a Slavic pagan settlem ...

on 1 May. Without Banér, who died en route, the Swedes joined the Lüneburg army sieging

Wolfenbüttel Wolfenbüttel (; ) is a town in Lower Saxony, Germany, the administrative capital of Wolfenbüttel District Wolfenbüttel (; ) is a town in Lower Saxony, Germany, the administrative capital of Wolfenbüttel (district), Wolfenbüttel Distri ...

. In an attempt to relieve the fortress, Mercy ambushed and captured 500 besiegers on 28 June. The next day, he commanded the left wing in battle against the siege army, who could not driven from their positions. Only after Imperial and Bavarian forces had captured numerous towns in the surrounding countryside, their opponents abandoned the siege of Wolfenbüttel in September. Until winter, Mercy took part in the capture of Einbeck and a futile siege of

Göttingen Göttingen (, ; ; ) is a college town, university city in Lower Saxony, central Germany, the Capital (political), capital of Göttingen (district), the eponymous district. The River Leine runs through it. According to the 2022 German census, t ...

in November. In 1642 he received the command of the Bavarian troops in Swabia. In the course of the year he drove the opposing troops from Swabia and parts of the Breisgau. He was appointed a member of the Fruitbearing Society by Louis I, Prince of Anhalt-Köthen. Mercy was now considered one of the foremost soldiers in Europe, and was made '' Generalfeldmarschall'' on 31 May 1643. In 1643 he prevented the Weimarian army under the French Marshal Guébriant from invading Bavaria. As the successor to Wahl, who was in poor health, he also assumed command of the entire Bavarian army. He destroyed the French Marshal Rantzau's Weimarian army at the Battle of Tuttlingen (24–25 November), capturing the marshal and 7,000 men. In 1644, Mercy opposed the French armies, now under the Great Condé and the Vicomte de Turenne. He captured

and subsequently held it in an inconclusive but bloody

battle A battle is an occurrence of combat in warfare between opposing military units of any number or size. A war usually consists of multiple battles. In general, a battle is a military engagement that is well defined in duration, area, and force co ...

in August. On 2 May 1645, he defeated Turenne at Mergentheim. Later in 1645, fighting once more against Condé and Turenne, Mercy was killed by a musket ball at the Battle of Nördlingen (or Allerheim) on 3 August while leading reinforcements to the focus of the action. On the spot where he fell, a memorial stone with the inscription ''Sta, viator, heroem calcas!'' () was set up, allegedly at Condé's instruction. His body was first brought to Donauwörth on an artillery wagon and then to

Ingolstadt Ingolstadt (; Austro-Bavarian language, Austro-Bavarian: ) is an Independent city#Germany, independent city on the Danube, in Upper Bavaria, with 142,308 inhabitants (as of 31 December 2023). Around half a million people live in the metropolitan ...

the next day, where he was buried in the Church of Saint Maurice. The French Marshal Gramont, who had been captured at the battle, reports of the exuberant reception that Mercy received from the people of the city who had hurried to the gates. He was very popular and highly regarded in Ingolstadt, where he had been the fortress commander and governor.

Marriages and issue

Mercy was married three times. His first wife was Anna Margareta Bonn von Wachenheim who died around 1628 and made Mercy her sole heir. In 1630, Mercy married Anna Margareta von Schauenburg († 1636), a daughter of Johann Rainer von Schauenburg, the Landvogt of Ortenau. They had at least one daughter, Claudia (1631 – 1708) who later married Graf Bonaventura von Fugger (1619 – 1693), the first son of Otto Heinrich Fugger. The last wife of Franz von Mercy was Maria Magdalena von Flachsland who gave birth to most of his children, including three sons and one daughter who survived their childhood. All sons joined either the Austrian or the bavarian military. The first son Max Leopold inherited Mercy's own Bavarian

Regiment A regiment is a military unit. Its role and size varies markedly, depending on the country, military service, service, or administrative corps, specialisation. In Middle Ages, Medieval Europe, the term "regiment" denoted any large body of l ...

and later became imperial Generalfeldwachtmeister. The second son Peter Ernst von Mercy died in Austrian service deadly wounded in the Siege of Buda 1686, his son was

Count Claude Florimond de Mercy Count Claudius Florimund de Mercy (1666 – 29 June 1734) was an Imperial field marshal, born at Longwy in Lorraine, now in France. His grandfather was the Bavarian field marshal Franz Freiherr von Mercy. Mercy entered the Austrian ar ...

, generally recognized as the last male descendant of Franz von Mercy. The third son Ferdinand Franz died in 1683 as commander of the Bavarian fortress of Ingolstadt.

Notes

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mercy, Franz Freiherr von 1590s births 1645 deaths German barons Bavarian generals Generals of the Holy Roman Empire German military personnel killed in action Imperial Army personnel of the Thirty Years' War People from Longwy People from the Duchy of Bavaria