Villeroi

François de Neufville, duc de Villeroi 1644–1730, Marshal of France. In the wars of Louis XIV, he succeeded Marshal Luxembourg in 1695. He was unsuccessfull in Flanders, fighting the Dutch and the English in the War of the Grand Alliance. In the War of the Spanish Succession, he replaced Nicolas Catinat in Italy, was defeated by the Austrian commander Prince Eugene of Savoy at Chiari in 1701, and was taken prisoner at Cremona in 1702. In 1706 he was defeated by the Duke of Marlborough at Ramillies. Villeroi continued to serve in government and the army up to 1722, when he fell into disgrace for plotting against Philippe II of Orléans, the regent for Louis XV. He died eight years later, removed from any real power, as governor of Lyons.