Prince Eugene of Savoy

Prince Eugene of Savoy (b. 1663–d. 1736) was a military commander, administrator, and diplomat in the service of the Austrian Habsburg emperors. He descended from a cadet branch of the Italian Dukes of Savoy known as Savoy-Carignan. He grew up in Louis XIV’s France, where he aspired to a military career. Denied a commission by the Sun King, Eugene joined the Austrian army in the campaign to relieve Vienna of a Turkish siege in 1683. He steadily rose through the ranks during the Great Turkish War (1683–1699) until he received independent commands. He commanded Austrian forces alongside his relative, Victor Amadeus II of Savoy, in Italy during the Nine Years’ War (1689–1697). Transferred back to the Balkans, he decisively defeated the Ottomans at Zenta (1697). He led the Austrian invasion of Italy that began the War of the Spanish Succession (1701–1714), and his campaigns in Lombardy included the battles of Carpi (1701), Chiari (1701), Cremona (1702), and Luzzara (1702). He then returned to Vienna during the Austrian crisis of 1703 and was named president of the Imperial War Council (Hofskriegsrat) by Leopold I, a position he held until his death. He commanded alongside John Churchill, Duke of Marlborough, at the Battle of Blenheim (1704). He returned to Italy to defeat the French at Turin (1706) and attacked Toulon (1707). He then campaigned alongside Marlborough in the Low Countries fighting the battles of Oudenaarde (1708) and Malplaquet (1709). After Great Britain’s withdrawal from the Grand Alliance, Marshal Villars defeated Eugene at Denain (1712). Eugene also served as a diplomat for the emperor, participating in negotiations in the Low Countries, and visited England in 1712, attempting to prevent Marlborough’s fall. He negotiated the Treaties of Rastatt and Baden (1714) ending the conflict between France and the Holy Roman Empire. In the subsequent Austro-Turkish War (1716–1718), he led Austrian forces to victory over the Ottomans at Petrovaradin (1716) and Belgrade (1717). He spent the intervening years building his residences throughout the monarchy, collecting artworks, patronizing intellectuals, administrating the Austrian army, and actively participating in the life of the Imperial court. His final campaigns were against the French during the War of the Polish Succession (1733–1735). He died in 1736 as one of the richest men in Europe, having accrued vast estates through his lifelong service to the Austrian emperors.