Adrien Maurice de Noailles

Adrien Maurice de Noailles, 3rd Duke of Noailles (29 September 1678 – 24 June 1766) was a French aristocrat and soldier.

Biography

Son of Anne Jules de Noailles, he inherited the title duc de Noailles on his father's death in 1708.

He fought in the War of the Spanish Succession (1710–1713) during which the forces under his command on 24–26 July 1710 drove back a British attack on Sète. He was president of the Finance Council from 1715 to 1718. He distinguished himself in the War of the Polish Succession (1733–1738) and was made a marshal of France in 1734, becoming dean of the marshals in 1748. He served in the War of the Austrian Succession and was appointed to command the French forces in March 1743. He was defeated at the Battle of Dettingen in June 1743, but successfully drove the Austrians out of Alsace-Lorraine the following year, although he missed an opportunity to seriously damage the Austrian army as it was crossing the Rhine. He was Foreign Minister from April to November 1744, and regarded Great Britain as a greater enemy of France than Austria. He later acted in a diplomatic capacity and had substantial influence over the course of foreign policy.

In 1698, as comte d'Ayen, he married Françoise Charlotte Amable d'Aubigné, niece and beneficiary of the marquise de Maintenon, and by her had six children, 4 daughters and 2 sons. His two sons Louis, 4th duc de Noailles, and Philippe, duc de Mouchy, also went on to become marshals of France.

The duc de Noailles was made a knight of the Order of the Golden Fleece in 1702, a Grandee of Spain in 1711, and a Knight of the Order of Saint-Esprit in 1724.

Issue

• Françoise Adélaide de Noailles (1704–1776) married Charles de Lorraine in 1717, son of Louis de Lorraine and had no issue; divorced in 1721;
• Amable Gabrielle de Noailles (1706–1742) married Honoré Armand de Villars and had one daughter, Amable Angélique de Villars; Amable Angélique may have been the daughter of le chevalier d'Orléans, whose mistress was Amable Gabrielle;
• Marie Louise de Noailles (1710–?) married in 1737 to Jacques Nompar de Caumont, Duke of La Force and divorced in 1742; had no issue;
• Louis de Noailles, duc d'Ayen, duc de Noailles (1713–1793) married Catherine Françoise Charlotte de Cossé-Brissac and had issue;
• Philippe de Noailles, comte de Noailles, duc de Mouchy (1715–1794) married the famous Madame Étiquette and had issue; wife was a Lady-in-waiting to Marie Antoinette; Louis and his wife were executed in the Revolution;
• Marie Anne Françoise de Noailles (1719–1793) married in 1744 Ludwig Engelbert de La Marck (1701–1773), Count of Schleiden.

See also