Guy Aldonce de Durfort de Lorges
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Marshal of France
The Marshal of France is a military distinction in contemporary France, not a military rank. It is granted to generals for exceptional achievements...
, (22 August 1630 – 22 October 1702), was a French nobleman and soldier.
Guy Aldonce was the fourth son of Guy Aldonce de Durfort (1605-1665), marquis of Duras, count of Rozan and of Lorges, maréchal de camp, and Élisabeth de La Tour d'Auvergne, daughter of Henri de La Tour d'Auvergne and the sister of Turenne.
His brother, Jacques Henri de Durfort de Duras
Jacques Henri de Durfort de Duras
Jacques Henri de Durfort, Duke of Duras was marshal of France.-Life:Jacques Henri was the oldest son of Guy Aldonce de Durfort , marquis of Duras, count of Rozan and of Lorges, maréchal de camp and of Élisabeth de La Tour d'Auvergne, sister of Henri de La Tour d'Auvergne, better known as...
, was also a Marshal of France
Marshal of France
The Marshal of France is a military distinction in contemporary France, not a military rank. It is granted to generals for exceptional achievements...
. It is possible that the fame of their uncle played a major part in the military career of Jacques-Henri and Guy Aldonce.
In the War of the Grand Alliance
War of the Grand Alliance
The Nine Years' War – often called the War of the Grand Alliance, the War of the Palatine Succession, or the War of the League of Augsburg – was a major war of the late 17th century fought between King Louis XIV of France, and a European-wide coalition, the Grand Alliance, led by the Anglo-Dutch...
he commanded the French army in Germany from 1690 to 1695. On 27 September 1692, he defeated 4,000 imperial cavalry under the command of Frederick Charles, Duke of Württemberg-Winnental; the following year in 1693, and took the city of Heidelberg
Heidelberg
-Early history:Between 600,000 and 200,000 years ago, "Heidelberg Man" died at nearby Mauer. His jaw bone was discovered in 1907; with scientific dating, his remains were determined to be the earliest evidence of human life in Europe. In the 5th century BC, a Celtic fortress of refuge and place of...
.
He married Gabrielle de Frémont, daughter of the keeper of the kIng's jewels. Many of his friends considered that he had married socially beneath him, but the marriage was a happy one, and even his son-in-law Saint-Simon, who disapproved of marriage between the classes, admitted that she was an admirable wife. They has one son and five daughters.
Marie Gabrielle de Durfort de Lorges, his eldest daughter married Louis de Rouvroy, duc de Saint-Simon
Louis de Rouvroy, duc de Saint-Simon
Louis de Rouvroy commonly known as Saint-Simon was a French soldier, diplomatist and writer of memoirs, was born in Paris...
. Another daughter, Geneviève, married Antoine Nompar de Caumont
Antoine Nompar de Caumont
Antoine Nompar de Caumont, marquis de Puyguilhem, duc de Lauzun was a French courtier and soldier. He was the only love interest of the "greatest heiress in Europe", Anne Marie Louise d'Orléans, cousin of Louis XIV.-Biography:...
, duke of Lauzun. Saint-Simon praises his father-in-law warmly in his memoirs, describing him as highly principled, frank, upright, good-natured, sincere and the most truthful man alive. He supplied his son-in-law with useful material for his memoirs, particularly on the early relations between Louis XIV and Madame de Maintenon.
According to Saint-Simon, his death was caused by an operation to remove a kidney-stone: the inexperienced surgeon mishandled the operation and Guy Aldonce died in agony, which he endured with great courage.