Guy Aldonce de Durfort, 1st Duke of Quintin

Guy Aldonce de Durfort
duc de Quintin-Lorges
Reign	1691–1702
Successor	Guy Nicolas de Durfort de Lorges
Born	22 August 1630 Château de Duras (France)
Died	2 October 1702
Spouse(s)	Gabrielle de Frémont
Issue Detail	Marie Gabrielle, Geneviève, Guy Nicolas, Élisabeth Gabrielle, Claude Suzanne Thérèse, & Marie Louise Gabrielle
Father	Guy Aldonce de Durfort
Mother	Élisabeth de La Tour d'Auvergne

Guy Aldonce de Durfort, duc de Lorges, marshal of France, (1630–1702), is probably mainly known as Saint-Simon's father-in-law. However, he also was a renowned soldier, who commanded the French Army during the retreat from Sassbach, where his uncle Marshal Turenne had been killed.

Birth and origins

Guy Aldonce was born on 22 August 1630, at the Château de Duras, as the fourth son of Guy Aldonce de Durfort (1605-1665) and Élisabeth de La Tour d'Auvergne. His father was marquis of Duras, comte de Rauzan and comte de Lorges, as well as maréchal de camp in the French army. Guy's mother was a daughter of Henri de La Tour d'Auvergne and sister of the Marshal Turenne. She was a fervent Calvinist. Guy's parents had twelve children.

He appears below among his siblings as the fourth child:

1. Jacques Henri (1625–1704), marquis de Duras;
2. Frédérique Maurice (1626–1693), called Rauzan;
3. Armand (1630–1631), twin brother of Guy Aldonce II, died of the pest in his infancy;
4. Guy Aldonce (1630–1702), the subject of this article;
5. Élisabeth (1632–1715), married on 3 June 1656 Frédéric-Charles de La Rochefoucauld (1633-1690), comte de Roye;
6. Henriette (1633 – after 1667), married in 1653 Louis de Bourbon-Lavedan (1608-1667), marquis de Malauze;
7. Louis (1641–1709), marquis de Blanquefort, who became Count Feversham;
8. Charles Henri (died 1661), comte de Montgommery;
9. Henri (killed in Portugal), baron de Pujols;
10. Godefroy (killed 1669), comte de Rozan, colonel of foot, fell at Candia, Crete;
11. Louise Marie Madeleine, died young;
12. Marie (1648–1689), dame de compagnie of Elizabeth Charlotte, Madame Palatine, duchesse d'Orléans, died unmarried.

Guy was the fourth son, but his twin brother, Armand died as an infant and he therefore occupied the third position and was often called the third son. His father gave his subsidiary titles as courtesy titles to his sons. Guy was therefore, after the death of his twin brother, styled comte de Lorges. He was numbered "Guy Aldonce II de Durfort" in the Durfort family. His father was Guy Aldonce I de Durfort.

Guy's eldest brother, Jacques Henri de Durfort de Duras, was also a Marshal of France. It is possible that the fame of their uncle Turenne played a major part in the military careers of Jacques-Henri and Guy Aldonce.

Career

In the Franco-Dutch War (1672–1678) Guy Aldonce served under Turenne. When Turenne was killed in the Battle of Salzbach on 27 July 1675, he and the marquis de Vaubrun took over and commanded during the retreat from Sassbach and the Battle of Altenheim in August, where Vaubrun was killed. However he had to relinquish this command to Condé.

In the War of the Grand Alliance (1688–1697) he commanded the French army of the Rhine from 1690 to 1695. On 27 September 1692, he defeated 4,000 imperial cavalry under the command of Frederick Charles, Duke of Württemberg-Winnental, and in 1693 took the city of Heidelberg. In 1691 he was created "duc the Quintin-Lorge".

Family tree

Guy Aldonce de Durfort with wife, parents, and other selected relatives. Jacques 1547-1626 Henri de La Tour d'Auvergne 1555–1623 Guy Aldonce 1605-1665 Elisabeth de La Tour d'Auvergne 1606-1685 Turenne 1611–1675 Marshal Jacques Henri 1625–1704 Guy Aldonce 1630–1702 Geneviève de Frémont d'Auneuil 1658–1727 Jean- Antoine de Mesmes 1661–1723 Marie Gabrielle Saint Simon 675–1755 Writer Geneviève Chamillart 1685-1714 Guy Nicolas 1683–1758 Marie- Anne- Antoinette de Mesmes 1696–1757 Guy Michel 1704–1773 Legend XXX Guy Aldonce XXX Famous people XXX Duras Branch XXX Lorges Branch Also see the lists of siblings and children in the text.

Marriage and children

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 had one son and five daughters:

1. Marie Gabrielle (1678–1743), who married Louis de Rouvroy, duc de Saint-Simon;
2. Geneviève (1680-1740), called "Mademoiselle de Quintin", who married Antoine Nompar de Caumont, duke of Lauzun;
3. Guy Nicolas (1683–1758), who became duc de Lorges;
4. Élisabeth Gabrielle (died 1727), abbess of Andecy; and
5. Claude Suzanne Thérèse (died 1745), abbess of Saint-Amand, Rouen; and
6. Marie Louise Gabrielle.

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.

Death

On 2 October 1702 he died from an operation to remove a kidney stone; the inexperienced surgeon mishandled the operation and Guy Aldonce died in agonising pain, which he endured with great courage. He was succeeded by his son Guy Nicolas, who would marry firstly Geneviève Chamillart (1685-1714) and then secondly in 1720 Marie Anne Antoinette de Mesmes (1696–1757), eldest daughter of Jean-Antoine de Mesmes.

Timeline
Age	Date	Event
0	1630, 22 Aug	Born at Château de Duras.
34	1665, 8 Jan	Father died.
45	1676, 19 Mar	Married Geneviève Frémont d'Auneuil.
58	1688, 31 Dec	Holy Spirit
60	1691, 21 Mar	Created duke of Quintin-Lorge.
72	1702, 22 Oct	Died in Paris during a kidney stone operation.

References

• La Chesnaye des Bois, François Alexandre Aubert de (1772), Dictionnaire de la noblesse, vol. 5 (2 ed.), Paris: Duchesne - COA-DYO
• Saint-Simon, Louis de Rouvroy, duc de (1879a), Boislisle, Arthur de (ed.), Mémoires du duc de Saint-Simon (in French), vol. 1, Paris: Hachette{{citation}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) - Describes 1691-1693
• Saint-Simon, Louis de Rouvroy, duc de (1879b), Boislisle, Arthur de (ed.), Mémoires du duc de Saint-Simon (in French), vol. 2, Paris: Hachette{{citation}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) - Describes 1694-1695
• Saint-Simon, Louis de Rouvroy, duc de (1893), Boislisle, Arthur de (ed.), Mémoires du duc de Saint-Simon (in French), vol. 10, Paris: Hachette{{citation}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) - Remark: describes 1702;