Josias von Rantzau

Josias Rantzau
Contemporary portrait
Born(1609-10-18)18 October 1609
Died14 September 1650(1650-09-14) (aged 40)
RankMarshal of France
Battles / warsBattle of Honnecourt
Battle of Tuttlingen
Other workGovernor of Dunkirk

Josias Rantzau (Bothkamp, near Kiel, 18 October 1609[1] – Paris, 14 September 1650[2]) was a Danish military leader and Marshal of France.

Josias was the grandson of Paul, the youngest son of Johann Rantzau. He married his Cousin Hedwig Margarethe Elisabeth vor Rantzau, but had no children.[3]

As a young man, he served Prince Maurice of Orange and King Christian IV of Denmark.[4] Later he fought for Sweden, then the Holy Roman Empire, again for Sweden[5] and finally since 1635 for France, where he was noticed at Court for his blond beauty.

He commanded troops in the Franche-Comté,[6] on the Rhine,[6] and in Flanders. In 1633, he successfully defended Andernach against the Spanish,[7] but is in general better remembered for his bravery than for his military skills.

He was taken prisoner by the Spanish in 1642 at the Battle of Honnecourt,[8] and again in 1643 by Imperial troops at the Battle of Tuttlingen. On 30 June 1645, he became Marshal of France[9] and in 1646 Governor of the newly conquered Dunkirk Fortress.

During the Fronde, he was arrested by Mazarin and locked up in the Bastille. He was acquitted, but died shortly after being released.

  1. ^ Rott, Edouard (1917). Histoire de la représentation diplomatique de la France auprès des cantons suisses: de leurs alliés et de leurs confédérés (in French). Imprimerie A. Benteli & Company. p. 971. Retrieved 23 February 2024.
  2. ^ Chouppes, Aymar marquis de (1861). Mémoires du marquis de Chouppes, lieutenant général des armées du roi: suivis des Mémoires du duc de Navailles et de la Valette, pair et maréchal de France et gouverneur de monseigneur le duc de Chartres, 1630-1682 (in French). J. Techener. p. 19. Retrieved 23 February 2024.
  3. ^ "Josias Rantzau". Dansk Biografisk Leksikon (in Danish). 18 July 2011. Retrieved 23 February 2024.
  4. ^ Œuvres complètes de Voltaire (Complete Works of Voltaire) 44C: Annales de l'Empire (III): Ch.40-48: Maximilien-Léopold, Textes annexes (in French). Liverpool University Press. 30 June 2019. p. 354. ISBN 978-1-83764-091-1. Retrieved 23 February 2024.
  5. ^ Roy, Jean Just E. (1866). Le Maréchal de Rantzau et Notice sur la Guerre de Trente ans (in French). L. Lefort. pp. 50–54. Retrieved 23 February 2024.
  6. ^ a b Henckel, Marie (1892). Josias Rantzau: Et Livsbillede fra det syttende Aarhundrede. Med Illustrationer af V. Jastrau (in Danish). Gyldendal. pp. 108, 184. Retrieved 23 February 2024.
  7. ^ Bannier, W. A. F.; Bezemer, T.J. (1916). Oosthoek's geïllustreerde encyclopaedie: A-Badding (in Dutch). A. Oosthoek. p. 447. Retrieved 23 February 2024.
  8. ^ Matschoss, Conrad (1938). Beiträge zur Geschichte der Technik und Industrie (in German). J. Springer. p. 3. Retrieved 23 February 2024.
  9. ^ Histoire de France: servant de texte explicatif aux tableaux des Galeries de Versailles (in French). Ch. Gavard. 1842. p. 310. Retrieved 23 February 2024.