Filippo Paulucci delle Roncole was born in one of the most notable noble couples of Modena: the family of his father, Giuseppe Paulucci delle Roncole, had held the feudal titles of Vignola, Cividale and Roncole since 1768 and moved from Perugia to Modena in 1753. His mother, Claudia Scutellari, was the daughter of one of Parma noble families, with blood ties to the Spanish court. Filippo was the fifth of their eight sons, and was admitted beyond the pages of the King of Sardinia after his father's death in 1785. This position granted him access to the military elite of the Kingdom of Sardinia. In 1792 the Kingdom entered the war against France, and in 1794 Paulucci, just appointed sublieutenant in the 2nd Battalion of the Gards, was sent to the front-line. Captured in action on 27 April, he was freed after a prisoners exchange on 7 May. He went on fighting the Frenchmen, until he was taken prisoner in Mondovì when the city surrendered to the French army, but subsequently freed after six days following the Armistice of Cherasco. After the French occupation of Turin, he challenged to a duel a French officer who questioned the valor of the Piedmontese soldiers. Since duels were outlawed, Paulucci was arrested and sentenced to a three-week imprisonment. On 19 November 1796, he was promoted to captain and freed from his fealty's oath by the king, who awarded him the Knight's Cross of the Order of Saints Maurice and Lazarus for the stubborn loyalty he had shown.