Armand de Vignerot du Plessis Armand de Vignerot du Plessis ( 13 March 1696 – 8 August 1788 ) was a French soldier , diplomat and statesman . Joining the army , he participated in three major wars and eventually rose to the rank of Marshal of France . He was the son of Armand Jean de Vignerot du Plessis , Duke of Richelieu , who in turn was a great - nephew of the prominent French statesman , Cardinal de Richelieu who had dominated France in the early 17th century . Early years . Louis François Armand de Vignerot du Plessis was born in Paris . Louis XIV of France was his godfather . In his early days , he was thrice imprisoned in the Bastille : in 1711 at the instance of his stepfather , in 1716 in consequence of a duel , and in 1719 for his share in the Cellamare Conspiracy of Giulio Alberoni against Philippe II , Duke of Orléans , the regent for Louis XV of France . Apart from his reputation as a man of exceptionally loose morals , he attained , in spite of a deplorably defective education , distinction as a diplomat and general . He was the French ambassador to the court of the Holy Roman Emperor , Charles VI , in Vienna from 1725 to 1729 . Military career . In 1733 - 1734 , he served in a Rhine campaign during the War of the Polish Succession . The following decade during the War of the Austrian Succession he fought with distinction at Dettingen and Fontenoy , where he directed the grapeshot upon the British columns , and three years afterwards he made a brilliant defence of Genoa . Seven Years War . Siege of Minorca . In 1756 during the Siege of Minorca he expelled the British from Minorca by the capture of the stronghold of San Felipe . On his return to France he was hailed by Madame Pompadour who told him " your star has risen and it shall never be dimmed " . While waiting for suitable employment , the Duc took command of the French forces on the southern coast around Toulon . In 1757 following Frederick the Great ' s sudden invasion of Bohemia , he was given command of a relief force that was to relieve the Siege of Prague . However this was cancelled when an Austrian army defeated Frederick at Kolin forcing him to break off the siege and withdraw from Bohemia . Invasion of Hanover . The French ministers were deeply unhappy with d ' Estrees the commander of the Army of Westphalia which had orders to invade Hanover but was moving extremely slowly . It was decided to replace him with Richelieu . Arriving shortly after the Battle of Hastenbeck with the Anglo - German Army of Observation retreating rapidly from him , the Duc lead his army in pursuit . His army now occupied most of Hanover , capturing the capital in the autumn . His orders were to smash the Army of Observation and occupy all of Hanover , before turning east and launching an attack on the Prussian fortress of Magdeburg . Instead Richelieu , fearing that his army was not in a condition to face battle , concluded the Convention of Klosterzeven which allowed the enemy escape destruction . He was heavily criticised for this in Paris , where the terms were considered far too lenient . The Duc then led his army into winter quarters at Halberstadt postponing the attack on Magdeburg . Early in the new year he suddenly resigned his command , and retired to France - handing over to the Comte d ' Clermont . He was widely accused of corruption during his six months as commander in Hanover . He and his officers were suspected of having stolen three quarters of the money he was supposed to raise in taxes from the occupied territories , as well as stealing the pay of his soldiers . His pillaging campaigns in Hanover procured him the sobriquet of the " petit père de la maraude " . Political career and intrigue . His real public career began ten years after his service in the Rhine campaign . After the wars , he plunged again into court intrigue . Initially , He was the best friend of King Louis XV of France , whom he had known since the King was a child . The relationship later cooled a little , however , when he opposed Louis ' s mistress , Madame de Pompadour . After de Pompadour ' s death in 1764 , his position in court was restored and he developed an amiable friendship with the King ' s last mistress , Madame du Barry . However , he was again not welcome at court when Louis ' grandson , Louis XVI , succeeded to the throne in 1774 . This was because the new Queen , Marie Antoinette , disliked both Madame du Barry and Richelieu ' s nephew , the overly ambitious Duc d ' Aiguillon . Marriages . The duke was such a renowned womaniser that it is said Choderlos de Laclos based the character Valmont in " Les Liaisons dangereuses " on him . He was married three times . At the age of fourteen , against his will , he was forced to marry Anne Catherine de Noailles . In 1734 , as a result of the intrigues of Voltaire , he married Marie Élisabeth Sophie de Lorraine , the daughter of Anne Marie Joseph de Lorraine . She became the mother of his heir , Louis Antoine Sophie de Vignerot du Plessis . When he was eighty - four years old , he married as his third wife an Irish lady . Mme de Polignac and the Marquise de Nesle fought a duel over him . In 1729 , he began an affair with Émilie du Châtelet , and although it ended , they continued to be frequent correspondents for over a decade . He was also the lover of the famous courtesan and novelist Claudine Guérin de Tencin , and of Marie Louise Élisabeth d ' Orléans , Duchess of Berry , elder daughter of the regent of France , Philippe II , Duke of Orléans , a very ambitious and powerful young widow who was infamous at the time for her alleged large sexual appetite . He then had an affair with Berry ' s younger sister Charlotte Aglaé d ' Orléans , and with her first cousin Louise Anne de Bourbon . Another mistress was Marie Sophie de Courcillon , wife of Charles François d ' Albert d ' Ailly and later Hercule Mériadec de Rohan , Duke of Rohan - Rohan . References . Marshal de Richelieu ' s " Mémoires " , published by JL Soulavie in nine volumes ( 1790 ) , are partially spurious .