Charles V , Duke of Lorraine Charles V , Karl V . Leopold , ( Charles Léopold Nicolas Sixte ; 3 April 1643 – 18 April 1690 ) , son of Nicolas François , Duke of Lorraine , and Claude Françoise de Lorraine . Karl Leopold was born in Vienna and became the brother in law of Emperor Leopold and son in law of emperor Ferdinand III . He was a second cousin once removed of his contemporary Louis XIV through the king ' s grandmother Marie de ' Medici . From a long established family of Lothringen , who had to take refuge from the forces of France . However , he managed to become the titular Duke of Lorraine in 1675 at a time when Lorraine was occupied by France . Since 1663 he had been in imperial Habsburg service and had a very notable military career . In 1675 he became imperial generalissimo . Background . The uncle of Charles V Duke of Lorraine was Charles IV , Duke of Lorraine . He was without a male heir , so , to avoid the title from going out of the family , gave up his title to his brother Nicolas François , Duke of Lorraine . The province of Lorraine was lost in 1633 to invading French Forces during the Thirty Years War . Charles IV was for a time imprisoned , and later had to officially give up the title of Lorraine to the Bourbon Dynasty . Early life . Charles V Duke of Lorraine was born on April 3 , 1643 to Nicolas Frances in Vienna . He was not given very good circumstances ; he was supposed to receive the title of Duke , but was not able to claim this land because it was occupied by the French . Since his prospects were not good he officially joined the court of Vienna in 1662 . Throughout his life he would become a distinguished soldier in service to the Habsburgs . Military career . The Duke was able to first distinguish himself at the Battle of Saint Gotthard in 1664 . He was under the service of Montecuccoli , the Imperial Generalissimo at the time . When they were flanked by the enemy , Charles V was able to repel them and help win the battle . He continued to be involved in the wars the Habsburgs fought with the French and Turks . He received a head wound at the Battle of Seneffe in 1674 . Charles V was present at the Siege of Philippsburg in 1676 . During this time he also survived a bout of small pox and , in 1678 he survived falling off a bridge at Philippsburg . At the Treaty of Nijmegen in 1679 it was confirmed that he was Duke of Lorraine but he was still not allowed to be ruler of the province . Siege of Vienna . Charles V , Duke of Lorraine was promoted to Generalissimo of the Habsburg army in 1683 right before the siege of Vienna . Charles knew he had no chance of directly engaging the forces of the Grand Vizier Kara Mustafa Pasha . Charles only had about 36 , 000 men at his disposal at the time of siege . In addition , while he was marching to Vienna , 6000 of his Hungarian soldiers defected . Charles chose to position his men several miles north of Vienna . He then proceeded to aid the city by raiding the Turkish army encampments , and giving supplies and other provisions to the city from time to time . The battle was fierce . Thanks to the work of Pope Innocent XI , the Habsburgs were able to receive aid from what would come to be called the Holy League . This combined force with the leader John III Sobieski and Charles V was able to defeat the besieging Turkish army at the Battle of Kahlenburg out side Vienna on September 12 , 1683 . This victory resulted in a landslide of victories for the Habsburgs under the leadership of Charles . The Great Turkish War . In the subsequent years Charles was able to gain a number of significant victories against the Turks . With the Siege of Neuhausel in 1685 Charles was able to take all of upper Hungary . At this battle his army completely destroyed a 3 , 000 man garrison of Turkish soldiers . After this huge victory Charles besieged the city of Buda for two months , claiming victory in 1686 . The final , crushing blow was the second Battle of Mohacs in 1687 . Charles , in five years , made gains that had been a centuries worth of conquest by the Ottomans . His success enabled him to turn his attention towards Transylvania where , in 1689 , he effectively made the kingdom a protectorate of the Habsburgs , and convinced the king to agree to supply his troops with much needed resources . War of The Holy League . Charles was not able to see that a peace treaty was struck with the Turks because the Habsburgs ordered him to move his forces to the River Rhine , where Louis XIV had begun to assert aggression . However , after a brief period of limited success against the French , he fell ill and suddenly died on April 8 , 1690 . The death was seen by many to be tragic . According to Voltaire Louis XIV paid tribute to him with the words , " I have lost the greatest , wisest and most generous of my enemies . " Marriages and Political Aspirations . Charles V , Duke of Lorraine , since he was essentially stripped of all his own hereditary lands , had to work at gaining property for himself . He was supposed to marry Marie Jeanne of Savoy , however he was influenced to back out of this first marriage . His brother Ferdinand Philip of Lorraine died in 1659 and Charles inherited the Duchy of Bar from him . In 1669 , he attempted to get elected as King of Poland , but was defeated in the election by Michael Korybut Wisniowiecki . In 1678 , he married Eleanor of Austria , the widow of Wisniowiecki . She was the daughter of Ferdinand III , Holy Roman Emperor . From this marriage he gained the Gonzaga and Mantua . He again tried to get the crown of Poland but lost in the election to John Sobeski . The marriage to Elenora proved to be very prosperous for his family when later on his grandson , Francis I , became Holy Roman Emperor . Notes . 1 . Memoirs of Charles V . late Duke of Lorrain · With relation to the present state of affairs in Europe , p . 1 - 25 2 . ibid , p . 21 3 . ibid , p . 28 - 29 4 . ibid , p . 32 5 . Labrune , Jean de , p . 109 6 . Memoirs of Charles V . late Duke of Lorrain · With relation to the present state of affairs in Europe , p . 38 - 39 7 . Ingrao , Charles , p . 76 8 . Memoirs of Charles V . late Duke of Lorrain · With relation to the present state of affairs in Europe , p . 45 9 . Ingrao , Charles , p . 75 - 77 10 . Memoirs of Charles V . late Duke of Lorrain · With relation to the present state of affairs in Europe , p . 51 - 54 11 . Ingrao , Charles , p . 79 12 . Memoirs of Charles V . late Duke of Lorrain · With relation to the present state of affairs in Europe , p . 58 - 59 13 . Ibid , p . 68 - 71 14 . Labrune , Jean dep . 124 15 . Ibid , p . 161 - 163 16 . Ibid , p . 138 Primary Sources . For all of these sources go to Early English Books Online , External links . The 1911 Classic Encyclopedia , MedLibrary Schilb antiquarian Military . com