Villeroy was born in Lyon into noble family which had risen into prominence in the reign of Charles IX. His father Nicolas V de Neufville, marquis de Villeroy, Marshal of France was governor of the young King Louis XIV who later made him a duke.
His father was the young king's governor, and Villeroi was thus brought up in close relations with Louis. An intimate of the king, a finished courtier and leader of society and a man of great personal gallantry, Villeroi was marked out for advancement in the army, which he loved, but which had always a juster appreciation of his incapacity than Louis. In 1693, without having exercised any really important and responsible command, he was made a marshal. In 1695, when Luxembourg died, he obtained the command of the army in Flanders, and William III found him a far more complaisant opponent than the "little hunchback. " In 1701 he was sent to Italy to supersede Catinat and was soon beaten by the inferior army of Eugene at Chiari. In the winter of 1701 he was made prisoner at the surprise of Cremona.
In the following years he was pitted against the Duke of Marlborough in the Low Countries. Marlborough's own difficulties with the Dutch and other allied commissioners, rather than Villeroy's own skill, put off the inevitable disaster for some years, but in 1706 Marlborough attacked him and thoroughly defeated him at Ramillies. Louis consoled his old friend with the remark, "At our age, one is no longer lucky, " but superseded him in the command, and henceforward Villeroy lived the life of a courtier, and although suspected of being involved in plots, maintained his friendship with Louis. During this time, his secretary was Pierre-François Godard de Beauchamps.
Under the Régence Villeroy was governor of the child King Louis XV and held several other high posts between 1717 and 1722, when he fell in disgrace for plotting against Philippe II of Orléans, the regent for Louis XV, and was sent to be governor of Lyon, virtually in exile. His family suffered a further disgrace when two younger members, the duc de Retz and the marquis d'Alincourt were exiled for having homosexual relations in the gardens at Versailles. Louis XV recalled Villeroy into high office when he came of age.
Villeroy died in Paris in 1730.
He married on March 28, 1662 with Marguerite-Marie de Cossé-Brissac (1648-1708), and had 7 children.
Marquis de Villeroy, Marshal of France
Archbishop of Lyon
