A soldier of outstanding ability, he made his reputation on the battlefields of the Thirty Years War. During the Fronde he was briefly persuaded by Condé’s sister, Madame de Longueville, to join the antiroyalist faction, but finally supported Mazarin in establishing order. He captured Dunkirk in 1658 and led the brilliant invasions of Flanders in 1667 and the United Provinces in 1672. In 1674, when Louis XIV was threatened from all sides, he showed his supreme ability in deploying troops against superior forces in defending France’s eastern frontier. He died on the battlefield.