Prince Eugene was the owner of many luxurious manors, including the famous Belvedere in Vienna.
Prince Eugene of Savoy, one of the most famous generals in the history of the Habsburg Monarchy, died on this day in 1736. Napoleon Bonaparte considered him a great military strategist, and even the Nazis named military units after him. Prince Eugene had a very complex heritage. He belonged to the Italian ruling Savoy dynasty, but was born in France, where his branch of the family had its estates (his father held the French title Count of Soissons). He was a relative of the famous Cardinal Mazarin through the maternal line. Prince Eugene had many influential relatives on both sides of his family.
Despite his primarily Italian-French heritage, Eugene of Savoy gained fame in the service of the Habsburgs and was based in Vienna. He held a whole slew of political and military functions in the Habsburg Monarchy. For example, he was the governor of Milan and the governor of the Austrian Netherlands (today’s Belgium), but his most important function was the president of the Hofkriegsrat, the court war council of the Habsburg Monarchy. That council was at the head of the Austrian military forces, while Prince Eugene was at its head for as many as 33 years, i.e. the first third of the 18th century.
Prince Eugene is also known for owning many luxurious manors, such as the famous Belvedere in Vienna, Hof near today’s Austro-Slovakian Border, and Ráckeve in Hungary. Eugene died aged 72, probably from lung disease.
