Alan Bedford on 27 Oct 2003  •  Link

This short bio from the 1911 Brittanica:

Eugene Maurice of Savoy, Count of Soissons (1635-1673), married the beautiful and witty Olympia Mancini, a niece of Cardinal Mazarin, and obtained high military posts through his wife

vincent on 27 Oct 2003  •  Link

Interesting family Jules Cardinal Mazarin:
French statesman and cardinal.
Born 1602 in Piscina, Abruzzi, died 1661.
Niece Maria was mistress of the Louis xiv while the Cardinal ruled France in the name of Louis xiv (he was too young to make good decisions). While a distant cousin( Mary of Moderna) went after James (II) While another member had Charles II on a string (Hortense Mancini)
family tree
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Card…

Bill on 5 Sep 2013  •  Link

Eugene Maurice of Savoy, youngest son of Thomas of Savoy, by Marie de Bourbon, Countess of Soissons, whose title he inherited. He married Olympia Mancini, one of the nieces of Cardinal Mazarin, more than suspected of poisoning practices (like the Brinvilliers). His youngest son was the celebrated General, Prince Eugene of Savoy.
---Diary and correspondence of Samuel Pepys, the diary deciphered by J. Smith. 1854.

San Diego Sarah on 27 Oct 2023  •  Link

Eugene Maurice of Savoy (1635 - 1673). Although he was an Italian prince from the Savoy dynasty, Eugene Maurice was also a high-ranking French aristocrat, as he held the distinguished title of Count of Soissons, which he inherited from his mother, French princess Marie de Bourbon (1606–1692).

Eugene Maurice was born in Chambéry, the former capital of Savoy. The title Count of Soissons was named for the town of Soissons in northern France, located in the territory of Picardy roughly 100 km northeast of Paris.

The importance of the title Count of Soissons is indicated by the fact that its bearer was addressed simply as "Monsieur le Comte" at the French court. (Such abbreviations were reserved only for the highest nobility. For example, the French king’s brother was addressed simply as Monsieur, while the Prince of Condé, Louis XIV’s close relative, was addressed as Monsieur le Prince. The shortest titles were considered the most elegant.)

Monsieur le Comte married the niece of the French Chief Minister, Cardinal Mazarin, on on 21 February 1657. Her name was Olympe Mancini (1638–1708).
(Their children included Prince Eugene of Savoy (1663-1736), a famous Habsburg general who fought against Louis XIV with Marlborough long after the Diary. Since he was a younger son, Prince Eugene didn’t inherit the title.)
https://history.info/on-this-day/…

"Monsieur le Comte" played a role in defeating the Spaniards at the battle of the Dunes in 1658 (alongside James, Duke of York), took part in the campaigns at Flanders (1667), Franche-Comté (1668) and Holland (1672); and was present as Ambassador Extraordinary of France at the coronation of Charles II.

"Monsieur le Comte" died at Unna in Westphalia in 1673, from a deadly fever -- although there were whispers that he had been poisoned -- by Olympe. Accusations of using poison followed her for the rest of her life, and had her ejected from the French and Spanish courts.

"Madame la Comtesse" Olympe Mancini was the sister of Hortense Mancini, one of Charles II's passions when he was young and in exile, and much later in life as the salon-keeping alcoholic Duchess of Mazarin (1646 – 1699).
https://partylike1660.com/olympe-…
https://partylike1660.com/hortens…

I can imagine Charles innocently asking the Ambassador Monsieur le Comte, "And how's the family?" and standing back waiting for the explosion.