Guy-André de Montmorency-Laval

Guy-André was born on 21 October 1686. Like all the elders of the Laval and Montmorency family, his baptismal name was Guy, and he was referred to as a "Count of Laval" before any other title. He was the son of Pierre III de Laval-Montmorency (c. 1657–1687),^[a] and Marie Thérèse Françoise de Salignac (d. 1726), Marquise of Magnac, Countess of Fontaines-Chalandray.

His paternal grandparents were Guy-Urbain de Laval-Montmorency, Baron of la Plesse, known as the Marquis de Laval-Lezay, and Françoise de Sesmaisons.^[2] His maternal grandparents were Antoine de Salignac, Marquis of Magnac and Lamothe-Fénelon, and Catherine de Montbéron.^[3]

Montmorency was First Colonel of the Mortemart regiment, formerly Conflans. He was injured by a musket shot on 15 October 1715, at the siége of Fribourg. In all the letters and commissions he received from the King, he regarded him as a cousin.^[4]

Montmorency was involved in the Cellamare conspiracy, the plot against the Regent of France, Philippe d'Orléans that aimed to depose him of his position and place Philip V, then King of Spain, as the new regent of France.^[5] His role in the plot was referenced in the memoirs of Baroness de Staal, the correspondences of Madame la Duchesse d'Orléans, the memoirs of Marshal Claude de Villars and the memoirs of the Duke of Saint-Simon.^[2] Also involved was the Duke of Richelieu, who was then having a romantic affair with one of the Regent's daughters, Charlotte Aglaé d'Orléans.^[6] After the plot was uncovered, Montmorency was interrogated at the Bastille and imprisoned at the Fortress of Vincennes. By 1720, however, the guilty members were all pardoned and allowed to return to their residences.^[7]