Louis des Escotais
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Louis des Escotais, Count of Escotais, Lord of Chantilly, was born in 1746, at the castle of la Roche des Escotais (France) and died in London in 1812. He was diplomat and a field marshal in the armies of Louis XVI.
He is the nephew of Louis-Joseph des Escotais, Lieutenant General under Louis XVI, Grand Hospitaller of the Order of Malta, and Governor of the Île de Ré.
Family origins
Louis des Escotais comes from an ancient French aristocratic family. The first of the des Escotais, Thibault, participated in the Third Crusade in 1191 alongside Richard the Lionheart, and Louis's lineage is proven up to Guillaume II des Escotais who lived in 1280.[1][2][3]
His father, Roland des Escotais, a lieutenant general in the king's armies, was granted the erection of his lands into the county of Escotais by royal letters patent from King Louis XV in 1755.[1][3]
His life
Louis-Jacques-Roland des Escotais was born on November 2, 1746, in the family château of La Roche des Escotais, one of the Loire Valley châteaux. He was the second child and principal heir among three siblings.[4]
His father, Roland des Escotais, led a distinguished life at the court of King Louis XV in Versailles, earning him the Honneurs de la Cour on April 20, 1767.[1] This was one of the most prestigious noble distinctions reserved for the oldest noble families distinguished on the battlefield.
On June 26, 1771, at the age of 24, he married Marie-Louise de Plas, a lady-in-waiting to Sophie of France and then to Adélaïde of France. King Louis XV, future King Louis XVI, Marie-Antoinette his wife and the entire royal family honored him by signing his marriage contract.[5]
Following the Revolution, he left France in September 1791 with his eldest son. He then took command of one of the divisions of the Armée des Princes, notably during the Siege of Maastricht in 1793.
He later moved to London with his eldest son, where he remained for nearly twenty years, dying there on November 9, 1812, at the age of 66. He was buried in the cemetery of St Pancras Old Church.[1]