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Ezechiel du Mas, Comte de Melac (about 1630 - May 10, 1704) was a career soldier in the French army under King Louis XIV and war minister Louvois, where he rose to the rank of a General. He became notorious for mercilessly and brutally executing the French policy of destroying the enemy's lands rather than seeking major military engagements, especially in the Palatinate and in the Margraviate of Baden. Under his command, numerous towns and villages were put on fire and the livelihood of the population was destroyed. In present southwestern Germany, Melac's name became a synonym for "murderer and arsonist".
Melac's curriculum vitae:
About 1630: Born in Saint-Radegonde, about 15 Kilometer southeast of Libourne in nowadays Departement Gironde. He must have joined the military at an early age.
1664: Promoted to the rank of Lieutenant with a cavalry regiment in Portugal.
1666: Entrusted with the leadership of a company (military unit).
1672: Served in Flanders at the start of the Franco-Dutch War.
1675: Promoted to the rank of Maitre de Camp de Cavalerie.
1679: Promotion to the rank of Brigadier; he became Governor of Schleiden (40 km southeast of Aachen).
1686: Began service in the army of Marschal Catinat in Savoy.
1688: In April, Melac joined the Rhine army under the command of Marschal Duras.
1688: Married Marschal de Duras's daughter.
1688: In September, the Rhine army moved into the territory of the Palatinate without formal declaration of war; they also moved into the territory east of the Rhine river and conquered the cities of Heilbronn, Heidelberg and Mannheim (November 10) and the stronghold Philippsburg; Pforzheim had been occupied since October 10. Melac was stationed at the Imperial Town of Heilbronn under the command of Joseph de Montclar. Using Heilbronn as his base, Melac devastated the surrounding area, including the Imperial Town of Donauwoerth, Marbach and Schorndorf. At the year's end he attacked Heidelberg, the capital of the Palatinate, and many villages along the Neckar river, including Ladenburg.
1689: On February 16th, executing a command of war minister Louvois, the French army under the command of de Melac and Comte de Tessé blew up Heidelberg Palais, on March 2nd they put Heidelberg on fire (but the fires could be extinguished by the citizens). On March 8, Mannheim was put on fire. Later on, Frankenthal, Worms, Speyer and numerous villages west of the Rhine river were devastated. East of the Rhine river, Bretten, Maulbronn, Pforzheim, Baden-Baden and numerous other towns and villages met the same fate, but it is not known in detail how heavily Melac was involved in all these cases. In Pforzheim's case, Melac was reportedly the commanding officer und thus directly responsible for the shelling of the town on August 10th and the devastating fire a few days later. There are also reports that he raped the young daughter of a pastor in Esslingen.
1690: Promoted to Marechal de Camp.
1691: Melac's wife died.
1693: Promoted to Lieutenant General. In spring, Melac became the commander of the strategically important stronghold of Landau. From this base, he again brought terror to the surrounding areas, as far as the Rhine-Hesse and Württemberg areas. In May, he participated in the second and final destruction of Heidelberg. While in Landau, his brutality did not subside. On one occasion, he reportedly displayed six naked prostitutes on the market square of Landau for two days, for which he received an exhortation from the royal court.
1697: The Nine Years War was concluded with the Treaty of Ryswick. Melac stayed on as stronghold commander of Landau.
1702: As part of the next major conflict France was involved in, the War of the Spanish Succession, the Landau stronghold was besieged by an army under the command of Baden Margrave Max. For four months, Melac and his soldiers were able to resist. In order to keep his soldiers in a good mood, he had gold and silver items from his personal possessions processed and turned into coins as salary for his men. However, in September he was forced to surrender. He was allowed to withdraw with his garrison and part of his artillery. He left the Rhine army and travelled to the royal court in Fontainebleau, were he received 30.000 Livres as a pension, but he would not receive a final promotion to a higher military rank.
1703: Now living a secluded life in a house in the Rue des Tournelles in nowadays 4th Arrondissement in Paris with a few servants, at the end of August he wrote his last will.
1704: Melac died on May 10.
(Remark: The Melac's former residence in Landau was turned into an inn, the "Melac". In 1851, the name of the inn was changed to "Zur Krone" (The Crown), and the inn has been operating until this day.)
References
This article represents a summary of an article that appeared in the German weekly newspaper "Die Zeit" on May 6, 2005, in the German language. The original article was written by historian Michael Martin, who heads the Landau city archives.
"Ezechiel du Mas, Comte de Melac"