Written by Tadashi
Modified & Updated: 10 Oct 2024
Reviewed by Jessica Corbett
The Marquis de Lafayette stands as a hero not just in one country or continent, but in two. During the American Revolution, he fought alongside the patriots and the Founding Fathers to win freedom for the USA. Later on, during the French Revolution, he fought to end the Ancien Regime, and bring freedom and democracy to France. Learn more about this amazing man with these 30 Marquis de Lafayette facts.
- 01Legend claims that one of Lafayette’s ancestors found the Crown of Thorns during the Sixth Crusade.
- 02Lafayette’s ancestor, Gilbert de Lafayette III, once fought alongside Joan of Arc during the Hundred Years War.
- 03Lafayette’s maternal grandfather served as the commander of King Louis XV’s cavalry guards.
- 04His paternal uncle Jacques-Roch died fighting during the War of the Polish Succession.
- 05Lafayette’s father also died in battle, during the Seven Years War.
- 01Lafayette came into the world on September 6, 1757, in France’s Auvergne Province.
- 02Lafayette joined the Musketeers with an officer’s commission in 1771, aged only 13.
- 03He later sailed to America to join the American revolutionaries in 1777.
- 04On arrival, he received the rank of major-general but did not command troops at first.
- 05He later fought with distinction at the Battles of the Brandywine and Rhode Island.
- 06He also fought during the Siege of Yorktown, which ended the war with an American victory.
- 07Lafayette entered politics on his return to France after the American Revolution.
- 08He became a leader during the French Revolution but fled into exile at the start of the Reign of Terror.
- 09He returned to France after Napoleon Bonaparte’s rise to power.
- 10After Napoleon’s fall, Lafayette became a liberal politician until his death.
- 01Lafayette had the birth name of Gilbert du Motier.
- 02He inherited the title of Marquis de Lafayette on his father’s death in 1759.
- 03In the July Revolution of 1830, he rejected an offer from the revolutionaries to become Dictator of France.
- 04Lafayette initially supported Louis-Philippe as King of France after the July Revolution.
- 05After the king adopted dictatorial policies, Lafayette withdrew his support for the monarchy.
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