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Eugene of Savoy was born in Paris. His mother, Olympia Mancini, was a niece of the powerful Cardinal Mazarin. Officially, Eugene was born a prince of the House of Savoy, as an heir to Olympia's husband, the Comte de Soissons. However, it was rumoured that Olympia had actually been been impregnated by the French king, Louis XIV. She was banished from France during Eugene's childhood as a suspect in a plot to poison her supposed former lover.
As a young man, Eugene was part of the circle of the transvestite Abbé de Choisy. Eugene was rebuffed from a commission in the French army by Louis XIV, some say because of his mother's disgrace, some because of his slight build, and some because Louis was offended by Eugene's cross dressing. Whatever the reason, Eugene fled the French court, and volunteered with the Austrian army as an officer in 1683. He maintained a lifelong hatred of Louis XIV, and would spend the rest of his life opposing French ambition in Europe.
For the first part of his career, Eugene faced the Ottoman Turks on the battlefield, first coming to prominence during the last major Turkish offensive against the Austrian capital of Vienna in 1683. By the closing years of the 17th century, he was already famous for securing Hungary from the Turks. In 1697 he crushed the Ottoman army in the Battle of Zenta, and he soon rose to the role of principal Austrian commander during the War of the Spanish Succession.
One of the new Austrian possessions after the War of the Spanish Succesion was the former Spanish, now Austrian Netherlands. Eugene was made governor of this area, then later became vicar of the Austrian lands in Italy. Just two years after the end of the war against France, Eugene led the Austrian armies during the Austro-Turkish War of 1716-18.
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