![CaptureIleDeRe16Sept1625](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/dd/CaptureIleDeRe16Sept1625.jpg)
Benjamin de Rohan, duc de Soubise (1580–1642), was a French
Huguenot
The Huguenots ( , also , ) were a religious group of French Protestants who held to the Reformed, or Calvinist, tradition of Protestantism. The term, which may be derived from the name of a Swiss political leader, the Genevan burgomaster Be ...
leader.
Son of
René II, Viscount of Rohan
René (''born again'' or ''reborn'' in French) is a common first name in French-speaking, Spanish-speaking, and German-speaking countries. It derives from the Latin name Renatus.
René is the masculine form of the name ( Renée being the feminin ...
, and younger brother of
Henri de Rohan
Henri (II) de Rohan (21 August 157913 April 1638), Duke of Rohan and Prince of Léon, was a Breton-French soldier, writer and leader of the Huguenots.
Early life
Rohan was born at the Château de Blain (now a part of Blain, Loire-Atlantique), ...
, he inherited the lordship of Soubise through his mother
Catherine de Parthenay
Catherine de Parthenay (22 March 1554 – 26 October 1631) was a French noblewoman and mathematician. She studied with mathematician François Viète and was considered one of the most brilliant women of the era. She married Charles de Quel ...
. He served his apprenticeship as a soldier under
Maurice of Nassau
Maurice of Orange ( nl, Maurits van Oranje; 14 November 1567 – 23 April 1625) was '' stadtholder'' of all the provinces of the Dutch Republic except for Friesland from 1585 at the earliest until his death in 1625. Before he became Prince ...
in the
Low Countries
The term Low Countries, also known as the Low Lands ( nl, de Lage Landen, french: les Pays-Bas, lb, déi Niddereg Lännereien) and historically called the Netherlands ( nl, de Nederlanden), Flanders, or Belgica, is a coastal lowland region in N ...
. In the religious wars from 1621 onwards his elder brother chiefly commanded on land and in the south, Soubise in the west and along the sea-coast. His exploits in the conflict have been sympathetically related by his brother, one of the most highly regarded military critics of the time.
Soubise's chief exploit was a singularly bold and well-conducted attack (in 1625) on the Royalist fleet in the river
Blavet
The Blavet (; br, Blavezh) river flows from central Brittany and enters the Atlantic Ocean on the south coast near Lorient. It is long. The river is canalised for most of its length, forming one of the links in the Brittany canal system. It con ...
(which included the cutting of a boom in the face of superior numbers) and the occupation of the islands of
Ré and
Oléron
The Isle of Oléron or Oléron Island (french: île d'Oléron, ; Saintongese: ''ilâte d'Olerun''; oc, illa d'Olairon or ; la, Uliarus insula, ) is an island off the Atlantic coast of France (due west of Rochefort), on the southern side of the ...
in 1625, leading to the
Siege of Saint-Martin-de-Ré (1625)
The siege of Saint-Martin-de-Ré, or siege of St. Martin's (French: ''siège de Saint-Martin-de-Ré''), was an attempt by English forces under George Villiers, the Duke of Buckingham, to capture the French fortress-city of Saint-Martin-de-Ré ...
in which
Louis XIII
Louis XIII (; sometimes called the Just; 27 September 1601 – 14 May 1643) was King of France from 1610 until his death in 1643 and King of Navarre (as Louis II) from 1610 to 1620, when the crown of Navarre was merged with the French crown ...
recovered the island of Ré. He commanded at
La Rochelle
La Rochelle (, , ; Poitevin-Saintongeais: ''La Rochéle''; oc, La Rochèla ) is a city on the west coast of France and a seaport on the Bay of Biscay, a part of the Atlantic Ocean. It is the capital of the Charente-Maritime department. With ...
during the famous
Siege of La Rochelle
The siege of La Rochelle (, or sometimes ) was a result of a war between the French royal forces of Louis XIII of France and the Huguenots of La Rochelle in 1627–28. The siege marked the height of the struggle between the Catholics and the Pr ...
(1627–1628). According to his brother, the failure of the defence and of the English attack on
Île de Ré
Île de Ré (; variously spelled Rhé or Rhéa; Poitevin: ''ile de Rét''; en, Isle of Ré, ) is an island off the Atlantic coast of France near La Rochelle, Charente-Maritime, on the northern side of the Pertuis d'Antioche strait.
Its highe ...
was mainly due to the alternate obstinacy of the townsfolk and the English commanders in refusing to listen to Soubise's advice.
When surrender became inevitable he fled to
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...
, which he had previously visited in quest of succour. He died in 1642 in
London
London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...
.
No such title as "Duke of Soubise" ever existed in France. The title, ''
prince de Soubise Within the French nobility, the title of "Prince of Soubise" was created in 1667 when the '' sirerie'' of Soubise, Charente-Maritime was raised to a principality for the cadet branch of the House of Rohan. The first prince was François de Rohan (1 ...
'' was later borne by a
cadet branch
In history and heraldry, a cadet branch consists of the male-line descendants of a monarch's or patriarch's younger sons ( cadets). In the ruling dynasties and noble families of much of Europe and Asia, the family's major assets— realm, title ...
of the House of
Rohan, which inherited the
secundogeniture
A secundogeniture (from la, secundus "following, second," and "born") was a dependent territory given to a younger son of a princely house and his descendants, creating a cadet branch. This was a special form of inheritance in which the second a ...
of Soubise from a
Rohan-Chabot heiress, a descendant in the female line of
Henri, 1st Duke of Rohan. The ''princes de Soubise'' did not descend from Benjamin, who never bore that title. Nor did he ever receive the dukedom of Frontenay, although that title, too, is sometimes mistakenly attributed to him.
See also
*
French wars of religion
The French Wars of Religion is the term which is used in reference to a period of civil war between French Catholic Church, Catholics and Protestantism, Protestants, commonly called Huguenots, which lasted from 1562 to 1598. According to estim ...
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Soubise, Benjamin de Rohan, duc de
1580s births
1642 deaths
French military leaders
French Protestants
Huguenots
Benjamin de Rohan