Carlos José Gutiérrez de los Ríos y Rohan-Chabot, 6th Count of Fernán Núñez (11 July 1742 – 23 February 1795) was a Spanish soldier and Diplomat whose military career spanned over two decades. From a noble family, after his military career he served in several diplomatic capacities including Ambassador to Portugal from 1778 to 1788 and Ambassador to France from 1787 to 1791.

Early life and ancestry

He was the son of José Diego Gutiérrez de los Ríos y Zapata, 5th Count of Fernán Núñez and Charlotte Felicité de Rohan-Chabot. His father had served as Captain general of the galleys of Spain. His mother was the granddaughter of

Louis, Duke of Rohan Louis de Rohan-Chabot (3 November 1652 – 17 August 1727) was a member of the House of Rohan-Chabot and Duke of Rohan. He married an heiress and acted as Louis XIV's representative in Brittany. He was styled as the Prince of Léon prior to be ...

and thus, through his matrilineal line, he was a descendant of

Charles VII of France Charles VII (22 February 1403 – 22 July 1461), called the Victorious (french: le Victorieux) or the Well-Served (), was King of France from 1422 to his death in 1461. In the midst of the Hundred Years' War, Charles VII inherited the throne of F ...

Henry III of England Henry III (1 October 1207 – 16 November 1272), also known as Henry of Winchester, was King of England, Lord of Ireland, and Duke of Aquitaine from 1216 until his death in 1272. The son of King John and Isabella of Angoulême, Henry a ...

and various other monarchs. He was born on 11 July 1742 in Cartagena.

Career

Military

After both of his parents had died, King

Ferdinand VI , house = Bourbon-Anjou , father = Philip V of Spain , mother = Maria Luisa of Savoy , birth_date = 23 September 1713 , birth_place = Royal Alcazar of Madrid, Madrid, Spain , death_date = , death_place = Villavici ...

took him under his protection and paid for his studies at the Royal Seminary of Nobles in Madrid. On 18 May 1752, he entered as a cadet in the Regiment of Royal Spanish Infantry Guards. He became standard-bearer on 18 April and

2nd Lieutenant Second lieutenant is a junior commissioned officer military rank in many armed forces, comparable to NATO OF-1 rank. Australia The rank of second lieutenant existed in the military forces of the Australian colonies and Australian Army until ...

on 15 May 1760. He became 1st Lieutenant on 22 August 1761 and in 1762 served in the

Fantastic War The Spanish–Portuguese War between 1762 and 1763 was fought as part of the Seven Years' War. Because no major battles were fought, even though there were numerous movements of troops and heavy losses among the Spanish invaders—decisively def ...

where he was sent to Madrid to tell

Charles III Charles III (Charles Philip Arthur George; born 14 November 1948) is King of the United Kingdom and the 14 other Commonwealth realms. He was the longest-serving heir apparent and Prince of Wales and, at age 73, became the oldest person to ...

of the capture of Almeida. He was appointed

Colonel Colonel (abbreviated as Col., Col or COL) is a senior military officer rank used in many countries. It is also used in some police forces and paramilitary organizations. In the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries, a colonel was typically in charge of ...

on 6 September 1762 and was later given charge of the Castile Infantry Regiment No. 1. In 1766, he exposed his life for the King, and so on 15 July 1767 he was promoted to Infantry Brigadier. In 1772, he was authorised to travel across Europe to complete his military preparation. He firstly went to Italy, then

Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...

, and went to

Silesia Silesia (, also , ) is a historical region of Central Europe that lies mostly within Poland, with small parts in the Czech Republic and Germany. Its area is approximately , and the population is estimated at around 8,000,000. Silesia is split ...

. He carried out military manoeuvres in

Prussia Prussia, , Old Prussian: ''Prūsa'' or ''Prūsija'' was a German state on the southeast coast of the Baltic Sea. It formed the German Empire under Prussian rule when it united the German states in 1871. It was ''de facto'' dissolved by an em ...

in the presence of Frederick II. After going to

Warsaw Warsaw ( pl, Warszawa, ), officially the Capital City of Warsaw,, abbreviation: ''m.st. Warszawa'' is the capital and largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the River Vistula in east-central Poland, and its population is officia ...

, in 1773 he returned to France where he met his maternal relatives. In the same year he went to England before returning to France in 1775. Although he had planned for further travelling, after hearing of the Spanish preparations against the Barbary, he thought that he should return to the army and serve the King. He participated in the failed Invasion of Algiers in 1775, in which he saw several of his comrades-at-arms die next to him. On 15 February 1776, he was promoted to

field marshal Field marshal (or field-marshal, abbreviated as FM) is the most senior military rank, ordinarily senior to the general officer ranks. Usually, it is the highest rank in an army and as such few persons are appointed to it. It is considered as ...

. He returned to the position of Colonel of the King's Inmemorial Regiment and was awarded the

Grand Cross of Charles III The Royal and Distinguished Spanish Order of Charles III, originally Royal and Much Distinguished Order of Charles III ( es, Real y Distinguida Orden Española de Carlos III, originally es, Real y Muy Distinguida Orden de Carlos III) was establ ...

. His military career ended following the beginning of his diplomatic career.

Diplomat and death

On 26 November 1778, he was appointed the Ambassador of Spain to Portugal. He was appointed Councillor of State on 25 August 1785. He was later appointed Ambassador to the United Kingdom however he did not end up taking the position and instead on 6 March 1787 was appointed Ambassador to France, a position he remained in until 1791. He died on 23 February 1795 in Madrid, at the age of 52.

Family

He married María de la Esclavitud Sarmiento, 5th Countess of Castel Moncayo on 23 November 1798. They had seven children including: *

Carlos Gutiérrez de los Ríos Carlos José Francisco de Paula Gutiérrez de los Ríos y Sarmiento de Sotomayor, 1st Duke of Fernán Núñez (3 January 1779 – 27 November 1822) was a Spanish diplomat. Family and education He was the son of Carlos José Gutiérrez de los ...

(1779-1822) * Escolástica Gutiérrez de los Ríos y Sarmiento de Sotomayor (1783-1845), firstly married to José Miguel de la Cueva, 14th Duke of Alburquerque. * Bruna Gutiérrez de los Ríos and Sarmiento de Sotomayor, married to Rafael Fernández de Córdoba y Argote, Count of Menado Alto. He also had two children outside of his marriage: * Ángel Gutiérrez de los Ríos (b. 1771) * Camilo Gutiérrez de los Ríos (1772-1840) legitimized on February 23, 1795, son of the actress Gertrude Marucci.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gutiérrez de los Ríos, Carlos José 1742 births 1795 deaths Spanish diplomats Spanish soldiers Ambassadors of Spain to France Ambassadors of Spain to Portugal Spanish nobility