Princess Charlotte Louise Doroth̩e de Rohan (25 October 1767 Р1 May 1841) is reputed to have been the secret wife of
Louis de Bourbon-Condé, ''Duc d'Enghien'', an important ''
prince du sang'' and ''
émigré
An ''émigré'' () is a person who has emigrated, often with a connotation of political or social self-exile. The word is the past participle of the French ''émigrer'', "to emigrate".
French Huguenots
Many French Huguenots fled France followi ...
'' during the French Revolution.
Early life
Princess Charlotte de Rohan was born in Paris. Her father was
Charles Jules, Prince de Rochefort, a member of the
House of Rohan
The House of Rohan ( br, Roc'han) is a Breton people, Breton family of viscounts, later dukes and princes in the French nobility, coming from the locality of Rohan (commune), Rohan in Brittany. Their line descends from the viscounts of Porhoët ...
, which held
princely
A prince is a male ruler (ranked below a king, grand prince, and grand duke) or a male member of a monarch's or former monarch's family. ''Prince'' is also a title of nobility (often highest), often hereditary, in some European states. The ...
rank in France prior to the revolution.
[ Anselme, Père. ''Histoire de la Maison Royale de France'', tome 4. Editions du Palais-Royal, 1967, Paris. pp. 45, 49, 73, 202, 224. (French).] Her mother was Marie-Henriette
d'Orléans-Rothelin, a descendant of Joan of Arc's ally the
Bastard of Orléans, whose legitimate heirs, the
Dukes of Orléans-Longueville, died out in 1694 leaving only the Rothelin branch, prominent in the kingdom despite a
bar sinister
In heraldry, a bend is a band or strap running from the upper dexter (the bearer's right side and the viewer's left) corner of the shield to the lower sinister (the bearer's left side, and the viewer's right). Authorities differ as to how muc ...
.
[ Anselme, Père. ''Histoire de la Maison Royale de France'', tome 1. Editions du Palais-Royal, 1967, Paris. pp. 219, 224–226. (French).]
Marriage
She is alleged to have privately married the ''
Duc d'Enghien
Duke of Enghien (french: Duc d'Enghien, pronounced with a silent ''i'') was a noble title pertaining to the House of Condé. It was only associated with the town of Enghien for a short time.
Dukes of Enghien – first creation (1566–1569)
The ...
'' in
Baden
Baden (; ) is a historical territory in South Germany, in earlier times on both sides of the Upper Rhine but since the Napoleonic Wars only East of the Rhine.
History
The margraves of Baden originated from the House of Zähringen. Baden is ...
on 18 February 1804.
Before any such marriage was acknowledged publicly, on 21 March 1804 the duke was kidnapped and executed by French troops on the order of
Emperor Napoléon, an act which shocked Europe and ultimately extinguished the
House of Condé
A house is a single-unit residential building. It may range in complexity from a rudimentary hut to a complex structure of wood, masonry, concrete or other material, outfitted with plumbing, electrical, and heating, ventilation, and air condi ...
, as he was the only male heir of that
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 French royal family. Charlotte was never officially recognised as Enghien's widow by the French royal family, neither as ''émigrés'' nor during the Bourbon and Orléans
restoration
Restoration is the act of restoring something to its original state and may refer to:
* Conservation and restoration of cultural heritage
** Audio restoration
** Film restoration
** Image restoration
** Textile restoration
* Restoration ecology
...
s, and died in Paris without remarrying at the age of 73.
File:Louis-Antoine de Bourbon-Condé.png, Louis-Antoine Duke of Enghien
File:Arms of Bathilde d'Orléans (known as the Duchess of Bourbon) as Princess of Condé.png, Arms of Bathilde as Duchess of Bourbon, Princess of Condé mother of Louis de Bourbon-Condé, ''Duc d'Enghien''
File:Blason fam fr Rohan.svg, Arms of the House of Rohan: ''Gules, nine mascles or''
Relations
Charlotte was a niece of the
Cardinal de Rohan
Louis René Édouard de Rohan known as Cardinal de Rohan (25 September 1734 – 16 February 1803), ''prince de Rohan-Guéméné'', was a French Bishop of Strasbourg, politician, cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church, and cadet of the Rohan f ...
, whose disgrace in the
Affair of the Diamond Necklace
The Affair of the Diamond Necklace (, "Affair of the Queen's Necklace") was an incident from 1784 to 1785 at the court of King Louis XVI of France that involved his wife, Queen Marie Antoinette.
The Queen's reputation, already tarnished by gossi ...
helped set the stage for the French Revolution by subjecting the royal family and court to notoriety. She was also related to
Victoire de Rohan
Victoire Armande Josèphe de Rohan, ''Princess of Guéméné'' (28 December 1743 – 20 September 1807) was a French noblewoman and court official. She was the governess of the children of Louis XVI of France. She is known better as ''Madame de G ...
, ''
Duchesse de Montbazon'' and
Governess of the Children of France The Governess of the Children of France (sometimes the Governess of the Royal Children) was office at the royal French court during pre-Revolutionary France and the Bourbon Restoration. She was charged with the education of the children and grandchi ...
during the reign of
Louis XVI
Louis XVI (''Louis-Auguste''; ; 23 August 175421 January 1793) was the last King of France before the fall of the monarchy during the French Revolution. He was referred to as ''Citizen Louis Capet'' during the four months just before he was ...
and
Marie Antoinette
Marie Antoinette Josèphe Jeanne (; ; née Maria Antonia Josepha Johanna; 2 November 1755 – 16 October 1793) was the last queen of France before the French Revolution. She was born an archduchess of Austria, and was the penultimate child a ...
.
Another
Charlotte de Rohan
Charlotte de Rohan (''Charlotte Godefride Élisabeth''; 7 October 1737 – 4 March 1760) was a French aristocrat who married into the House of Condé, a cadet branch of the ruling House of Bourbon, during the Ancien Régime. She was Prince ...
was the paternal grandmother of the ''Duc d'Enghien'', who was distantly related to his alleged wife. In fact, they were 5th cousins once removed, both descending from
Hercule de Rohan, Duke of Montbazon.
Ancestry
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Rohan, Charlotte Louise Dorothee De
1767 births
1841 deaths
Nobility from Paris
Charlotte Louise
Charlotte Louise
18th-century French nobility
19th-century French nobility
