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
A cardinal ( la, Sanctae Romanae Ecclesiae cardinalis, literally 'cardinal of the Holy Roman Church') is a senior member of the clergy of the Catholic Church. Cardinals are created by the ruling pope and typically hold the title for life. Col ...
, and cadet of the
Rohan family (which traced its origin to the kings of
Brittany
Brittany (; french: link=no, Bretagne ; br, Breizh, or ; Gallo language, Gallo: ''Bertaèyn'' ) is a peninsula, Historical region, historical country and cultural area in the west of modern France, covering the western part of what was known ...
). His parents were
Hercule Mériadec, Prince of Guéméné
Hercule Mériadec de Rohan (13 November 1688 – 21 December 1757) was a ''prince étranger'' and the sixth Duke of Montbazon in France, "Prince de Guéméne" being the title he bore prior to inheriting the dukedom.
Lineage
Born to Charles de ...
and Louise Gabrielle Julie de Rohan. He was born in
Paris
Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...
.
Members of the Rohan family had filled the office of Bishop of Strasbourg since 1704, which made them princes of the
Holy Roman Empire
The Holy Roman Empire was a Polity, political entity in Western Europe, Western, Central Europe, Central, and Southern Europe that developed during the Early Middle Ages and continued until its Dissolution of the Holy Roman Empire, dissolution i ...
and the compeers rather of the German
prince-bishops than of the French ecclesiastics. Louis de Rohan was destined for this high office from birth. Soon after taking orders, in 1760, he was nominated coadjutor to his uncle,
Louis Constantin de Rohan-Rochefort, who then held the bishopric, and he was also appointed
titular bishop
A titular bishop in various churches is a bishop who is not in charge of a diocese.
By definition, a bishop is an "overseer" of a community of the faithful, so when a priest is ordained a bishop, the tradition of the Catholic, Eastern Orthodox an ...
of
Canopus, Egypt
Canopus (, ; grc-gre, Κάνωπος, ), also known as Canobus ( grc-gre, Κάνωβος, ), was an ancient Egyptian coastal town, located in the Nile Delta. Its site is in the eastern outskirts of modern-day Alexandria, around from the cente ...
. But he preferred the elegant life and the gaiety of Paris to his clerical duties, and had also an ambition to make a figure in politics. In 1761 he was elected to seat 36 of the
Académie Française
An academy (Attic Greek: Ἀκαδήμεια; Koine Greek Ἀκαδημία) is an institution of secondary education, secondary or tertiary education, tertiary higher education, higher learning (and generally also research or honorary membershi ...
.
Louis de Rohan was a member of the palace cabal opposed to the Austrian alliance. This party was headed by the Duc d'Aiguillon who, in 1771, sent Rohan on a special
embassy
A diplomatic mission or foreign mission is a group of people from a state or organization present in another state to represent the sending state or organization officially in the receiving or host state. In practice, the phrase usually deno ...
to find out what was being done in
Vienna
en, Viennese
, iso_code = AT-9
, registration_plate = W
, postal_code_type = Postal code
, postal_code =
, timezone = CET
, utc_offset = +1
, timezone_DST ...
with regard to the
partition of Poland. Rohan arrived at Vienna in January 1772, and made a great spectacle of himself with his lavish entertainments. Empress
Maria Theresa
Maria Theresa Walburga Amalia Christina (german: Maria Theresia; 13 May 1717 – 29 November 1780) was ruler of the Habsburg dominions from 1740 until her death in 1780, and the only woman to hold the position ''suo jure'' (in her own right). ...
was hostile to his intrigues; not only did he attempt to thwart her alliance with France, but as a vicar of the Church, he made little secret of his venal lifestyle.
[Madame Campan : Memoires sur la vie de Marie-Antoinette, Ed. Nelson]
On the death of
Louis XV
Louis XV (15 February 1710 – 10 May 1774), known as Louis the Beloved (french: le Bien-Aimé), was King of France from 1 September 1715 until his death in 1774. He succeeded his great-grandfather Louis XIV at the age of five. Until he reache ...
in 1774, Rohan was recalled from Vienna, and coldly received in Paris; but his family's influence was too great for him to be neglected; in 1777 he was made
Grand Almoner of France {{other uses, Almoner
The Grand Almoner of France (french: Grand aumônier de France) was an officer of the French monarchy and a member of the ''Maison du Roi'' ("King's Household") during the ''Ancien Régime''. He directed the religious branch of ...
, and in 1778, abbot of
St. Vaast
Vedast or Vedastus, also known as Saint Vaast (in Flemish, Norman and Picard) or Saint Waast (also in Picard and Walloon), Saint Gaston in French, and Foster in English (died ) was an early bishop in the Frankish realm. After the victory of T ...
. In 1778, he was made a cardinal on the nomination of
Stanislaus Poniatowski (the king of
Poland
Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populous ...
). In 1779, Louis de Rohan succeeded his uncle,
Constantine de Rohan-Rochefort, as bishop of Strasbourg, though he spent much of his career working in Paris, as he preferred a fashionable life to his clerical duties; also in 1779, he became abbot of
Noirmoutiers and
Chaise-Dieu
La Chaise-Dieu (; Auvergnat: ''La Chasa Dieu'') is a commune in the Haute-Loire department in south-central France. Its inhabitants are called ''Casadéens'', from the Latin name of the city.
Geography
La Chaise-Dieu occupies a 1082 m butte wh ...
. Despite his enhanced status, the Cardinal was poorly received at court, having made himself an enemy of
Queen 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 and ...
, the daughter of Empress Maria Theresa, whose disapproval he had earned in Vienna.
Wishing to redeem himself in the eyes of the Queen, he got involved in the "
affair of the diamond necklace" with the
Comtesse de la Motte
Count (feminine: countess) is a historical title of nobility in certain European countries, varying in relative status, generally of middling rank in the hierarchy of nobility. Pine, L. G. ''Titles: How the King Became His Majesty''. New York: ...
and others, including the notorious
Cagliostro. Rohan was led to believe that his attentions to the Queen were welcomed, and that she approved his arrangements for her to purchase the infamous necklace. When the swindle was discovered, the Cardinal was arrested and implicated in the theft, though he was later found to have been an innocent dupe. At the trial in 1786 before the ''
parlement of Paris
The Parliament of Paris (french: Parlement de Paris) was the oldest ''parlement'' in the Kingdom of France, formed in the 14th century. It was fixed in Paris by Philip IV of France in 1302. The Parliament of Paris would hold sessions inside the ...
'' his acquittal was received with popular enthusiasm, and regarded as a victory over the royal court at Versailles and, in particular, the Queen. He was deprived of his office as grand almoner and exiled to his abbey of Chaise-Dieu, where he was accompanied by his secretary,
Louis Ramond de Carbonnières
Louis François Élisabeth Ramond, baron de Carbonnières (4 January 1755 Strasbourg – 14 May 1827), was a French politician, geologist and botanist. He is regarded as one of the first explorers of the high mountains of the Pyrenees who can be d ...
. The following year, he traveled to the thermal spas of the
Pyrenees
The Pyrenees (; es, Pirineos ; french: Pyrénées ; ca, Pirineu ; eu, Pirinioak ; oc, Pirenèus ; an, Pirineus) is a mountain range straddling the border of France and Spain. It extends nearly from its union with the Cantabrian Mountains to C ...
, spending the summer and the autumn in
Barèges, where Ramond began his geological investigations.
Rohan was soon allowed to return to Strasbourg, and his popularity was shown by his election in 1789 to the
Estates-General by the clergy of the
bailliages of
Haguenau
Haguenau (; Alsatian: or ; and historically in English: ''Hagenaw'') is a commune in the Bas-Rhin department of France, of which it is a sub-prefecture.
It is second in size in the Bas-Rhin only to Strasbourg, some to the south. To the ...
and
Wissembourg. He, at first, declined to sit, but when the Estates-General became the
National Assembly
In politics, a national assembly is either a unicameral legislature, the lower house of a bicameral legislature, or both houses of a bicameral legislature together. In the English language it generally means "an assembly composed of the repre ...
, it insisted on validating his election. However, in January 1791, as a prince of the church, he refused to take the oath to the
Civil Constitution of the Clergy, and went to
Ettenheim
Ettenheim ( gsw, label=Low Alemannic, Äddene) is a town in the Ortenaukreis, Baden-Württemberg, Germany.
History
Ettenheim was founded in the 8th century by Eddo, bishop of Strasbourg, and the was founded at about that time. Ettenheim receive ...
, in the German part of his
diocese
In Ecclesiastical polity, church governance, a diocese or bishopric is the ecclesiastical district under the jurisdiction of a bishop.
History
In the later organization of the Roman Empire, the increasingly subdivided Roman province, pro ...
. In exile, he spent what wealth remained to him in providing for the poor clergy of his diocese who had been obliged to leave France. On 29 November 1801, he resigned his nominal office as Bishop of Strasbourg and went back to Ettenheim, where he died on 17 February 1803.
Depiction in media
His role in the affair of the diamond necklace scandal is depicted in a 2001 American
historical drama film
A historical drama (also period drama, costume drama, and period piece) is a work set in a past time period, usually used in the context of film and television. Historical drama includes historical fiction and romances, adventure films, and swas ...
, ''
The Affair of the Necklace
''The Affair of the Necklace'' is a 2001 American historical drama film directed by Charles Shyer. The screenplay by John Sweet is based on what became known as the Affair of the Diamond Necklace, an incident that helped fuel the French populace ...
'', directed by
Charles Shyer
Charles Richard Shyer (born October 11, 1941) is an American film director, screenwriter and producer. Shyer's films are predominantly comedies, often with a romantic-comedy overtone. His films include '' Private Benjamin'' (1980), ''Irreconcila ...
, in which he was played by
Jonathan Pryce
Sir Jonathan Pryce (born John Price; 1 June 1947) is a Welsh actor who is known for his performances on stage and in film and television. He has received numerous awards, including two Tony Awards and two Laurence Olivier Awards. In 2021 he wa ...
, and in the
anime
is Traditional animation, hand-drawn and computer animation, computer-generated animation originating from Japan. Outside of Japan and in English, ''anime'' refers specifically to animation produced in Japan. However, in Japan and in Japane ...
''
Rose of Versailles
, also known as ''Lady Oscar'' and ''La Rose de Versailles'', is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Riyoko Ikeda. It was originally serialized in the List of manga magazines, manga magazine ''Margaret (magazine), Margaret'' ...
''.
Rohan is portrayed by
Barnett Parker in the 1938 film
''Marie Antoinette''. The character plays a key role, particularly in scenes following the entr'acte (intermission).
References
*
*
* ''The ''Britannica'' gives as references the ''Mémoires'' of his secretary, the abbé Georgel, of the
Baroness d'Oberkirch, of
Beugnot, and of
Madame Campan
Jeanne Louise ''Henriette'' Campan ('' née'' Genet; 6 OctoberMadame Campan, ''Memoirs of the Court of Marie Antoinette, Queen of France'', 1752, Paris 16 March 1822, Mantes) was a French educator, writer and Lady's maid. In the service of Mari ...
.''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Rohan, Louis Rene Edouard de
1734 births
1803 deaths
18th-century French cardinals
Bishops of Strasbourg
French untitled nobility
Lycée Louis-le-Grand alumni
Clergy from Paris
People of the French Revolution
Expelled members of the Académie Française
Louis Rene Edouard de Rohan
Cardinals created by Pope Pius VI
Prisoners of the Bastille
Affair of the Diamond Necklace