Princess Victoria of Hesse-Rotenburg (Anna Victoria Maria Christina; 25 February 1728 – 1 July 1792) was a princess of Hesse by birth, and the

Princess of Soubise Within the French nobility, the title of "Princess of Soubise" was given to the current wife of the Prince of Soubise. The title was created in 1667 when the ''sire, sirerie'' of Soubise, Charente-Maritime was raised to a principality. The first pri ...

by marriage. Her husband was a renowned French commander, known as the ''Maréchal de Soubise''. She died without descendants.

Early life

Born in

Rotenburg an der Fulda Rotenburg an der Fulda (officially ''Rotenburg a.d. Fulda'') is a town in Hersfeld-Rotenburg district in northeastern Hesse, Germany lying, as the name says, on the river Fulda (river), Fulda. Geography Location The town lies south of the S ...

Joseph, Hereditary Prince of Hesse-Rotenburg Joseph of Hesse-Rotenburg (23 September 1705 – 24 June 1744) was the Hereditary Prince of Hesse-Rotenburg from his birth till his death in 1744. He was heir apparent to the Landgraviate of Hesse-Rotenburg. Biography Born at Langenschwalbac ...

and his wife Princess Christine Anna Luise Oswaldine of Salm, she was the eldest of four children.

Marriage

She married

Charles de Rohan Charles de Rohan (16 July 17151 July 1787), Prince of Soubise, Duke of Rohan-Rohan, Seigneur of Roberval, and Marshal of France from 1758, was a soldier, and minister to kings Louis XV and Louis XVI. He was the last male of his branch of the Hou ...

, ''

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 ...

'' on 23 December 1745 at the château des Rohan in

Saverne Saverne (french: Saverne, ; Alsatian: ; german: Zabern ) is a commune in the Bas-Rhin department in Grand Est in north-eastern France. It is situated on the Rhine-Marne canal at the foot of a pass over the Vosges Mountains, and 45 km (27& ...

. He was head of the

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 wealthy and powerful

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, enjoyed the rank of '' princes étrangers'' at the

court A court is any person or institution, often as a government institution, with the authority to adjudicate legal disputes between parties and carry out the administration of justice in civil, criminal, and administrative matters in accordance ...

Versailles The Palace of Versailles ( ; french: Château de Versailles ) is a former royal residence built by King Louis XIV located in Versailles, about west of Paris, France. The palace is owned by the French Republic and since 1995 has been managed, u ...

Later life

Her husband was a two-time widower, having been married first to

Anne Marie Louise de La Tour d'Auvergne Anne Marie Louise de La Tour d'Auvergne (1 August 1722 – 19 September 1739) was a French noblewoman and the wife of Charles de Rohan. She was Marchioness of Gordes and Countess of Moncha in her own right as well as Princess of Soubise by mar ...

(1722–1739), and secondly to Princess Anne Thérese of Savoy-CarignanDaughter of

Victor Amadeus, Prince of Carignan Victor Amadeus of Savoy, 3rd Prince of Carignano (1 March 1690 – 4 April 1741) was an Italian nobleman who was Prince of Carignano from 1709 to 1741. He was the son of Emmanuel Philibert of Savoy, Prince of Carignano and his wife, the Maria A ...

(1717–1745). Victoire had two step-daughters from these marriages;

Charlotte Charlotte ( ) is the List of municipalities in North Carolina, most populous city in the U.S. state of North Carolina. Located in the Piedmont (United States), Piedmont region, it is the county seat of Mecklenburg County, North Carolina, Meckl ...

, future

Princess of Condé Princess of Condé See also *Duchess of Bourbon *Duchess of Guise Lady of Guise Non hereditary, 950–? Elder House of Guise, ?–1185 House of Avesnes, 1185–1244 House of Châtillon, 1244–1404 House of Valois-Anjou, 1404–14 ...

and ''

Madame de Guéméné 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 ...

'', who became governess of the children 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 ...

. Among her first cousins were King

Victor Amadeus III of Sardinia Victor Amadeus III (Vittorio Amadeo Maria; 26 June 1726 – 16 October 1796) was King of Sardinia from 1773 to his death. Although he was politically conservative, he carried out numerous administrative reforms until he declared war on Revolut ...

and the tragic ''

princesse de Lamballe Princesse (French 'princess') may refer to: *"Princesse", single hit for Julie Zenatti * Princesse (Nekfeu song) * La Princesse 15-metre (50-foot) mechanical spider designed and operated by French performance art company La Machine. See also * P ...

''. Like her husband, she took lovers outside her marriage. In 1757, by order 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 ...

, she was arrested in

Tournai Tournai or Tournay ( ; ; nl, Doornik ; pcd, Tornai; wa, Tornè ; la, Tornacum) is a city and municipality of Wallonia located in the province of Hainaut, Belgium. It lies southwest of Brussels on the river Scheldt. Tournai is part of Euromet ...

, purportedly for having stolen 900,000 ''

livres The (; ; abbreviation: ₶.) was one of numerous currencies used in medieval France, and a unit of account (i.e., a monetary unit used in accounting) used in Early Modern France. The 1262 monetary reform established the as 20 , or 80.88 gr ...

'' worth of jewels from her husband in order to run away with her apparent lover, Monsieur de Laval-Montmorency. The couple separated and her parents were given a pension of 24,000 livres to take Victoire, exiled from court, to dwell with them at

Echternach Echternach ( lb, Iechternach or (locally) ) is a commune with town status in the canton of Echternach, which is part of the district of Grevenmacher, in eastern Luxembourg. Echternach lies near the border with Germany, and is the oldest town in L ...

. The couple had no children and Victoire died in Paris, having outlived her husband by five years to the day.

Ancestry

References and notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Victoria of Hesse-Rotenburg 1728 births 1792 deaths People from Rotenburg an der Fulda House of Hesse-Kassel House of Rohan Princesses of Soubise Duchesses of Rohan-Rohan Princesses of Epinoy Duchesses of Joyeuse Landgravines of Hesse-Rotenburg 18th-century German people