Charles de Rohan (16 July 17151 July 1787),

Prince of 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 F ...

Duke of Rohan-Rohan Duke of Rohan-Rohan References and notes {{Reflist House of Rohan Dukes of Rohan-Rohan Princes of Soubise ...

, Seigneur of Roberval, and

Marshal of France Marshal of France (french: Maréchal de France, plural ') is a French military distinction, rather than a military rank, that is awarded to generals for exceptional achievements. The title has been awarded since 1185, though briefly abolished ( ...

from 1758, was a soldier, and minister to kings

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 ...

and

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 ...

. He was the last male of his branch of the

House of Rohan The House of Rohan ( br, Roc'han) is a Breton family of viscounts, later dukes and princes in the French nobility, coming from the locality of Rohan in Brittany. Their line descends from the viscounts of Porhoët and is said to trace back to ...

, and was great-grandfather to the Duke of Enghien, executed by

Napoleon Napoleon Bonaparte ; it, Napoleone Bonaparte, ; co, Napulione Buonaparte. (born Napoleone Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French military commander and political leader wh ...

in 1804. Styled ''Prince d'Epinoy'' at birth, he became the

after 1749.

Biography

The prince was born at the

Palace of 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 ...

on 16 July 1715, the son of

Jules, Prince of Soubise Jules François Louis de Rohan (16 January 1697 – 6 May 1724) was a French nobleman and Prince of Soubise. He died of smallpox aged twenty-seven. Biography Born in Paris to Hercule Mériadec de Rohan and his wife Anne Geneviève de Lévi ...

, lieutenant captain of the Gendarmes of the Royal Guard, and of Anne Julie Adélaïde de Melun. The eldest of five children, he was styled the Prince of Epinoy till his father's death in 1724. His parents died in Paris of

smallpox Smallpox was an infectious disease caused by variola virus (often called smallpox virus) which belongs to the genus Orthopoxvirus. The last naturally occurring case was diagnosed in October 1977, and the World Health Organization (WHO) c ...

in 1724, remaining his siblings, including Marie Louise, making them orphans. His sister lost her husband to smallpox in 1743. He was entrusted to his grandfather

Hercule Mériadec, Duke of Rohan-Rohan Hercule Mériadec de Rohan (8 May 1669 – 26 January 1749), styled Duke of Rohan-Rohan (from 1717), was a member of the princely House of Rohan. He married twice and was the grandfather of the Maréchal de Soubise. His first wife was the da ...

, who raised Soubise to the court, where he became the companion of Louis XV, who was the same age as he. One of his great grandmothers was

Madame de Ventadour Charlotte de La Motte Houdancourt, Duchess of Ventadour (Charlotte Eléonore Madeleine; 1654–1744) was a French office holder of the French Royal Court. She was the governess of King Louis XV of France, great-grandson of King Louis XIV. She ...

, via his paternal grandmother

Anne Geneviève de Lévis Anne Geneviève de Lévis (February 1673 – 20 March 1727) was a French noblewoman. She was Princess of Turenne by her first marriage and Duchess of Rohan-Rohan, Princess of Soubise by her second marriage. Anne Geneviève was the only child ...

; Madame de Ventadour, who died in 1744, was close to her great grandson. He accompanied

in the campaign of 1744–48 and attained high military rank, which owed more to his

courtier A courtier () is a person who attends the royal court of a monarch or other royalty. The earliest historical examples of courtiers were part of the retinues of rulers. Historically the court was the centre of government as well as the official ...

ship than to his generalship. Soon after the beginning of the

Seven Years' War The Seven Years' War (1756–1763) was a global conflict that involved most of the European Great Powers, and was fought primarily in Europe, the Americas, and Asia-Pacific. Other concurrent conflicts include the French and Indian War (1754 ...

, through the influence of

Madame de Pompadour Jeanne Antoinette Poisson, Marquise de Pompadour (, ; 29 December 1721 – 15 April 1764), commonly known as Madame de Pompadour, was a member of the French court. She was the official chief mistress of King Louis XV from 1745 to 1751, and rem ...

, he was put in command of a corps of 24,000 men, and in November 1757 he sustained the crushing defeat of Rossbach. Along with the failure to hold

Hanover Hanover (; german: Hannover ; nds, Hannober) is the capital and largest city of the German state of Lower Saxony. Its 535,932 (2021) inhabitants make it the 13th-largest city in Germany as well as the fourth-largest city in Northern Germany ...

following the

Invasion of Hanover (1757) The Invasion of Hanover took place in 1757 during the Seven Years' War when a French army under Louis Charles César Le Tellier, duc d'Estrées advanced into the Electorate of Hanover and neighbouring German states following the Battle of Hastenb ...

this marked a dramatic turnaround for French fortunes as just months before they had seemed on the brink of victory in Europe. He was more fortunate, however, in his later military career, and continued in the service until the general peace of 1763, after which he lived the life of an ordinary courtier and man of fashion in Paris.

Marriages and issue

Charles married three times. His first marriage was in 1734 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 ma ...

(1722–1739), daughter of

Emmanuel Théodose de La Tour d'Auvergne Emmanuel-Théodose de La Tour d'Auvergne, cardinal de Bouillon (24 August 1643 – 2 March 1715, Rome) was a French prelate and diplomat. Biography Originally known as the Duc d'Albret, he was the son of Frédéric Maurice de La Tour d'Auvergn ...

and a granddaughter of the famous

Marie Anne Mancini Marie Anne Mancini, Duchess of Bouillon (1649 – 20 June 1714), was an Italian-French aristocrat and cultural patron, the youngest of the five famous Mancini sisters, who along with two of their female Martinozzi cousins, were known at the ...

; Anne Marie Louise died in 1739 giving birth to a son, who died in 1742. They had one surviving child: *

Charlotte Élisabeth Godefride 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 Princess ...

1737–1760 known as Charlotte. She married Louis Joseph de Bourbon, a '' Prince du sang'' and descendant of

Louis XIV of France , house = Bourbon , father = Louis XIII , mother = Anne of Austria , birth_date = , birth_place = Château de Saint-Germain-en-Laye, Saint-Germain-en-Laye, France , death_date = , death_place = Palace of ...

and

Madame de Montespan Madame may refer to: * Madam, civility title or form of address for women, derived from the French * Madam (prostitution), a term for a woman who is engaged in the business of procuring prostitutes, usually the manager of a brothel * ''Madame'' ( ...

. Charlotte was the paternal grandmother of the murdered '' Louis Antoine, Duke of Enghien''. In 1741, he married

Princess Anna Teresa of Savoy Anne Thérèse of Savoy (1 November 1717 – 5 April 1745) was a Savoyard princess born in Paris, France. She was the second wife of Charles de Rohan, Prince de Soubise, a military leader and friend of Louis XV. She was also a first half-cousi ...

(1717–1745), a daughter of

Victor Amadeus I, Prince of Carignano 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 ...

, and

Maria Vittoria Francesca of Savoy Maria Vittoria of Savoy (Maria Vittoria Francesca; 9 February 1690 – 8 July 1766) was a legitimated daughter of Victor Amadeus II of Sardinia, first king of the House of Savoy. Married to the head of a cadet branch of the House of Savoy, she i ...

(who in turn was an illegitimate daughter of

Victor Amadeus II of Sardinia Victor Amadeus II (Vittorio Amedeo Francesco; 14 May 166631 October 1732) was Duke of Savoy from 1675 to 1730. He also held the titles of Prince of Piedmont, Duke of Montferrat, Marquis of Saluzzo and Count of Aosta, Moriana and Nice. Louis X ...

). Anna Teresa (known as ''Anne Thérèse de Savoie'') gave birth to another daughter: * Victoire Armande Josèphe de Rohan (1743–1807); married Henri Louis Marie de Rohan, Prince of Guéménée, who was a cousin. Victoire was later the governess to the daughter of

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 ...

. After Anne Thérèse died in 1745, Charles married that same year Princess Anna Viktoria of Hessen-Rheinfels-Rotenburg (1728–1792). They had no children. Charles also notably had relationships with

Madeleine Guimard Marie-Madeleine Guimard (27 December 1743 — 4 May 1816) was a French ballerina who dominated the Parisian stage during the reign of Louis XVI. For twenty-five years she was the star of the Paris Opera. She made herself even more famous by her lo ...

and Anne Victoire Dervieux.

Legacy

Soubise sauce, based on onion and béchamel, is said to have been named after him.

Ancestry

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Soubise, Charles, Prince Of 1715 births 1787 deaths People from Versailles

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 ...

Charles Charles is a masculine given name predominantly found in English and French speaking countries. It is from the French form ''Charles'' of the Proto-Germanic name (in runic alphabet) or ''*karilaz'' (in Latin alphabet), whose meaning was " ...

Marshals of France

Counts of Saint-Pol People of the Silesian Wars