RusPortraits v2-093 Le Prince Charles de-Nassau-Siegen

Karl Heinrich von Nassau-Siegen (; 5 January 1743 – 10 April 1808), was a French-born fortune-seeker and adventurer active in Spain, Poland and the

Russian Empire The Russian Empire was an empire and the final period of the Russian monarchy from 1721 to 1917, ruling across large parts of Eurasia. It succeeded the Tsardom of Russia following the Treaty of Nystad, which ended the Great Northern War. ...

. A controversial figure, he was best known as

Catherine II , en, Catherine Alexeievna Romanova, link=yes , house = , father = Christian August, Prince of Anhalt-Zerbst , mother = Joanna Elisabeth of Holstein-Gottorp , birth_date = , birth_name = Princess Sophie of Anha ...

's least successful naval commander. Charles Henry, in Catherine II's own words, "had everywhere the reputation of a crazy fellow". He sailed around the world with Bougainville, "fought tigers bare-handed" in Central Africa and reportedly seduced the Queen of

Tahiti Tahiti (; Tahitian ; ; previously also known as Otaheite) is the largest island of the Windward group of the Society Islands in French Polynesia. It is located in the central part of the Pacific Ocean and the nearest major landmass is Austra ...

. His tiger hunt is the subject o
a vast canvas
by

Francesco Casanova Francesco Giuseppe Casanova (1 June 1727, London – 8 July 1803, near Mödling) was an Italian painter who specialised in battle scenes. His older brother was Giacomo Casanova, the famous adventurer, and his younger brother was Giovanni Battis ...

Life

He was the son of Maximilien Guillaume Adolphe of Nassau-Siegen (d. 1748) and his wife Amicie de Monchy (d. 1752). Charles Henry's family and title were disputed. His father was in 1756 posthumously recognized in France to be a legitimate son of

Emmanuel Ignatius of Nassau-Siegen Emmanuel Ignatius of Nassau-Siegen (6 January 1688 - 1 August 1735), was a Fieldmarshal of the Spanish and Austrian Army, and Regent of the Principality of Nassau-Siegen in 1727. Born in Roermond, he was the twenty-second child of John Francis De ...

,Morganatic and Unequal Marriages under German Law
etrieved 7 March 2016 in turn the youngest son of Prince Johan Franz of Nassau-Siegen by his third (and

morganatic Morganatic marriage, sometimes called a left-handed marriage, is a marriage between people of unequal social rank, which in the context of royalty or other inherited title prevents the principal's position or privileges being passed to the spous ...

) wife, Isabella Clara du Puget de la Serre. Emmanuel Ignatius (d. 1735) had an unhappy union with the French noblewoman Charlotte de Mailly-Nesle (d. 1769) and became separated from her after a few years of marriage, during which they had two short-lived sons; years later (in 1722) they reconciled, and Emmanuel Ignatius recognized the third and only surviving son of his wife, the aforementioned Maximilien Guillaume Adolphe, as his own; however, shortly before his death (26 August 1734), he repudiated the child, declaring him

adulterous Adultery (from Latin ''adulterium'') is extramarital sex that is considered objectionable on social, religious, moral, or legal grounds. Although the sexual activities that constitute adultery vary, as well as the social, religious, and legal ...

. Citing descent from a princely dynasty in the male-line, Charles Henry claimed that under French law he was entitled to style himself "Prince of Nassau-Siegen", but neither title nor rank was recognized by the

House of Nassau-Siegen Nassau-Siegen was a principality within the Holy Roman Empire that existed between 1303 and 1328, and again from 1606 to 1743. From 1626 to 1734, it was subdivided into Catholic and Protestant parts. Its capital was the city of Siegen, founde ...

or the

Holy Roman Empire The Holy Roman Empire was a political entity in Western, Central, and Southern Europe that developed during the Early Middle Ages and continued until its dissolution in 1806 during the Napoleonic Wars. From the accession of Otto I in 962 ...

, which had declared his official grandfather, Emmanuel Ignatius de Nassau-Siegen, legitimate but born from a morganatic marriage. Charles Henry entered the French Navy at the age of 15, but led a dissolute life as a gambler at the royal courts of Vienna, Warsaw, Madrid and Versailles. Probably to escape his creditors, he joined the 1766 expedition of

Louis Antoine de Bougainville Louis-Antoine, Comte de Bougainville (, , ; 12 November 1729 – August 1811) was a French admiral and explorer. A contemporary of the British explorer James Cook, he took part in the Seven Years' War in North America and the American Revolutio ...

to explore the South Pacific Ocean. On this expedition, he was able to develop his diplomatic skills in establishing contacts with the natives. For instance, in 1768 he was able to convince King Ereti of

of the peaceful intentions of the French. As a French officer, Nassau-Siegen failed in his hastily prepared attack on the isle of

Jersey Jersey ( , ; nrf, Jèrri, label= Jèrriais ), officially the Bailiwick of Jersey (french: Bailliage de Jersey, links=no; Jèrriais: ), is an island country and self-governing Crown Dependency near the coast of north-west France. It is the l ...

(1779). For commanding the fireships at the

siege of Gibraltar There have been fourteen recorded sieges of Gibraltar. Although the peninsula of Gibraltar is only long and wide, it occupies an extremely strategic location on the southern Iberian coast at the western entrance to the Mediterranean Sea. It ...

, Nassau-Siegen received from

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , i ...

three millions of francs and the dignity of

Grandee of Spain Grandee (; es, Grande de España, ) is an official aristocratic title conferred on some Spanish nobility. Holders of this dignity enjoyed similar privileges to those of the peerage of France during the , though in neither country did they ha ...

. At Spa he met his future wife, Polish Countess Karolina Gozdzka, who was recently divorced Prince

Sanguszko 150px, Paweł Karol Sanguszko 150px, Dymitr Sanguszko 150px, Roman Sanguszko 150px, Janusz Sanguszko 150px, Hieronim Sanguszko 150px, Barbara Sanguszko née Dunin 150px, Eustachy Erazm Sanguszko 150px, Władysław Hieronim Sanguszko 150p ...

and the owner of a small estate in

Podolia Podolia or Podilia ( uk, Поділля, Podillia, ; russian: Подолье, Podolye; ro, Podolia; pl, Podole; german: Podolien; be, Падолле, Padollie; lt, Podolė), is a historic region in Eastern Europe, located in the west-central ...

, then in the

Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth The Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, formally known as the Kingdom of Poland and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, and, after 1791, as the Commonwealth of Poland, was a bi- confederal state, sometimes called a federation, of Poland and Lithuania ru ...

. In 1786 Nassau-Siegen arrived in

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-eig ...

, seeking to make an impression on the powerful

Prince Potemkin Prince Grigory Aleksandrovich Potemkin-Tauricheski (, also , ;, rus, Князь Григо́рий Алекса́ндрович Потёмкин-Таври́ческий, Knjaz' Grigórij Aleksándrovich Potjómkin-Tavrícheskij, ɡrʲɪˈɡ ...

. He accompanied the Empress in her journey through the provinces of

New Russia Novorossiya, literally "New Russia", is a historical name, used during the era of the Russian Empire for an administrative area that would later become the southern mainland of Ukraine: the region immediately north of the Black Sea and Crimea. ...

and was put in charge of the

Dnieper Flotilla The Dnieper Flotilla () is the name given to the various naval flotillas on the Dnieper River. These were particularly active in four conflicts: the Russo-Turkish wars of 1735–39 and 1787–92, the Russian Civil War, and World War II (called, in ...

. After routing the Turks at

Ochakov Ochakiv, also known as Ochakov ( uk, Оча́ків, ; russian: Очаков; crh, Özü; ro, Oceacov and ''Vozia'', and Alektor ( in Greek), is a small city in Mykolaiv Raion, Mykolaiv Oblast (region) of southern Ukraine. It hosts the adminis ...

, he wrote to his wife that the spectacle of the Turkish fleet was "better than a ball in Warsaw". Pałac Gozdzkich - de Nassau

According to

John Paul Jones John Paul Jones (born John Paul; July 6, 1747 July 18, 1792) was a Scottish-American naval captain who was the United States' first well-known naval commander in the American Revolutionary War. He made many friends among U.S political elites ( ...

(who served under Nassau-Siegen's command), the putative prince sought to exaggerate his success to the utmost. He won the

Order of St. Andrew The Order of St. Andrew the Apostle the First-Called (russian: Орден Святого апостола Андрея Первозванного, translit=Orden Svyatogo apostola Andreya Pervozvannogo) is the highest order conferred by both the ...

after the

Battle of Svensksund The Second Battle of Svensksund (Finnish: ''Ruotsinsalmi'', Russian: ''Rochensalm'') was a naval battle fought in the Gulf of Finland outside the present day city of Kotka on 9 and 10 July 1790. The Swedish naval forces dealt the Russian f ...

(1789) defeating the Swedes, but failed in stopping the Swedish fleet from breaking out in the Battle of Vyborg Bay in July 1790. He was on the 9th of July 1790 decisively defeated by the Swedes at the second Battle of Svenskund. Despite this defeat, Nassau-Siegen was promoted to admiral by the Tsarina. Nassau-Siegen's military incompetence forced him to seek retirement. He left Russia in 1792 for the Rhine, to fight the French Revolution. But after the Peace of Amiens in 1802, he returned to France, where he solicited without success a position in Napoleon's army. He returned to his estate at Tynna in Podolia in 1808, which was seized by Russia after the Partitions of Poland. The first plans of Russia's attack on

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

through Khiva and Bukhara are ascribed to Nassau-Siegen. He had married in 1780 Karolina Gozdzka (1747-1807), but had no children. The location of his former palace in Warsaw has been since parcelled and transformed into residential units and park along Dynasy Street, the name of which is derived from ''De Nassau''. The remaining ruins of the palace were demolished in the 1930s.

Decorations

* 1774: Order of the White Eagle * 1788:

Order of St. George The Order of Saint George (russian: Орден Святого Георгия, Orden Svyatogo Georgiya) is the highest military decoration of the Russian Federation. Originally established on 26 November 1769 Julian (7 December 1769 Gregorian) a ...

* 1789:

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Nassau-Siegen, Karl Heinrich House of Nassau Imperial Russian Navy admirals Circumnavigators of the globe Russian military personnel of the Russo-Swedish War (1788–1790) Grandees of Spain 1743 births 1808 deaths