Alexandre Louis Auguste de Rohan-Chabot (3 December 1761 – 8 February 1816), Count of Chabot, then Prince of Leon, 7th

Duke of Rohan Duke of Rohan is a title of French nobility, associated with the Breton region of Rohan, Morbihan, Rohan. Duke of Rohan House of Rohan House of Chabot House of Rohan-Chabot ''The title ''prince de Léon'' is used a courtesy title until the ...

, Count of

Porhoët The noble Breton family line of Porhoët () was a French noble family in the middle ages, from around 990 through the 1200's. Notable members included Odo I, Odo II, and Alan I. Alan I would go on to form the Franco-Breton House of Rohan, w ...

, was Colonel of the Régiment Royal of the

County of Artois The County of Artois (, , ) was a historic province of the Kingdom of France, held by the Dukes of Burgundy from 1384 until 1477/82, and a state of the Holy Roman Empire from 1493 until 1659. Present-day Artois lies in northern France, near ...

Lieutenant-General Lieutenant general (Lt Gen, LTG and similar) is a military rank used in many countries. The rank traces its origins to the Middle Ages, where the title of lieutenant general was held by the second-in-command on the battlefield, who was normall ...

of the King's Armies, First Gentleman of the Chamber of King

Louis XVIII Louis XVIII (Louis Stanislas Xavier; 17 November 1755 – 16 September 1824), known as the Desired (), was King of France from 1814 to 1824, except for a brief interruption during the Hundred Days in 1815. Before his reign, he spent 23 y ...

and hereditary

Peer of France The Peerage of France () was a hereditary distinction within the French nobility which appeared in 1180 during the Middle Ages. The prestigious title and position of Peer of France () was held by the greatest, highest-ranking members of the Fr ...

Early life

Alexandre was born in Paris, France on 3 December 1761. He was the eldest son of Louis Antoine de Rohan-Chabot and his first wife, Élisabeth Louise de La Rochefoucauld (1740–1786). Among his siblings were Armand Charles de Rohan-Chabot, who was murdered during the French Revolution in September 1792, and Alexandrine Charlotte de Rohan-Chabot, who married their uncle, Louis Alexandre de La Rochefoucauld, 6th Duke of La Rochefoucauld. After his murder in September 1792, she married

Boniface de Castellane Esprit Victor Elisabeth Boniface de Castellane, ''comte de Castellane'' (21 March 178816 September 1862), was a French military officer and ultimately a Marshal of France. Early life He was a son of Boniface Louis André de Castellane (1758– ...

, in 1810. After his mother's death in 1786, his father married Adélaïde Suzanne de Vismes, widow of Jean-Benjamin de La Borde and daughter of Pierre-Martin de Vismes and Marie-Louise Legendre, in 1798. His paternal grandparents were Guy Auguste de Rohan-Chabot, Viscount of Bignan, and his first wife, Yvonne Sylvie du Breil de Rays. Today, his grandfather is most notable for his 1726 altercation with

Voltaire François-Marie Arouet (; 21 November 169430 May 1778), known by his ''Pen name, nom de plume'' Voltaire (, ; ), was a French Age of Enlightenment, Enlightenment writer, philosopher (''philosophe''), satirist, and historian. Famous for his wit ...

. His maternal grandparents were Jean Baptiste de La Rochefoucauld, Duke of Anville, and Marie Louise Nicole de La Rochefoucauld, Lady of

La Roche-Guyon La Roche-Guyon () is a commune in the Val-d'Oise department in Île-de-France in northern France. It is located in the , and is a member of Les Plus Beaux Villages de France (The Most Beautiful Villages of France) Association. The commune g ...

Career

At the age of fifteen, he began his military career by entering the Jarnac Dragoons Regiment as a Cadet. In 1777, he was promoted to Lieutenant, and again to captain in 1779. In 1785, he was Second Colonel of the Artois-infantry regiment, in 1788 colonel of the Royal-Piémont-cavalry regiment. In 1790, he followed the

Count of Artois The count of Artois (, ) was the ruler over the County of Artois from the 9th century until the abolition of the countship by the French Revolution, French revolutionaries in 1790. House of Artois *Odalric () *Altmar () *Adelelm (?–932) *''C ...

in exile and served as his '' aide-de-camp'', before serving in the

Army of Condé The Army of Condé () was a French field army during the French Revolutionary Wars. One of several Émigré armies of the French Revolutionary Wars, émigré field armies, it was the only one to survive the War of the First Coalition; others had b ...

. At the end of 1794, he was in Jersey with the French émigrés. He returned to France in 1800. Arrested by the police of the consulate, he was released on the intervention of

Joseph Fouché Joseph Fouché, 1st Duc d'Otrante, 1st Comte Fouché (; 21 May 1759 – 26 December 1820) was a French statesman, revolutionary, and Minister of Police under First Consul Napoleon Bonaparte, who later became a subordinate of Emperor Napoleon. H ...

. Unlike his sons, he remained on the sidelines during the First Empire. His eldest son, Louis-François, served as chamberlain of the Emperor

Napoléon Bonaparte Napoleon Bonaparte (born Napoleone di Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French general and statesman who rose to prominence during the French Revolution and led Military career ...

from 1809 until the emperor's exile in 1814. On the death of his grandmother in 1797, Alexandre and his sister

Alexandrine Alexandrine is a name used for several distinct types of verse line with related metrical structures, most of which are ultimately derived from the classical French alexandrine. The line's name derives from its use in the Medieval French '' Ro ...

inherited the estate of La Roche-Guyon. Upon the death of his father on 29 November 1807, he became the 7th

, and Count of

. His eldest son then took the title of Prince of Leon.

Bourbon Restoration

At the first Restoration, in June 1814, he was made a

and promoted to Lieutenant-general by

. In November 1814, he was able to buy back the Château de Josselin and

Pontivy Pontivy (; ) is a Communes of France, commune in the Morbihan Departments of France, department in Brittany (administrative region), Brittany in north-western France. It lies at the confluence of the river Blavet and the Canal de Nantes à Brest. ...

, which his father had to sell in 1802. In March 1815, replacing the deceased Duke of Fleury he was made First Gentleman of the Chamber of King Louis XVIII, whom he followed to Ghent during the

Hundred Days The Hundred Days ( ), also known as the War of the Seventh Coalition (), marked the period between Napoleon's return from eleven months of exile on the island of Elba to Paris on20 March 1815 and the second restoration of King Louis XVIII o ...

. Returning with the King to Paris, he was made a hereditary

by an ordinance of 19 August 1815.

Personal life

On 29 May 1785 in Paris, Alexandre married Anne Louise ''Élisabeth'' de Montmorency (1771–1828), daughter of Anne Léon de Montmorency,

Duke of Montmorency Duke of Montmorency was a title of French nobility that was created several times for members of the Montmorency family, who were lords of Montmorency, near Paris. History The first creation was in 1551 for Anne de Montmorency, Constable of ...

and Charlotte-Françoise de Montmorency-Luxembourg, ''

suo jure ''Suo jure'' is a Latin phrase, used in English to mean 'in his own right' or 'in her own right'. In most nobility-related contexts, it means 'in her own right', since in those situations the phrase is normally used of women; in practice, especi ...

'' 4th Duchess of Montmorency (granddaughter of Charles II de Montmorency-Luxembourg). She was sister to Anne Charles François de Montmorency, 5th Duke of Montmorency. Together, they were the parents of: * Louis-François de Rohan-Chabot (1788–1833), who married Marie Georgine Armandine de Sérent, granddaughter of the Duke of Sérent, in 1808. After her death from a fire in 1815, he devoted himself to the church, later serving as Archbishop of Auch, Archbishop of Besançon and

cardinal priest A cardinal is a senior member of the clergy of the Catholic Church. As titular members of the clergy of the Diocese of Rome, they serve as advisors to the pope, who is the bishop of Rome and the visible head of the worldwide Catholic Church. Ca ...

. * Anne Louis ''Fernand'' de Rohan-Chabot (1789–1869), who married Josephine Françoise de Gontaut-Biron, daughter of Charles-Michel de Gontaut-Biron, Marquis de Saint Blancard, in 1817. * Louise-Anne-Léopoldine-Cécilia-Léontine de Rohan-Chabot (1791–1795), who died young. * ''Adélaïde''-Henriette-Antoinette-Stéphanie de Rohan-Chabot (1793–1869), who married Aimé Charles de Gontaut-Biron, Marquis de Saint Blancard, son of Jean-Armand de Gontaut-Biron, Marquis de Gontaut, in 1812. * Marie-Charlotte-Léontine de Rohan-Chabot (1796–1841), who married Antoine de Lambertye, Marquis of Gerbéviller, in 1817. * Anne-Louise-Emma-Zoë-Clementine de Rohan-Chabot (1800–1853), who married Count Joseph d'Estourmel, in 1822. * Louis Charles Philippe Henri de Rohan-Chabot (1806–1872), Count of Chabot; he married Marie-Caroline de Biencourt in 1831. After a short illness, the Duke died in Paris on 8 February 1816. Upon his death, the La Roche-Guyon estate was divided between his six surviving children. The château, the park and part of the land went to his eldest son, the future Cardinal Louis-François de Rohan-Chabot, who succeeded him as the 8th

Portrait

A head-and-shoulders portrait, previously attributed to Baron

François Gérard François Pascal Simon Gérard (, 4 May 1770 – 11 January 1837), titled as Baron Gérard in 1809, was a French painter. He was born in Rome, where his father occupied a post in the house of the French ambassador, and his mother was Italian. A ...

, of the Duke where he is "turned to the left, gazing to the right, against plain darkish grey background. Short, light grey curly hair. High white collar, white cravat. Dark grey-blue jacket" is today held at

Ickworth House Ickworth House is a English country house, country house at Ickworth, near Bury St Edmunds in Suffolk, England. It is a Neoclassical architecture, neoclassical building set in parkland. The house was the residence of the Marquess of Bristol, M ...

, Suffolk, the residence of the Marquesses of Bristol. The Duke of Rohan and his wife were close friends of Frederick Hervey, 1st Marquess of Bristol and his wife Elizabeth, Marchioness of Bristol.

References

External links

Alexandre-Louis-Auguste de Rohan-Chabot, Prince de Leon, later Duc de Rohan (1761-1816)
at the

National Trust The National Trust () is a heritage and nature conservation charity and membership organisation in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. The Trust was founded in 1895 by Octavia Hill, Sir Robert Hunter and Hardwicke Rawnsley to "promote the ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rohan-Chabot, Alexandre 1761 births 1816 deaths Alexandre Nobility from Paris Alexandre People of the French Revolution