Charles Godefroy de La Tour d'Auvergne (16 July 1706 – 24 October 1771) was a French nobleman and member of the powerful

House of La Tour d'Auvergne A house is a single-unit residential building. It may range in complexity from a rudimentary hut to a complex structure of wood, masonry, concrete or other material, outfitted with plumbing, electrical, and heating, ventilation, and air c ...

Biography

His parents, Emmanuel Théodose de La Tour d'Auvergne (1668–1730) and Marie Armande Victoire de La Trémoille (1677–1717) were married in 1696 and Charles Godefroy was the youngest of seven children born to the couple. His mother died in 1717 and his father married again. In total Charles Godefroy would have three half siblings from his fathers other three marriages. As the youngest son, he was not expected to succeed to the Duchy of Bouillon which had been in his families hands since 1594. His siblings included Armande (1697–1717), Princess of Epinoy (wife of Louis de Melun) his other full sister Marie Hortense Victoire (1704–1741) married

Charles Armand René de La Trémoille 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 ...

. His younger half sister Anne Marie Louise married Charles de Rohan, famous general and friend of

Louis XV Louis XV (15 February 1710 – 10 May 1774), known as Louis the Beloved (), 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 reached maturity (then defi ...

. His youngest sibling, Marie Sophie Charlotte (1729–1763) married the

Prince of Craon The Prince , princely title of Prince of Craon was a title used by the Beauvau family using their status as Prince of the Holy Roman Empire which was gained in 1722 which was later fully recognised by Louis XV of France in 1755 and was inherited ...

. His older brothers Godefroy Maurice (1702–1705) and Frédéric Maurice (1702–1723) died before their father did. His father eventually died in April 1730 and Charles Godefroy then became the sovereign

Duke of Bouillon The Duchy of Bouillon () was a duchy comprising Bouillon, Belgium, Bouillon and adjacent towns and villages in present-day Belgium. The state originated in the 10th century as property of the Lords of Bouillon, owners of Bouillon Castle. Crusad ...

, a small principality in present-day

Belgium Belgium, officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. Situated in a coastal lowland region known as the Low Countries, it is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeas ...

. He married his brother's widow,

Maria Karolina Sobieska Maria Karolina Sobieska (25 November 1697 – 8 May 1740) was a Polish noblewoman, daughter of Jakub Ludwik Sobieski. Known as Marie Charlotte or only Charlotte, she was the Princess of Turenne and later Duchess of Bouillon by marriage. Ch ...

, the granddaughter of

John III Sobieski John III Sobieski ( (); (); () 17 August 1629 – 17 June 1696) was King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania from 1674 until his death in 1696. Born into Polish nobility, Sobieski was educated at the Jagiellonian University and toured Eur ...

, in 1723. She was the older sister of Clementina Sobieski, wife of

James Francis Edward Stuart James Francis Edward Stuart (10 June 16881 January 1766), nicknamed the Old Pretender by Whigs (British political party), Whigs or the King over the Water by Jacobitism, Jacobites, was the House of Stuart claimant to the thrones of Ki ...

. They had two children, a son and a daughter. Their only daughter, Marie Louise Henriette Jeanne de La Tour d'Auvergne, was a famous adventuress, guillotined in 1793. He started an affair with his step mother, the notably attractive Louise Henriette Françoise de Lorraine.Daughter of Anne Marie Joseph de Lorraine and Marie Louise Jeannin de Castille, sister of the Duchess of Richelieu He was a year older than she.

Issue

* ''Marie Louise'' Henriette Jeanne de La Tour d'Auvergne (15 August 1725 –24 September 1781) married the

Prince of Guéméné Prince of Guémené is a title of French nobility associated with the fiefdom of Guémené-sur-Scorff in Brittany and held within the House of Rohan. The fiefdom was bought on 26 May 1377, for 3,400 ''Sou (coin), sous d'or'' by Jean de Rohan, Viscou ...

and had issue; had a secret child with her cousin

Charles Edward Stuart Charles Edward Louis John Sylvester Maria Casimir Stuart (31 December 1720 – 30 January 1788) was the elder son of James Francis Edward Stuart, making him the grandson of James VII and II, and the Stuart claimant to the thrones of England, ...

; * Godefroy Charles Henri de La Tour d'Auvergne (26 January 1728 – 3 December 1792) married Louise Henriette Gabrielle de Lorraine and had issue, she was a grand daughter of Charles de Lorraine, Count of Marsan.

Ancestry

References and notes

Sources

*
Account of the Duchy of Bouillon by François Velde
{{DEFAULTSORT:Tour d'Auvergne, Charles Godefroy De La 1706 births 1771 deaths Nobility from Paris Godefroy-Maurice, 3d duke (de la Marck) Charles Godefroy 18th-century French nobility Grand chamberlains of France People of Byzantine descent 18th-century peers of France Dukes of Château-Thierry