Charles II, Duke of Elbeuf (5 November 1596 – 5 November 1657), was a French nobleman, the son of

Charles I, Duke of Elbeuf Charles I de Lorraine, duc d'Elbeuf (Joinville, 18 October 1556 – Moulins, 4 August 1605) was a French noble, military commander and governor during the French Wars of Religion. The son of the most minor cadet house of the children of Claude, D ...

, by his wife, Marguerite de Chabot. He succeeded his father in the

Elbeuf Elbeuf () is a commune in the Seine-Maritime department in the Normandy region in northern France. Geography A light industrial town situated by the banks of the Seine some south of Rouen at the junction of the D7, D321 and the D313 roads. The ...

duke Duke is a male title either of a monarch ruling over a duchy, or of a member of Royal family, royalty, or nobility. As rulers, dukes are ranked below emperors, kings, grand princes, grand dukes, and above sovereign princes. As royalty or nobi ...

dom (Elbœuf is an alternate,

anglicized Anglicisation or anglicization is a form of cultural assimilation whereby something non-English becomes assimilated into or influenced by the culture of England. It can be sociocultural, in which a non-English place adopts the English language ...

spelling) in 1605.

Biography

He joined the French royal court in 1607, becoming a playmate to the future King

Louis XIII Louis XIII (; sometimes called the Just; 27 September 1601 – 14 May 1643) was King of France from 1610 until his death in 1643 and King of Navarre (as Louis II) from 1610 to 1620, when the crown of Navarre was merged with the French crown. ...

. When the latter reached his

majority A majority is more than half of a total; however, the term is commonly used with other meanings, as explained in the "#Related terms, Related terms" section below. It is a subset of a Set (mathematics), set consisting of more than half of the se ...

, Charles was appointed

Grand Chamberlain of France The Grand Chamberlain of France () was one of the Great Officers of the Crown of France, a member of the ''Maison du Roi'' ("King's Household"), and one of the Great Offices of the Maison du Roi during the Ancien Régime. It is similar in name ...

. He was a loyal servant to the King, of assistance in conflicts with

Marie de' Medici Marie de' Medici (; ; 26 April 1575 – 3 July 1642) was Queen of France and Navarre as the second wife of King Henry IV. Marie served as regent of France between 1610 and 1617 during the minority of her son Louis XIII. Her mandate as rege ...

Cardinal Richelieu Armand Jean du Plessis, 1st Duke of Richelieu (9 September 1585 – 4 December 1642), commonly known as Cardinal Richelieu, was a Catholic Church in France, French Catholic prelate and statesman who had an outsized influence in civil and religi ...

, and the

Huguenot The Huguenots ( , ; ) are a Religious denomination, religious group of French people, French Protestants who held to the Reformed (Calvinist) tradition of Protestantism. The term, which may be derived from the name of a Swiss political leader, ...

s. The

Duke of Longueville Duke of Longueville (''Longueville-sur-Scie'') was a title of French nobility, though not a peerage of France. History The title was created in 1505 by Louis XII of France, King Louis XII of France for his first cousin once removed, François d' ...

, governor of

Normandy Normandy (; or ) is a geographical and cultural region in northwestern Europe, roughly coextensive with the historical Duchy of Normandy. Normandy comprises Normandy (administrative region), mainland Normandy (a part of France) and insular N ...

, and loyal to Queen Marie, led a revolt against the king and established camps at Orival, near

. The king and Richelieu were the main targets of the revolt, and Charles was appointed governor of Normandy. He took part in the siege of Rochelle, but was wounded at

Saint-Jean-d'Angély Saint-Jean-d'Angély (; Saintongeais dialect, Saintongeais: ''Sént-Jhan-d'Anjhéli'') is a Communes of France, commune in the Charente-Maritime Departments of France, department in southwestern France. The commune has its historical origins i ...

. He was given the additional post of governor of

Picardy Picardy (; Picard language, Picard and , , ) is a historical and cultural territory and a former regions of France, administrative region located in northern France. The first mentions of this province date back to the Middle Ages: it gained it ...

. He died at Paris in 1657.

Marriage and children

On 20 June 1619 he married

Catherine Henriette de Bourbon Catherine Henriette de Bourbon (also Catherine Henrietta de Vendôme, Duchesse d'Elbeuf) (11 November 1596 – 20 June 1663) was an illegitimate daughter of King Henry IV of France and his long-term '' maîtresse en titre'' Gabrielle d'Estrées ...

, called ''Mademoiselle de Vendôme'',² an illegitimate daughter of King

Henry IV of France Henry IV (; 13 December 1553 – 14 May 1610), also known by the epithets Good King Henry (''le Bon Roi Henri'') or Henry the Great (''Henri le Grand''), was King of Navarre (as Henry III) from 1572 and King of France from 1589 to 16 ...

Gabrielle d'Estrées Gabrielle d'Estrées, Duchess of Beaufort and Verneuil, Marchioness of Monceaux (; 157310 April 1599) was a mistress, confidante and adviser of Henry IV of France. She is noted for her role in ending the religious civil wars that plagued France ...

. They had six children: * Charles III of Elbeuf (1620 – 4 May 1692) *Henri (1622 – 3 April 1648) never married; Abbot of Hombieres * François Louis, Count of Harcourt (1623 – 27 June 1694), married and had issue; * François Marie, Prince of Lillebonne (4 April 1624 – 19 January 1694); married and had issue *Catherine (1626–1645) *Marie Marguerite (1629 – 7 August 1679) known as ''Mademoiselle d'Elbœuf''; died unmarried and childless Child with Jeanne-Françoise Schotte (family, Van den Gersmoortere alias Schotte, the lords of Herbais): * Charlotte Françoise Adrienne, born 1638

References and notes

The Peerage
{{DEFAULTSORT:Charles 02, Duke of Elbeuf 1596 births 1657 deaths Charles 02 House of Lorraine 17th-century peers of France Field marshals of the Holy Roman Empire Military personnel from Paris