Charles III (1620 – 4 May 1692) was the third

Duke of Elbeuf The Seigneurie of Elbeuf, later a marquisate, dukedom, and peerage, was based on the territory of Elbeuf in the Vexin, possessed first by the Count of Valois, Counts of Valois and then the Counts of Meulan before passing to the House of Harcourt. ...

and member of the

House of Lorraine The House of Lorraine () originated as a cadet branch of the House of Metz. It inherited the Duchy of Lorraine in 1473 after the death without a male heir of Nicholas I, Duke of Lorraine. By the marriage of Francis of Lorraine to Maria Ther ...

. He succeeded his father

Charles II, Duke of Elbeuf Charles II, Duke of Elbeuf (5 November 1596 – 5 November 1657), was a French nobleman, the son of Charles I, Duke of Elbeuf, by his wife, Marguerite de Chabot. He succeeded his father in the Elbeuf dukedom (Elbœuf is an alternate, anglicized s ...

, to the Duchy-Peerage of Elbeuf. His mother was an illegitimate daughter of

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 ...

and

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 ...

. He was also a Peer of France as well as titular

Duke of Guise Count of Guise and Duke of Guise ( , ) were titles in the French nobility. Originally a Fiefdom, seigneurie, in 1417 Guise was erected into a county for René I of Naples, René, a younger son of Louis II of Anjou. While disputed by the House of ...

, Count of Harcourt, Lillebonne and Rieux.

Biography

Charles was born at the Hôtel d'Elboeuf in Paris and was the eldest son of

, and his wife

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 ...

, legitimised daughter of

and

. Charles was known as the Count of Harcourt-Elbeuf while his father was alive; from circa 1650, he styled himself as the ''prince d'Harcourt'', the county of Harcourt being one of the subsidiary titles of his father. He served in Italy (1641) and Picardy (1642) under the command of his uncle

Henri, Count of Harcourt Henri de Lorraine (20 March 1601 – 25 July 1666, Royaumont Abbey), known as ''Cadet la Perle'', was a French nobleman. He was count of Harcourt, count of Armagnac, count of Brionne and viscount of Marsan. He was the younger son of Charles ...

. Charles took great part in the

Thirty Years' War The Thirty Years' War, fought primarily in Central Europe between 1618 and 1648, was one of the most destructive conflicts in History of Europe, European history. An estimated 4.5 to 8 million soldiers and civilians died from battle, famine ...

; he was with '' le Grand Condé'' (then the

Duke of Enghien Duke of Enghien (, pronounced with a silent ''i'') was a noble title pertaining to the House of Condé. It was only associated with the town of Enghien for a short time. Dukes of Enghien – first creation (1566–1569) The title was first conf ...

) at the famous victory at

Rocroi Rocroi () is a Communes of France, commune in the Ardennes (département), Ardennes Departments of France, department in northern France. The central area is a notable surviving example of a bastion fort. Population History Rocroi was forti ...

in 1643. Charles was also a part of battles at Thionville and Sierck, as well as the siege of Gravelines (1644); he latter fought in the Battle of Nördlingen (1645) as well as at

Trier Trier ( , ; ), formerly and traditionally known in English as Trèves ( , ) and Triers (see also Names of Trier in different languages, names in other languages), is a city on the banks of the Moselle (river), Moselle in Germany. It lies in a v ...

. At the death of his father in November 1657, Charles became Duke of Elbeuf as well as a

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 ...

. Some time after in 1661, Louis XIV started his personal reign and named Charles as the Governor General of Picardy and Artois, a post his father had previously occupied. Charles died in Paris aged roughly 61 and was buried at the Église du couvent des Jacobins in Paris. He was succeeded by his third surviving son

Henri Henri is the French form of the masculine given name Henry, also in Estonian, Finnish, German and Luxembourgish. Bearers of the given name include: People French nobles * Henri I de Montmorency (1534–1614), Marshal and Constable of France * H ...

Issue

Charles married three times; firstly to Countess Anne Élisabeth de Lannoy (1626–1654), daughter of Count Charles de Lannoy; the couple married on 7 March 1648; # Anne Élisabeth of Lorraine (6 August 1649 – 5 August 1714) known as ''Mademoiselle d'Elbeuf'', she married Charles Henri de Lorraine, a distant cousin and illegitimate son of

Charles IV, Duke of Lorraine Charles IV (5 April 1604 – 18 September 1675) was Duke of Lorraine from 1624 until his death in 1675, with a brief interruption in 1634, when he abdicated under French pressure in favor of his younger brother, Nicholas Francis. Life He came ...

, and had issue:

Charles Thomas, Prince of Vaudémont Charles Thomas de Lorraine (7 March 1670 – 12 May 1704), prince de Vaudémont, was a field marshal in the Austrian army. By birth, he was member of the House of Lorraine. Early life Charles Thomas was the only son of Charles Henri of Lorrai ...

. # Charles of Lorraine, Chevalier d'Elboeuf (2 November 1650 – 1690), never married; Secondly Charles married Princess Élisabeth de

La Tour d'Auvergne The House of La Tour d'Auvergne () was an important French nobility, French noble dynasty. Its senior branch, extinct in 1501, held two of the last large fiefs acquired by the French crown, the counties of count of Auvergne, Auvergne and count of ...

(daughter of the

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 ...

and sister of

Godefroy Maurice de La Tour d'Auvergne Godefroy Maurice de La Tour d'Auvergne, Duke of Bouillon (21 June 1636 – 26 July 1721) was a French nobleman and member of the House of La Tour d'Auvergne, one of the most important families in France at the time. He married Marie Anne Manc ...

) on 20 May 1656 and had six children; # Henri Frédéric of Lorraine, Count of Islebonne (26 January 1657 – 21 October 1666) died in infancy; # Marie Eléonore of Lorraine (24 February 1658 – March 1731), Abbess of Saint Jacques;a Carmelite convent on the

Left Bank In geography, a bank is the land alongside a body of water. Different structures are referred to as ''banks'' in different fields of geography. In limnology (the study of inland waters), a stream bank or river bank is the terrain alongsid ...

in Paris

Latin Quarter The Latin Quarter of Paris (, ) is an urban university campus in the 5th and the 6th arrondissements of Paris. It is situated on the left bank of the Seine, around the Sorbonne. Known for its student life, lively atmosphere, and bistros, t ...

. # Marie Françoise de Lorraine (5 May 1659 – ?), Abbess of Saint Germaine; # Henri of Lorraine, Duke of Elbeuf (7 August 1661 – 17 May 1748) married Charlotte de Rochechouart de Mortemart, daughter of

Louis Victor de Rochechouart de Mortemart Louis Victor de Rochechouart, 2nd Duke of Mortemart and Duke of Vivonne (25 August 1636 – 15 September 1688) was a French military officer and nobleman who was a member of the ancient House of Rochechouart. His father, Gabriel de Rochechouar ...

, niece of

Madame de Montespan Françoise-Athénaïs de Rochechouart de Mortemart, Marquise of Montespan (5 October 1640 – 27 May 1707), commonly known as Madame de Montespan (), was a French noblewoman and the most celebrated maîtresse-en-titre, royal mistress of King Lou ...

and had issue; # Louis of Lorraine, Abbot of Orcamp (18 September 1662 – 4 February 1693) had illegitimate issue; # Emmanuel Maurice of Lorraine, Duke of Elbeuf (30 December 1677 – 17 July 1763), married twice but no issue; at his death the Duchy of Elbeuf went to

Charles Eugène de Lorraine Prince Charles Eugène of Lorraine-Brionne, Duke of Elbeuf (25 September 1751 – 2 November 1825) was the head of and last male member of the House of Guise, the cadet branch of the House of Lorraine which dominated France during the Wars of ...

, ''prince de Lambesc''; Thirdly, Charles married Françoise de Montault de Navailles, daughter of Philippe de Montaut-Bénac, Duke de Navailles, on 25 August 1684; # Suzanne Henriette of Lorraine (1 February 1686 – 19 October 1710) married

Ferdinand Charles, Duke of Mantua and Montferrat Ferdinando Carlo Gonzaga (31 August 1652 – 5 July 1708) was the only child of Duke Charles II of Mantua and Montferrat, and the last ruler of the Duchy of Mantua of the House of Gonzaga. Biography Born in Revere, In 1665 Ferdinand Charles re ...

, no issue; # Louise Anne of Lorraine, Princess of Navailles (10 July 1689 – 1762) never married. Charles also had three illegitimate children, including ''Charles bâtard de Lorraine'' (1645–1708), no surviving issue.

Ancestry

References and notes

Sources

* *Georges Poull, ''La maison ducale de Lorraine'', 1991 {{DEFAULTSORT:Charles 03, Duke of Elbeuf 1620 births 1692 deaths House of Guise House of Lorraine Nobility from Paris Dukes of Elbeuf Counts of France French military personnel Princes of Lorraine 17th-century peers of France