François Louis de Lorraine (1623 – 27 June 1694) was a 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 was Count of Harcourt. He was also the Count of Rieux, Rochefort and Montlaur. He was also Marquis of Maubec as well as the Baron of Aubenas.

Biography

François Marie was born to Charles II, Duke of Elbeuf and his wife Catherine Henriette de Bourbon, ''Légitimée de France'', legitimised 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 the couple's third son. In his youth, he was styled as the Prince of Harcourt, later being styled as Count. A member of the ''House of Guise'' founded by

Claude, Duke of Guise Claude de Lorraine, Duke of Guise (20 October 1496 – 12 April 1550) was a French aristocrat and general. He became the first Duke of Guise in 1528. He was a highly effective general for the French crown. His children and grandchildren were to ...

, he was a ''Prince of Lorraine'' as a male line descendant of

René II, Duke of Lorraine René II (2 May 1451 – 10 December 1508) was Count of Vaudémont from 1470, Duke of Lorraine from 1473, and Duke of Bar from 1483 to 1508. He claimed the crown of the Kingdom of Naples and the County of Provence as the Duke of Calabria ...

. At court, he, like his Lorraine family, held the rank of ''

Foreign Prince Foreign may refer to: Government * Foreign policy, how a country interacts with other countries * Ministry of Foreign Affairs, in many countries ** Foreign Office, a department of the UK government ** Foreign office and foreign minister * United S ...

'', a rank which was below that of the immediate

Royal Family A royal family is the immediate family of monarchs and sometimes their extended family. The term imperial family appropriately describes the family of an emperor or empress, and the term papal family describes the family of a pope, while th ...

and Princes of the Blood. His paternal first cousins included the Chevalier de Lorraine (lover of

Philippe I, Duke of Orléans ''Monsieur'' Philippe I, Duke of Orléans (21 September 1640 – 9 June 1701) was the younger son of King Louis XIII of France and Anne of Austria, and the younger brother of King Louis XIV. He was the founder of the House of Orléans, a ...

Count of Armagnac The following is a list of rulers of the County of Armagnac: House d'Armagnac, House of Armagnac *William of Fesenzac, William Count of Fézensac and Armagnac ?–960 *Bernard the Suspicious, first count privative of Armagnac 960–? *Gerald ...

; his maternal cousins included

Louis XIV of France LouisXIV (Louis-Dieudonné; 5 September 16381 September 1715), also known as Louis the Great () or the Sun King (), was King of France from 1643 until his death in 1715. His verified reign of 72 years and 110 days is the List of longest-reign ...

''and'' the above-mentioned Duke of Orléans. He married Anne d'Ornano, ''comtesse de Montlaur'' and ''marquise de Maubec'' in her own right. The couple were married at the

Palais-Royal The Palais-Royal () is a former French royal palace located on Rue Saint-Honoré in the 1st arrondissement of Paris. The screened entrance court faces the Place du Palais-Royal, opposite the Louvre Palace, Louvre. Originally called the Palais-Ca ...

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

in July 1645. Their eldest son, François, had been born before the marriage but he was recognised as legitimate in 1694. The couple had six children in all, two of which would have progeny. His eldest daughter Marie Angélique married the Portuguese

Duke of Cadaval Duke of Cadaval is a title of Portuguese nobility. It was created on 26 April 1648 by King John IV of Portugal for his distant cousin, ''Dom'' Nuno Álvares Pereira de Melo (1638–1725), who was already 4th Marquis of Ferreira and 5th Count o ...

and died in childbirth. His other daughter Marie Anne was the Abbess of

Montmartre Montmartre ( , , ) is a large hill in Paris's northern 18th arrondissement of Paris, 18th arrondissement. It is high and gives its name to the surrounding district, part of the Rive Droite, Right Bank. Montmartre is primarily known for its a ...

from 1685 till her death. He was succeeded as Count of Harcourt by his second son, Alphonse Henri. François Louis died in January 1694, aged 69 his wife outliving him by a year.

Issue

# François de Lorraine, ''Batard d'Harcourt'' (c.1645–c.1694) never married; # ''Marie Angélique'' Henriette de Lorraine (c.1646–10 June 1674) married Nuno Álvares Pereira de Melo, 1st Duke of CadavalMarie Angélique married the Duke of Cadaval by proxy on 7 February 1671; she died in childbirth in 1674 giving birth to a son who died the same day. The widower Duke then married her distant cousin Marguerite de Lorraine, daughter of the

and had issue; died in childbirth; # ''Alphonse Henri'' Charles de Lorraine, Count of Harcourt (14 August 1648 – 19 October 1718) married Françoise de Brancas and had issue; # César de Lorraine, Prince ''then'' Count of Montlaur (c1650–31 July 1675) never married; # Marie Anne de Lorraine, Abbess in Montmartre (1657–2 October 1699) became abbess of Montmartre on 17 August 1685, never married; # Charles de Lorraine, ''Abbe d'Harcourt'' (1661–23 March 1683) never married.

Ancestry

Notes

Sources

*Georges Poull, ''La maison ducale de Lorraine'', 1991 {{DEFAULTSORT:Francois Louis, Count Of Harcourt 1623 births 1694 deaths Nobility from Paris House of Guise House of Lorraine Counts of Harcourt 17th-century French nobility Counts of France