Henri Louis de Rohan, Prince of Guéméné (Henri Louis Marie; 30 August 1745 – 24 April 1809), was a French

courtier A courtier () is a person who attends the royal court of a monarch or other royalty. The earliest historical examples of courtiers were part of the retinues of rulers. Historically the court was the centre of government as well as the officia ...

and the penultimate

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 ...

Biography

Henri Louis was born in

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 ...

, a member of the

House of Rohan The House of Rohan () is a Bretons, Breton family of viscounts, later dukes and princes in the French nobility, coming from the locality of Rohan, Morbihan, Rohan in Brittany. Their line descends from the viscounts of Porhoët and is said to tr ...

, which claimed ancestry relating to the Dukes of Brittany. He was the only son of the family's main branch chief, Jules Hercule Mériadec de Rohan, Prince of Guéméné, whereas his mother Marie Louise Henriette Jeanne de La Tour d'Auvergne (daughter of Charles Godefroy de La Tour d'Auvergne) had an illegitimate child with her lover,

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, ...

.Henri Louis' mother was a mistress of Charles Edward Stuart, and Henri Louis' uncle, Ferdinand Maximilien Mériadec de Rohan, had three children with

Charlotte Stuart, Duchess of Albany Charlotte Stuart, styled Duchess of AlbanyShe was given the title in 1783 by her father, Charles Edward Stuart, who claimed to be able to grant Scottish peerages by virtue of being ''de jure'' King of Scots. Neither that claim, nor the title i ...

, an illegitimate daughter of Charles Edward Stuart by a different mistress. On 15 January 1761, he married his

second cousin A cousin is a relative who is the child of a parent's sibling; this is more specifically referred to as a first cousin. A parent of a first cousin is an aunt or uncle. More generally, in the kinship system used in the English-speaking world, ...

, Victoire Armande Josèphe de Rohan, daughter of Charles de Rohan, Prince de Soubise and Princess Anna Theresa of Savoy. The couple had five children, four of whom survived into adult age. The family owned the Hôtel de Rohan-Guémené on the

Place des Vosges The Place des Vosges (), originally the Place Royale, is the oldest planned square in Paris, France. It is located in the Marais district, and it straddles the dividing-line between the 3rd and 4th arrondissements of Paris. It is the oldest ...

. In 1775 Henri Louis was appointed Grand Chamberlain of France by

Louis XVI Louis XVI (Louis-Auguste; ; 23 August 1754 – 21 January 1793) was the last king of France before the fall of the monarchy during the French Revolution. The son of Louis, Dauphin of France (1729–1765), Louis, Dauphin of France (son and heir- ...

, inasmuch as his uncle Godefroy Charles Henri de La Tour d'Auvergne,

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 ...

gave up that charge. The Princess of Guéméné also inherited a charge; she was appointed

Governess of the Children of France The governess of the children of France (sometimes the Governess of the Royal Children) was an office at the royal French court during pre-Revolutionary France and the Bourbon Restoration. As the head of the royal nursery, she was charged with the ...

. From the 1780s on Henri Louis and his family was involved in personal and political scandals. In 1782, Henri Louis's mistress, Countess Thérèse-Lucy de Dillon, the first wife of Arthur Dillon and a friend of his wife, succumbed to

tuberculosis Tuberculosis (TB), also known colloquially as the "white death", or historically as consumption, is a contagious disease usually caused by ''Mycobacterium tuberculosis'' (MTB) bacteria. Tuberculosis generally affects the lungs, but it can al ...

at age 30; in the same year the Prince declared bankruptcy, with a debt of 33 million livres. He and Victoire abdicated their charges at the court and left

Versailles The Palace of Versailles ( ; ) is a former royal residence commissioned by King Louis XIV located in Versailles, Yvelines, Versailles, about west of Paris, in the Yvelines, Yvelines Department of Île-de-France, Île-de-France region in Franc ...

. Their properties were sold, including the Hôtel de Rohan-Guéméné and their mansion at Montreuil. At the death of his father-in-law, he was the legal heir to the title

Prince of Soubise Within the French nobility, the title of "Prince of Soubise" was created in 1667 when the '' sirerie'' of Soubise, Charente-Maritime was raised to a principality for the cadet branch of the House of Rohan. The first prince was François de Rohan (16 ...

. During the French Revolution, Henri Louis and his father, wife and children fled to

Habsburg monarchy The Habsburg monarchy, also known as Habsburg Empire, or Habsburg Realm (), was the collection of empires, kingdoms, duchies, counties and other polities (composite monarchy) that were ruled by the House of Habsburg. From the 18th century it is ...

, where he died in

Prague Prague ( ; ) is the capital and List of cities and towns in the Czech Republic, largest city of the Czech Republic and the historical capital of Bohemia. Prague, located on the Vltava River, has a population of about 1.4 million, while its P ...

in 1809, at the age 63 years (later in 1820 his family bought

Sychrov Castle Sychrov Castle () is a castle in Sychrov (Liberec District), Sychrov in the Liberec Region of the Czech Republic. It is a unique example of Neo-Gothic castle architecture from the second half of the 19th century. A large park surrounds the castle ...

, where they established residence).

Issue

*Charlotte Victoire Joséphe Henriette de Rohan (17 November 1761 - 15 December 1771), died aged ten * Charles Alain Gabriel de Rohan, Duke of Montbazon, Rohan and Guéméné;

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 ...

(Versailles, 18 January 1764 - Paris, 24 April 1836); married in 1781: **Louise Aglae de Conflans d'Armentieres (1763–1819); had issue. *Marie Louise Joséphine de Rohan (13 April 1765 - Paris, 21 September 1839); married in 1780: **A cousin Charles Louis Gaspard de Rohan, Duke of Montbazon (1765–1843) and had issue. *,

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 ...

and

Bouillon Bouillon can refer to: Food * Bouillon (broth), a simple broth ** Court-bouillon, a quick broth * Bouillon (soup), a Haitian soup * Bouillon (restaurant), a traditional type of French restaurant ** Bouillon Chartier, a bouillon restaurant fou ...

(Paris, 20 July 1766 - Czech Republic, 10 December 1846) married in 1800: **A niece Berthe de Rohan (1782–1841); had no issue. * (Versailles, 20 October 1768 - Czech republic, 13 January 1836); married in 1800: ** Princess Wilhelmine Catherine Frédérique Biron von Kurland, Duchess of Sagan (1781–1839); had no issue.

Ancestry

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Henri Louis, Prince of Guemene 1745 births 1809 deaths Nobility from Paris Henri Louis Marie 18th-century French people 19th-century French people Grand chamberlains of France Henri Louis Henri Louis Henri Louis People of Byzantine descent