Louis-François-Auguste de Rohan-Chabot (29 February 17888 February 1833) was a French aristocrat and Catholic

prelate A prelate () is a high-ranking member of the Minister (Christianity), Christian clergy who is an Ordinary (church officer), ordinary or who ranks in precedence with ordinaries. The word derives from the Latin , the past participle of , which me ...

who served as

Archbishop of Auch In Christian denominations, an archbishop is a bishop of higher rank or office. In most cases, such as the Catholic Church, there are many archbishops who either have jurisdiction over an ecclesiastical province in addition to their own archdioc ...

and then later as

Archbishop of Besançon In Christian denominations, an archbishop is a bishop of higher rank or office. In most cases, such as the Catholic Church, there are many archbishops who either have jurisdiction over an ecclesiastical province in addition to their own archdioc ...

from 1828 until his death in 1833. He was created

cardinal priest A cardinal is a senior member of the clergy of the Catholic Church. As titular members of the clergy of the Diocese of Rome, they serve as advisors to the pope, who is the bishop of Rome and the visible head of the worldwide Catholic Church. Ca ...

on 5 July 1830.

Early life

Rohan-Chabot 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 ...

on 29 February 1788. He was the eldest son of

Alexandre-Louis-Auguste de Rohan-Chabot Alexandre Louis Auguste de Rohan-Chabot (3 December 1761 – 8 February 1816), Count of Chabot, then Viscounty of Léon, Prince of Leon, 7th Duke of Rohan, Count of Porhoët, was Colonel of the Régiment Royal of the County of Artois, Lieutenant-Ge ...

and Anne Louise Élisabeth de Montmorency (1771–1828). Among his younger siblings were Fernand de Rohan-Chabot, Adélaïde de Rohan-Chabot (who married Aimé Charles de Gontaut-Biron, Marquis de

Saint-Blancard Saint-Blancard (; Gascon dialect, Gascon: Sent Blancat) is a former Communes of France, commune in the Gers Departments of France, department in the Occitania (administrative region), Occitanie Regions of France, region in southwestern France. It ...

), Marie-Charlotte-Léontine de Rohan-Chabot (who married Antoine de Lambertye, Marquis of

Gerbéviller Gerbéviller () is a commune in the Meurthe-et-Moselle department in north-eastern France. It is 33 km (as the crow flies) south east of Nancy and 73 km south-south-east of Metz. Culturally and historically, it is part of Lorraine. ...

), Anne-Louise-Emma-Zoë-Clementine de Rohan-Chabot (who married Count Joseph d'Estourmel), and Louis Charles Philippe Henri de Rohan-Chabot (who married Marie-Caroline de Biencourt). His paternal grandparents were Louis Antoine de Rohan-Chabot and his first wife, Élisabeth Louise de La Rochefoucauld. His maternal grandparents were

Anne Léon de Montmorency Anne, alternatively spelled Ann, is a form of the Latin female name Anna. This in turn is a representation of the Hebrew Hannah, which means 'favour' or 'grace'. Related names include Annie and Ana. Anne is sometimes used as a male name in t ...

Duke of Montmorency Duke of Montmorency was a title of French nobility that was created several times for members of the Montmorency family, who were lords of Montmorency, near Paris. History The first creation was in 1551 for Anne de Montmorency, Constable of ...

and Charlotte-Françoise de Montmorency-Luxembourg, ''

suo jure ''Suo jure'' is a Latin phrase, used in English to mean 'in his own right' or 'in her own right'. In most nobility-related contexts, it means 'in her own right', since in those situations the phrase is normally used of women; in practice, especi ...

'' 4th Duchess of Montmorency (granddaughter of Charles II de Montmorency-Luxembourg). His grandmother was sister to

Anne Charles François de Montmorency Anne Charles François de Montmorency, 5th Duke of Montmorency (13 July 1768 – 25 May 1846) was a French soldier and politician. Early life Montmorency was born at the Hôtel de Montmorency at 10 rue Saint-Marc in Paris on 13 July 1768. He was ...

, 5th Duke of Montmorency.

Career

He served as chamberlain of the French emperor, Napoléon I Bonaparte, in 1809, which he occupied until the emperor's exile in 1814. As the eldest son and heir apparent, he was styled Prince of Leon. Upon the death of his father in 1816, he became the 8th

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 Count of

Porhoët The noble Breton family line of Porhoët () was a French noble family in the middle ages, from around 990 through the 1200's. Notable members included Odo I, Odo II, and Alan I. Alan I would go on to form the Franco-Breton House of Rohan, w ...

in 1816, and inherited the family seat, the Château de Josselin, which had been damaged during the

Revolution In political science, a revolution (, 'a turn around') is a rapid, fundamental transformation of a society's class, state, ethnic or religious structures. According to sociologist Jack Goldstone, all revolutions contain "a common set of elements ...

. At the insistence of Caroline, Duchess of Berry, he restored the château in 1822.

Religious career

After the death of his wife, he devoted himself to the church, entering the Saint-Sulpice Seminary in Paris, from 1819 until 1822. When he entered religious orders, his younger brother, Fernand, took the title, Prince of Léon. He was ordained on 1 June 1822, and preached at

La Roche-Guyon La Roche-Guyon () is a commune in the Val-d'Oise department in Île-de-France in northern France. It is located in the , and is a member of Les Plus Beaux Villages de France (The Most Beautiful Villages of France) Association. The commune g ...

before becoming Vicar General of Paris. He was elected

on 23 June 1828, was consecrated on 18 January 1829 at the Cathedral of Paris, by

Hyacinthe-Louis de Quélen Hyacinthe-Louis De Quélen (8 October 1778 – 31 December 1839) was an Archbishop of Paris. He was the fourth archbishop to serve the Paris diocese after the restoration of the French hierarchy in 1802. Biography De Quélen was born in ...

Archbishop of Paris The Archdiocese of Paris (; ) is a Latin Church ecclesiastical jurisdiction or archdiocese of the Catholic Church in France. It is one of twenty-three archdioceses in France. The original diocese is traditionally thought to have been created i ...

, assisted by Louis-Augustine de Montblanc,

Archbishop of Tours The Archdiocese of Tours (; ) is a Latin Church archdiocese of the Catholic Church in France. The archdiocese has roots that go back to the 3rd century, while the formal erection of the diocese dates from the 5th century. The ecclesiastical pro ...

, and by Guillaume-Aubin de Villèle,

Archbishop of Bourges In Christian denominations, an archbishop is a bishop of higher rank or office. In most cases, such as the Catholic Church, there are many archbishops who either have jurisdiction over an ecclesiastical province in addition to their own archdioc ...

. He was transferred to the Archdiocese of Besançon on 15 December 1828. He was created

Cardinal priest A cardinal is a senior member of the clergy of the Catholic Church. As titular members of the clergy of the Diocese of Rome, they serve as advisors to the pope, who is the bishop of Rome and the visible head of the worldwide Catholic Church. Ca ...

in the consistory of 5 July 1830 by

Pope Pius VIII Pope Pius VIII (; born Francesco Saverio Maria Felice Castiglioni; 20 November 1761 – 30 November 1830) was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 31 March 1829 to his death in November 1830. Pius VIII's pontificate wa ...

. The fall of the

Bourbon monarchy The House of Bourbon (, also ; ) is a dynasty that originated in the Kingdom of France as a branch of the Capetian dynasty, the royal House of France. Bourbon kings first ruled France and Kingdom of Navarre, Navarre in the 16th century. A br ...

after the

July Revolution The French Revolution of 1830, also known as the July Revolution (), Second French Revolution, or ("Three Glorious ays), was a second French Revolution after French Revolution, the first of 1789–99. It led to the overthrow of King Cha ...

of 1830 forced him to flee to

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 ...

and then

Switzerland Switzerland, officially the Swiss Confederation, is a landlocked country located in west-central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the south, France to the west, Germany to the north, and Austria and Liechtenstein to the east. Switzerland ...

. He participated in the

1830–1831 papal conclave Year 183 ( CLXXXIII) was a common year starting on Tuesday of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known in Rome as the Year of the Consulship of Aurelius and Victorinus (or, less frequently, year 936 ''Ab urbe condita''). The denomination ...

, which elected

Pope Gregory XVI Pope Gregory XVI (; ; born Bartolomeo Alberto Cappellari; 18 September 1765 – 1 June 1846) was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 2 February 1831 to his death in June 1846. He had adopted the name Mauro upon enteri ...

. He received the

red hat Red Hat, Inc. (formerly Red Hat Software, Inc.) is an American software company that provides open source software products to enterprises and is a subsidiary of IBM. Founded in 1993, Red Hat has its corporate headquarters in Raleigh, North ...

and the title of SS. Trintà al Monte Pincio, on 28 February 1831.

Personal life

On 2 May 1808, Louis-François married Marie Georgine Armandine de Sérent, a granddaughter of the Duke of Sérent. After her death from a fire on 10 January 1815, he devoted himself to the church. Rohan-Chabot died on 8 February 1833 at Chenecey,

Doubs Doubs (, ; ; ) is a department in the Bourgogne-Franche-Comté region in Eastern France. Named after the river Doubs, it had a population of 543,974 in 2019.Bourgogne-Franche-Comté Bourgogne-Franche-Comté (; , sometimes abbreviated BFC; Arpitan: ''Borgogne-Franche-Comtât'') is a region in eastern France created by the 2014 territorial reform of French regions, from a merger of Burgundy and Franche-Comté. The new region ...

. He was buried in the

Besançon Cathedral Besançon Cathedral () is a Roman Catholic church architecture, church dedicated to John the Apostle, Saint John located in the city of Besançon, France. It is the seat of the Archbishop of Besançon. The cathedral consists of a large nave betwe ...

References

1788 births 1833 deaths 19th-century French Roman Catholic bishops Louis-François Louis-François {{France-RC-bishop-stub