Louis Joseph d'Albert, 3rd Prince of Grimberghen (1 April 1672 – 8 November 1758) was a French nobleman who was in the service of the Emperor Charles VII, and became field-marshal and Ambassador in France.

Early life

Louis Joseph d'Albert de Luynes was born 1 April 1672 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 ...

. He was a younger son and the ninth child of

Louis Charles d'Albert, 2nd Duke of Luynes Louis Charles d'Albert, 2nd Duke of Luynes (25 December 1620 – 10 October 1690), was a French nobleman and peer of France. He was a translator and moralist who was the first translator of the work of René Descartes. Early life Louis-Charles d ...

from the Duke's second marriage to Anne de Rohan. His siblings included Marie Anne d'Albert de Luynes (wife of their second cousin, Charles III, Prince of Guéméné), Marie Charlotte Victoire d'Albert de Luynes (wife of Alexandre Albert François Bathélemy, 4th Duke and 2nd Prince of Bournonville), Catherine Angélique d'Albert de Luynes (wife of Charles Antoine II Gouffier, Marquis of Heilly), and

Jeanne Baptiste d'Albert de Luynes Jeanne Baptiste d'Albert de Luynes, ''comtesse de Verrue'' (; 18 January 1670 – 18 November 1736) was a French noblewoman and the mistress of Victor Amadeus II of Sardinia. Biography The daughter of Louis Charles d'Albert, Duke of Luynes (16 ...

(the wife of Giuseppe Ignazio Scaglia, Conte di Verua and mistress of

King King is a royal title given to a male monarch. A king is an Absolute monarchy, absolute monarch if he holds unrestricted Government, governmental power or exercises full sovereignty over a nation. Conversely, he is a Constitutional monarchy, ...

Victor Amadeus II of Sardinia Victor Amadeus II (; 14 May 166631 October 1732) was the head of the House of Savoy and ruler of the Savoyard states from 12 June 1675 until his abdication in 1730. He was the first of his house to acquire a royal crown, ruling first as King o ...

). His younger brother was Charles-Hercule d'Albert de Luynes,

Duke of Chevreuse Duke of Chevreuse ( French ''Duc de Chevreuse'') was a French title of nobility, elevated from the barony of Chevreuse in 1545. History The duchy of Chevreuse was originally created for Jean de Brosse, Duc d'Étampes, it was transferred in 155 ...

. From his father's first marriage to Louise Marie Séguier, Marquise of O, his much older half-brother was Charles Honoré d'Albert, 3rd Duke of Luynes. His paternal grandparents were

Charles d'Albert, 1st Duke of Luynes Charles d'Albert, 1st Duke of Luynes (; 5 August 1578 – 15 December 1621) was a Kingdom of France, French courtier and a favourite of Louis XIII of France, Louis XIII. In 1619, the king made him Duke of Luynes and a Peer of France, and in 16 ...

, a favourite of

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. ...

, and Princess Marie Aimée de Rohan, Mademoiselle de Montbazon. After his grandfather's death, his grandmother remarried to Claude de Lorraine, Duke of Chevreuse. After Claude's death in 1655, the Chevreuse peerage became extinct after which his grandmother bought the duchy which his father and younger brother Charles-Hercule d'Albert de Luynes inherited. His maternal grandparents were Hercule, Duke of Montbazon and the former Marie de Bretagne d'Avaugour (daughter of Claude de Bretagne, Count of Vertus). His grandfather Hercule was riding in the carriage with

Henri IV 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 ...

on 14 May 1610 when the king was assassinated by

François Ravaillac François Ravaillac (; 1578 – 27 May 1610) was a French Catholic who assassinated King Henry IV of France in 1610. Biography Early life and education Ravaillac was born in 1578 at Angoulême to an educated family; his grandfather François ...

Career

Louis served in the Army during the

War of the League of Augsburg The Nine Years' War was a European great power conflict from 1688 to 1697 between Kingdom of France, France and the Grand Alliance (League of Augsburg), Grand Alliance. Although largely concentrated in Europe, fighting spread to colonial poss ...

(also known as the

Nine Years' War The Nine Years' War was a European great power conflict from 1688 to 1697 between Kingdom of France, France and the Grand Alliance (League of Augsburg), Grand Alliance. Although largely concentrated in Europe, fighting spread to colonial poss ...

), participating in the Siege of

Philippsburg Philippsburg () is a town in the district of Karlsruhe, Baden-Württemberg, Germany. History Before 1623, Philippsburg was known as "Udenheim". The city was a possession of the Bishop of Speyer from 1316 to 1803. The town is named after P ...

in 1688, the Battle of Fleurus in 1690, and

Battle of Steenkerque The Battle of Steenkerque, also known as ''Steenkerke'', ''Steenkirk'', ''Steynkirk'' or ''Steinkirk'' was fought on 3 August 1692, during the Nine Years' War, near Steenkerque, then part of the Spanish Netherlands but now in modern Belgium. A ...

in 1692. After his military service, Grimberghen entered the service of Charles VII, the

Holy Roman Emperor The Holy Roman Emperor, originally and officially the Emperor of the Romans (disambiguation), Emperor of the Romans (; ) during the Middle Ages, and also known as the Roman-German Emperor since the early modern period (; ), was the ruler and h ...

who was also

King of Bohemia The Duchy of Bohemia was established in 870 and raised to the Kingdom of Bohemia in Golden Bull of Sicily, 1198. Several Bohemian monarchs ruled as non-hereditary kings and first gained the title in 1085. From 1004 to 1806, Bohemia was part of th ...

and

Elector of Bavaria The following is a list of monarchs during the history of Bavaria. Bavaria was ruled by several dukes and kings, partitioned and reunited, under several dynasties. Since 1918, Bavaria has been under a republican form of government, and from 19 ...

, who made Louis a Count. He served as Charles VII's (until 1742, Charles-Albert was not emperor and not recognised as Charles VII) diplomatic envoy from the

Electorate of Bavaria The Electorate of Bavaria () was a quasi-independent hereditary electorate of the Holy Roman Empire from 1623 to 1806, when it was succeeded by the Kingdom of Bavaria. The Wittelsbach dynasty which ruled the Duchy of Bavaria was the younger ...

to France From 1733 to 1736 and again from 1741 to 1742 and 1745 to 1747. The title Prince of Grimberghen, which had been held by his late brother-in-law who passed away without issue in 1721, was bestowed upon him by the Emperor in 1742. The Prince was also the author of a collection of pieces of literature, containing ''Timander instructed by his Genius'' and ''The Dream of Alcibiades'' (1749).

Personal life

Grimbergen was married to Madeleine Marie de Berghes (–1744). She was a daughter of Belgian noble

Philippe François de Berghes, 1st Prince of Grimberghen Philippe François de Berghes (1646–1704) was a diplomat and military commander in the Spanish Netherlands and became the first bearer of the title of prince of Grimbergen, Grimberghen. Family He was born into the House of Glymes on 17 Septemb ...

and the former Marie-Jacques de Lalaing. His wife's elder brother was Alphonse, 2nd Prince of Grimberghen, a

Grandee of Spain Grandee (; , ) is an official royal and noble ranks, aristocratic title conferred on some Spanish nobility. Holders of this dignity enjoyed similar privileges to those of the peerage of France during the , though in neither country did they ha ...

who married Anne Henriette Rohan-Chabot (a daughter of

Louis, Duke of Rohan Louis de Rohan-Chabot (3 November 1652 – 17 August 1727) was a member of the House of Rohan-Chabot and Duke of Rohan. He married an heiress and acted as Louis XIV's representative in Brittany. He was styled as the Prince of Léon prior to be ...

). She was also a niece of Georges-Louis de Berghes,

Prince-Bishop of Liège A prince-bishop is a bishop who is also the civil ruler of some secular principality and sovereignty, as opposed to '' Prince of the Church'' itself, a title associated with cardinals. Since 1951, the sole extant prince-bishop has been the B ...

. Alphonse Le Roy, "Berghes, Philippe-François de Glymes, prince de", ''

Biographie Nationale de Belgique The ''Biographie nationale de Belgique'' (; ) is a biographical dictionary of Belgium. It was published by the Royal Academy of Belgium in 44 volumes between 1866 and 1986. A continuation series, entitled the ''Nouvelle Biographie Nationale'' (, ...

''
vol. 2
(Brussels, 1868), 239-240. Together, Louis and Madeleine were the parents of: * Thérèse Pelagie d’Albert, Princess of Grimberghen (d. 1736), who married her distant cousin Marie ''Charles'' Louis d'Albert, 5th Duke of Luynes (1717–1771), the only child of Charles, 4th Duke of Luynes, on 22 January 1735. His wife died on 3 November 1744. The Prince of Grimbergen died on 8 November 1758 at the Hôtel du Lude in Paris.

References

;Notes ;Sources

External links

Maison d'Albert de Luynes
at www.europeanheraldry.org {{authority control 1672 births 1758 deaths Louis-Joseph Ambassadors of the Holy Roman Empire Ambassadors to France