Charles de Bourbon, Count of Charolais
| Charles de Bourbon | |
|---|---|
| Count of Charolais | |
| Born | 19 June 1700 Château de Chantilly, France |
| Died | 23 July 1760 (aged 60) Paris, France |
| Burial | Église Collégiale Saint-Martin, Montmorency, France |
| Issue Detail |
|
| House | Bourbon - Condé |
| Father | Louis de Bourbon, Prince of Condé |
| Mother | Louise-Françoise de Bourbon |
| Signature | |
Charles de Bourbon, Count of Charolais (19 June 1700 – 23 July 1760) was a French noble. As a member of the reigning House of Bourbon, he was a Prince of the Blood. He was the fifth child and second son of Louis, Prince of Condé and Louise Françoise, Princess of Condé.
Biography
Charles de Bourbon-Conde was born at Versailles as the second son of Louis III, Prince of Condé and Louise-Françoise de Bourbon, a legitimized daughter of Louis XIV and his mistress, Madame de Montespan.
Charles father Louis was considered one of the wealthiest noblemen in France. But he was not so richly endowed physically, as he was very short,[1][2] had a bilious complexion and suffered from macrocephaly.[1][2]
He was considred to be very intelligent and well-educated, but had an extremely ferocious and arrogant personality.
In 1710, when Charles was just 15 years old, his father passed away. He was made governor of Touraine in 1720. Charles fought in Hungary in the war against the Ottoman Turks and won distinction at the battle of Belgrade. He was gouverneur of his nephew Louis Joseph, Prince of Condé.
At the age of 20, he had already killed a man; allegedly the man, a citizen of Anet, was shot in the streets by the Charles, "for his entertainment". This resulted in the Regent commenting that although he could not personally punish Charles (due to his rank) he would gladly pay another person to do it.
In some contrast to his "lawless" character, Charles was rather good at keeping his economy in order and had a talent for organization. It was he who settled the debts of his nephew when he took charge of his household. The two appeared to have developed quite a good relationship.
Personal life
In 1719 Charles made ouvertures to Rinaldo d'Este, Duke of Modena and Reggio, to marry one of his daughters. He became infatuated with the noblewoman Mlle de Lefranc de Brunpré in 1727, who was the daughter of Louis XV secretary, Jean-Gérard de Lefranc de Brunpré, seigneur de Baillon.
Charles was known for being a womanizer and he had a number of mistresses such as; Mlle Delisle (1696-1758)[3] a dancer at the Paris Opera on whom he lavished money[4][5] but who was also the target of Charles physical abuse and ill-treatment by her oftentimes drunk lover.[5] Together they had a son[5] who died as an infant at the age of six months after his father made him drink Danzig brandy. Allegedly Charles then said the child was not his since it (drinking alcohol) would not then have caused his death.[3]
Sometime in the 1750s Charles began a relationship with Marie-Marguerite Caron de Rancurel, daughter of an officer Marc-Antoine Caron de Rancurel from Sassenage. Due to the influence of her lover she was given the title of Marquise de la Sône (Dame de Lassone).
Death
On Charles' death, the county of Charolais reverted to the king. Some years later it was granted to a brother of the future Louis Philippe I. He was buried at the Église Collégiale Saint-Martin de Montmorency.
Children
Charles had two illegitimate children with Marie-Marguerite Caron de Rancurel (1731-1800):
- Marie Marguerite de Bourbon (17 August 1752 – 1830); married Denis Nicolas, Comte de Puget.
- Charlotte Marguerite Élisabeth de Bourbon (1 August 1754 – 12 September 1839); married François Xavier Joseph, Count von Löwendal (son of Ulrich Friedrich Woldemar von Löwendal).
It was the Prince de Condé who managed to ensure the legitimization of Charles' two daughters. Charles himself had been dead for nine years when this took place.
Ancestry
References
- ^ a b Hilton, Lisa (2 December 2010). The Real Queen Of France: Athenais and Louis XIV. Little, Brown Book Group. ISBN 978-0-7481-2576-0.
- ^ a b Bernot, Jacques (2004). Mademoiselle de Nantes, fille préférée de Louis XIV (in French). Nouvelles Editions Latines. ISBN 978-2-7233-2042-9.
- ^ a b Pierlot, Pascal (11 May 2017). "D.A.F. de Sade : entre groupe et isolisme, libertinage et sublimation de mort". Revue de psychothérapie psychanalytique de groupe (in French). 68 (1): 209–220. doi:10.3917/rppg.068.0209. ISSN 0297-1194.
- ^ Dumoustier, Léon (1883). Molière, auteur et comédien: sa vie et ses oeuvres (in French). Laplace, Sanchez.
- ^ a b c Brooks, Lynn (5 January 2008). Women's Work: Making Dance in Europe before 1800. Univ of Wisconsin Press. ISBN 978-0-299-22533-9.
- ^ Genealogie ascendante jusqu'au quatrieme degre inclusivement de tous les Rois et Princes de maisons souveraines de l'Europe actuellement vivans [Genealogy up to the fourth degree inclusive of all the Kings and Princes of sovereign houses of Europe currently living] (in French). Bourdeaux: Frederic Guillaume Birnstiel. 1768. p. 44.