Charlotte Louise de Rohan

Princess Charlotte Louise Dorothée de Rohan (25 October 1767 – 1 May 1841) is reputed to have been the secret wife of Louis de Bourbon-Condé, Duc d'Enghien, an important prince du sang and émigré during the French Revolution.

Charlotte
Charlotte by François-Joseph Desvernois
Full name
Charlotte Louise Dorothée de Rohan
Born(1767-10-25)25 October 1767
Paris, France
Died1 May 1841(1841-05-01) (aged 73)
Paris, France
Noble familyRohan
Spouse(s)
​
​
(m. 1804; died 1804)​
FatherCharles Jules Armand de Rohan
MotherMarie Henriette Charlotte d'Orléans-Rothelin

Biography

Princess Charlotte de Rohan was born in Paris. Her father was Charles Jules, Prince de Rochefort, a member of the House of Rohan, which held princely rank in France prior to the revolution.[1] Her mother was Marie-Henriette d'Orléans-Rothelin, a descendant of Joan of Arc's ally the Bastard of Orléans, whose legitimate heirs, the Dukes of Orléans-Longueville, died out in 1694 leaving only the Rothelin branch, prominent in the kingdom despite a bar sinister.[2]

She is alleged to have privately married the Duc d'Enghien in Baden on 18 February 1804.[3] Before any such marriage was acknowledged publicly, on 21 March 1804 the duke was kidnapped and executed by French troops on the order of Emperor Napoléon, an act which shocked Europe and ultimately extinguished the House of Condé, as he was the only male heir of that cadet branch of the French royal family. Charlotte was never officially recognised as Enghien's widow by the French royal family, neither as émigrés nor during the Bourbon and Orléans restorations, and died in Paris without remarrying at the age of 73.

  • Louis-Antoine Duke of Enghien
  • Arms of Bathilde as Duchess of Bourbon, Princess of Condé mother of Louis de Bourbon-Condé, Duc d'Enghien
  • Arms of the House of Rohan: Gules, nine mascles or

Charlotte was a niece of the Cardinal de Rohan, whose disgrace in the Affair of the Diamond Necklace helped set the stage for the French Revolution by subjecting the royal family and court to notoriety. She was also related to Victoire de Rohan, Duchesse de Montbazon and Governess of the Children of France during the reign of Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette.

Another Charlotte de Rohan was the paternal grandmother of the Duc d'Enghien, who was distantly related to his alleged wife. In fact, they were 5th cousins once removed, both descending from Hercule de Rohan, Duke of Montbazon.

Ancestry

References
  1. Anselme, Père. Histoire de la Maison Royale de France, tome 4. Editions du Palais-Royal, 1967, Paris. pp. 45, 49, 73, 202, 224. (French).
  2. Anselme, Père. Histoire de la Maison Royale de France, tome 1. Editions du Palais-Royal, 1967, Paris. pp. 219, 224–226. (French).
  3. "Joerg-sieger". Archived from the original on 15 January 2017. Retrieved 29 February 2016.
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