Charles-François de Broglie, marquis de Ruffec

Charles-François de Broglie, marquis de Ruffec[1] (19 August 1719 – 16 August 1781), was a French soldier and diplomat from the House of Broglie.

Charles-François de Broglie
Marquis de Ruffec
de Broglie c. 1757
Coat of arms
Born(1719-08-19)19 August 1719
Paris, France
Died16 August 1781(1781-08-16) (aged 61)
Saint-Jean-d'Angély, France
BuriedAngouleme Cathedral
Noble familyHouse of Broglie
WifeLouise-Augustine de Montmorency
Issue
  • Louise
  • Philippine
  • Adelaide-Charlotte
FatherFrançois Marie de Broglie, Duke of Broglie
MotherThérèse Gillette Locquet de Grandville
ReligionCatholic
Occupation
  • Diplomat
  • Military officer

He served in the French Army and was one of the foremost diplomats in the service of Louis XV. He is chiefly remembered in connection with the Secret du Roi.[2]

Biography

As second son of François-Marie, duc de Broglie, he was accorded the courtesy title of marquis de Ruffec.

After serving as a French military officer, he was seconded to the diplomatic service of King Louis XV. He served as Ambassador Extraordinary to Poland (1752–56), was recalled at the outbreak of the Seven Years' War, was appointed Chevalier des Ordres du Roi (1757), Lieutenant-General (1760), Commandant of Franche-Comté (1761–62), then after the Peace, Governor of Saumurois (1770). He is best remembered in connection with the Secret du Roi, the private—as distinct from the official—diplomatic service of Louis XV,[3] of which he was the ablest and most important member.[2] He held the post of Premier Colonel of Grenadiers.

The Marquis organized the famous Diner de Metz (8 August 1775), when the young Marquis de La Fayette was convinced by the guest of honour, the visiting Duke of Gloucester, brother of King George III, that the insurgents' revolt in America was in some measure justified. Broglie-Ruffec was involved with Beaumarchais in devising a scheme to offer secret support to the American Revolution in its early stages.[4]

His funeral monument is in the Angouleme Cathedral and a portrait of him, painted by Norman-Michel-Hubert Descours in 1762, is at the Château de Bourdeilles.[5]

Family

He married, 21 March 1759, Louise-Augustine de Montmorency (1735–1817); they had three daughters, Louise 1760-1827; Philippine 1762-1843; and Adelaide-Charlotte 1763-1847.[6]

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See also
  • List of Ambassadors of France to the Kingdom of Great Britain

Notes
  1. The seigneurie of Ruffec was sold to him, 6 December 1763, by the heiress of the memoirist Louis de Rouvroy, duc de Saint-Simon, marquis de Ruffec (1675–1755) ("Rouvroy de Saint-Simon")
  2.  One or more of the preceding sentences incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Broglie, de, s.v. Charles François, Comte de Broglie". Encyclopædia Britannica. 4 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 626.
  3. It was suppressed at the accession of Louis XVI.
  4. Trentinian 2007 from material in Perrault 1996
  5. Patrimoine de France: Bourdeilles This site was down at 14:00, 23 July 2012 (UTC). The most recent WayBackMachine archived copy was here at the Wayback Machine (archived July 21, 2011)
  6. Le cimitière virtuel staff 2006.

References
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