Charles d'Albert d'Ailly

Charles d'Albert d'Ailly (1625 – 4 September 1698), third son of Honoré d'Albert, was a French general and diplomat. He was made lieutenant général des armées in 1655, and chevalier des ordres du roi from 1661. He became third Duke of Chaulnes in 1653 on the death of his elder brother Henri Louis d'Albert d'Ailly without issue.

Portrait of Charles d'Albert d'Ailly by Robert Nanteuil, 1676

He was lieutenant of the compagnie des chevau-légers de la garde du roi in 1664, French ambassador to Rome for the election of Pope Clement IX in 1667, gouvernor of Brittany in 1670. He returned to Rome the same year for the election of Pope Clement X. He was sent as French ambassador to Cologne in 1675. King's commander-in-chief in Brittany, he could not stem the tide of the revolt of the papier timbré in 1675 and demanded intervention from the royal armies and punishment of the rebels – his violence towards the rebels alienated him from his Breton noble allies and gained him the public peasant nickname of "fat pig" ("gros cochon"). He remained in command in Brittany until he was made ambassador to Rome a third time in 1689 on the election of Pope Alexander VIII. He was dismissed from government of Brittany in 1693 to be replaced by the comte de Toulouse, and was instead made governor of Guyenne, remaining so until his death.

Sources

• Louis Gabriel Michaud. "Charles d'Albert d'Ailly". Biographie universelle ancienne et moderne : histoire par ordre alphabétique de la vie publique et privée de tous les hommes avec la collaboration de plus de 300 savants et littérateurs français ou étrangers (in French) (2 ed.).