Hercule Mériadec, Prince of Guéméné

Hercule Mériadec de Rohan (13 November 1688 – 21 December 1757) was a prince étranger and the sixth Duke of Montbazon in France, "Prince de Guéméne" being the title he bore prior to inheriting the dukedom.

Hercule Mériadec
Duc de Montbazon, Prince de Guéméné
Born(1688-11-13)13 November 1688
Died21 December 1757(1757-12-21) (aged 69)
Sainte Maure, France
SpouseLouise-Gabrielle de Rohan-Soubise
Issue
Detail		Charlotte Louise, Princess of Masserano
Généviève, Abbess of Marquette
Jules, Duc de Montbazon
Louis Armand, Prince de Montauban
Louis René, Cardinal de Rohan
Ferdinand, Archbishop of Cambrai
Full name
Hercule Mériadec de Rohan
HouseRohan
FatherCharles de Rohan, 5th Duc de Montbazon
MotherCharlotte Élisabeth de Cochefilet

Lineage

Born to Charles de Rohan and his wife, Charlotte Élisabeth de Cochefilet, he was the couple’s third child and second son.[1] Until the death of his paternal grandfather, Charles, 4th Duc de Montbazon in 1699, he was fifth in line of succession to the dukedom and not expected to inherit it: Ahead of him were his father Charles, then styled Prince de Guéméné (1655-1727), his eldest brother François-Armand, Prince de Montbazon (1682-1717), François-Armand's son Charles-Jules de Rohan (1700-1703) and another older brother, Louis-Charles-Casimir, Comte de Rochefort (1686-1749).[1] After Charles-Jules died as a child, Louis-Charles-Casimir forfeited his claim to a secular inheritance by joining the Order of the Holy Cross, whereupon Hercule Mériadec became Comte de Rochefort.[1] His father was the fifth Duc de Montbazon, but succession to that title remained uncertain until François-Armand died without living children at the age of 35 in 1717,[1] leaving Hercule-Mériadec to become Prince de Guéméné, the title usually borne by the heir apparent.

Biography

Only when his father died in October 1727 did he succeed to the Montbazon ducal peerage and become head of the House of Rohan,[1] which enjoyed the high rank of princes étrangers at the court of Louis XVI.

While serving in the Gendarmes de la Garde, he held the position of standard-bearer of the company.[1]

Hercule Mériadec's siblings included Louis Constantin de Rohan, Bishop of Strasbourg, and Armand Jules de Rohan-Guéméné, Archbishop of Rheims, who crowned Louis XV king.[1]

He married his second cousin, Louise Gabrielle Julie de Rohan-Soubise (1704–1780), youngest daughter of Hercule Mériadec, Duc de Rohan-Rohan and Prince de Soubise (1669-1749), head of the younger (Soubise) branch of the House of Rohan.[2][1] Her mother was Anne Geneviève de Lévis, daughter of Louis Charles de Lévis, Duc de Ventadour.

His wife presented their daughter, Charlotte Louise, to Louis XV and the queen, Marie Leszczyńska, during the Honneurs de la Cour on 26 October 1737 at Fontainebleau, two days before her marriage.

Hercule-Mériadec died at Sainte-Maure aged sixty nine and was succeeded by his son, Jules. His two youngest sons were cardinals and only one of his daughters had issue (Charlotte Louise). His descendants in male line are settled in Austria.

Issue
Hercule-Mériadec's eldest daughter, Charlotte Louise by Nattier, 1738

References and notes
  1. Anselme, Père. Histoire de la Maison Royale de France’’, tome 4. Editions du Palais-Royal, 1967, Paris. pp. 46, 64-68. (French).
  2. Jeffares, Neil. "Dictionary of pastellists before 1800" (PDF).
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