Charles de Bourbon, Count of Charolais

French royal; grandson of Louis XIV (1700–1760)

Marie Marguerite de Bourbon
Charlotte Marguerite Élisabeth de Bourbon

HouseBourbon - Condé FatherLouis de Bourbon, Prince of CondéMotherLouise-Françoise de BourbonSignature

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

The second son of Louis III, Prince of Condé and Louise-Françoise de Bourbon, Charles de Bourbon-Condé was made governor of Touraine in 1720. He fought in Hungary in the war against the Ottoman Turks and won distinction at the battle of Belgrade. In 1728 he became one of the candidates for the hand of the wealthy heiress Maria Zofia Sieniawska, supported by Louis XV in an attempt to gain a strong position in Poland before the royal election.^[1] He was gouverneur of his nephew Louis Joseph, Prince of Condé.

Charles' character is reputed to have been very bad. Not merely common debauchery but also a violent temper and sadistic tendencies were attributed to him. His rank had completely gone to his head which led him to believe himself immune from public criticism. It did not help that Louis XV ordered the police reports concerning him to be kept secret. Apparently, Charles besieged the king for help the fourth and fifth time he had been found guilty of murder.

At the age of 20 he had already killed a man; allegedly the man, Anet, was shot in the streets by the Comte de Charolais "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. The depravities of Charles knew little boundaries if the contemporary sources are to be believed. He was widely believed to have abducted women and young girls to be kept for his "sadistic orgies". These orgies he quite likely enjoyed with the young Marquis de Sade; the two were connected by interests as well as relations. Charles' sister was the mistress of the Marquis de Sade.

His sadism would leave a trail of victims behind. Besides Anet the Comte was well-known for firing at peasants and workmen for no apparent reason. In a vicious prank he tied explosives to the skirt of the Marquise de Saint-Sulpice. Beforehand he had gotten her drunk enough to prevent her from untying them. The attacked lady suffered severe burns to her legs.

In some contrast to his "lawless" character, Charolais 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.

On his 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

He had two illegitimate children with Marguerite Caron de Rancurel:

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, Comte de Lowendal [fr] (son of Marshal de Lowendal).

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

Ancestors of Charles de Bourbon, Count of Charolais^[2]

16. Henride Bourbon, Prince of Condé

8. Louis II, Prince of Condé

17. Charlotte Marguerite de Montmorency

4. Henri Jules, Prince of Condé

18. Urbain de Maillé, Marquis of Brézé

9. Claire Clémence de Maillé

19. Nicole du Plessis

2. Louis III, Prince of Condé

20. Frederick V, Elector Palatine

10. Edward, Count Palatine of Simmern

21. Elizabeth Stuart

5. Anne Henriette of Bavaria

22. Charles Gonzaga, Duke of Mantua and Montferrat

11. Anne Gonzaga

23. Catherine of Mayenne

1. Charles de Bourbon

24. Henry IV of France

12. Louis XIII of France

25. Marie de' Medici

6. Louis XIV of France

26. Philip III of Spain and II of Portugal

13. Anne of Austria

27. Margaret of Austria

3. Louise Françoise de Bourbon

28. Gaspard de Rochechouart, Marquis of Mortemart

14. Gabriel de Rochechouart, Duke of Mortemart

29. Louise de Maure, comtesse de Maure

7. Madame de Montespan

30. Jean de Grandseigne, marquis of Marsillac

15. Diane de Grandseigne

31. Catherine de La Béraudière, Dame of Villenon

References

^ "Czartoryska z Sieniawskich Maria Zofia". Polski Słownik Biograficzny (in Polish). Retrieved 1 September 2010.
^ 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.