Prince Charles Alexander of Lorraine
Prince Charles Alexander | |||||
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Archduchess Maria Anna of Austria | |||||
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House | House of Lorraine | ||||
Father | Leopold, Duke of Lorraine | ||||
Mother | Élisabeth Charlotte d'Orléans |
Prince Charles Alexander Emanuel of Lorraine (
Early life
Charles was the son of
When his brother Francis traded the duchy to the ex-Polish king
On 7 January 1744 he married Maria Theresa's only sister, Archduchess Maria Anna of Austria, thus making him doubly Maria Theresa's brother-in-law. The couple were jointly made Governors of the Austrian Netherlands (now Belgium).
Although Maria Anna died later the same year after marriage, Charles' popularity and lack of clear replacement allowed him to continue as governor and de facto sovereign until his own death in 1780.[
During the War of the Austrian Succession, he was one of the principal Austrian military commanders. He was most notable for his defeats by better trained and superior forces under Frederick the Great. At the Battle of Chotusitz in 1742, his forces lost the battle but were able to inflict greater loss of life and retreat in good order. However, he lost more decisively to Frederick at the Battle of Hohenfriedberg and the Battle of Soor in 1745.[1] He was also defeated by Maurice de Saxe at the Battle of Rocoux in 1746.[1]
Seven Years' War
Despite his record of defeats, he was able to retain his position. He was able to attain command ahead of the more popular Marshal Browne because of the support of his brother who had significant influence over military appointments. During Austria's Third Silesian War against Prussia (part of the wider Seven Years' War), he commanded the army of the Roman-German Emperor at the Battle of Prague, where he was again defeated by Frederick the Great, king of Prussia, but was able to inflict heavy casualties on the larger Prussian forces. He subsequently defeated a much smaller Prussian army in 1757 at the Battle of Breslau before being completely routed by Frederick the Great at the Battle of Leuthen, which is considered one of Frederick's most brilliant victories. During the battle, he was commander of the Imperial Army as appointed by Maria Theresa.[2]
At Leuthen, the Austrians were overwhelmingly defeated by an army half their size, with fewer guns, and tired after a long march over 12 days. Charles and his second in command,
Family and private life
Because Charles ruled by right of his marriage to Maria Anna of Austria, Maria Anna's death very shortly after marriage created a situation in which his mistress Elisabeth de Vaux and their children had to be kept secret. His children were to present themselves only under the surnames of their mothers in public if they were in the Netherlands.[5]
Though there is obscurity about his private affairs after the death of Maria Anna, it is known that from his mistress Elisabeth de Vaux, Charles had a son, Charles Alexandre Guillaume Joseph, and a grandson through the same; a stillborn daughter by an unnamed mistress; a son, Charles Frédéric, by an unnamed mistress; a son, Jean Nicholas, and a daughter, Anne Françoise, by an unnamed mistress. With his mistress Regina Elisabeth Bartholotti von Porthenfeld (b.1725) he had a daughter, Maria Regina Johanna von Merey, later Baroness von Hackelberg-Landau (1744-1779). Some of his children were known to have lived in Dutch-speaking parts of Belgium temporarily or permanently. This included his first son Charles Alexandre Guillaume Joseph, who was later known to have returned to Lunéville in Lorraine to claim a substantial inheritance, and to have a son named Gustav Auguste in 1788. He died in Nancy.[6]
Architecture
He had the Château de la Favorite (Lunéville) constructed as his retreat.[7]
In Brussels, he had constructed the
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The Palace of Charles of Lorraine in Brussels
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Tervuren Castle
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Château Charles in Tervuren
Ancestry
Ancestors of Prince Charles Alexander of Lorraine Charlotte of Hesse-Kassel | | |||||||||||||||
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31. Amalie Elisabeth of Hanau-Münzenberg | ||||||||||||||||
References
- ^ a b c d Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). . Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 5 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 936.
- ^ Fred Anderson, Crucible of War: The Seven Years' War and the Fate of Empire in British North America, 1754–1766. Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group, 2007, p. 302.
- ^ L. Douglas Keeney, The Pointblank Directive: Three Generals and the Untold Story of the Daring Plan that Saved D-Day, Bloomsbury Publishing, 2012, page.
- ^ Maria Theresa, J-P Bled
- ^ "Family tree of Elisabeth de Vaux".
- ^ "Regina Bartholotti von Porthenfeld: Genealogics".
- ^ "Petit château du Prince Charles-Alexandre de Lorraine, dit la Favorite".
- ^ 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. 81.
External links
Media related to Prince Charles Alexander of Lorraine at Wikimedia Commons