Charles Honoré d'Albert, duc de Luynes

Charles Honoré d'Albert de Luynes (7 October 1646 – 5 November 1712) was a French nobleman and Duke of Luynes. He is best known as the Duke of Chevreuse, his family's subsidiary title which he used until his father's death in 1690. He was a high-ranking French official under King Louis XIV.

The Duke of Luynes
Portrait of the Duke of Luynes, by Hyacinthe Rigaud, 1707
Governor of the Province of Guienne
In office 1698–1712
Personal details
Born	Charles Honoré d'Albert de Luynes 7 October 1646
Died	5 November 1712 (aged 66) Paris, France
Spouse(s)	Jeanne Marie Colbert ​ ​ (m. after 1667)​
Relations	Jeanne Baptiste d'Albert de Luynes (half-sister) Charles Philippe d'Albert de Luynes (grandson) Paul d'Albert de Luynes (grandson) Charles d'Albert, duc de Luynes (grandfather) Marie de Rohan (grandmother)
Children	Honoré Charles d'Albert de Luynes Marie Anne d'Albert de Luynes Louis Auguste d'Albert de Luynes
Parents	Louis Charles d'Albert de Luynes Louise Marie Séguier, Marquise d'O
Residence	Château de Dampierre

Early life

He was the eldest son of Louis Charles d'Albert de Luynes (1620–1699), 2nd Duke of Luynes and Louise Marie Séguier, Marquise d'O (1629–1651).[1][2] After his mother's death, his father remarried to Princess Anne de Rohan-Montbazon (1640–1684), with whom he had five more children, including his half-sister Jeanne Baptiste d'Albert de Luynes, the mistress of Victor Amadeus II of Sardinia. After her death in 1684, his father married, thirdly, to Marguerite d'Aligre in 1685.[3]

The Duke of Chevreuse was the grandson of the French courtier and favourite of Louis XIII, Charles d'Albert, duc de Luynes, and the former Marie de Rohan, the infamous duchesse de Chevreuse and one of the leading members of the Fronde.[4]

Career

The duc de Chevreuse was a private advisor of Louis XIV,[5] and a sort of unofficial minister without portfolio. From 1698 until 1712 he was the non-residing governor of the province of Guienne (from the time of Louis XIV onwards the governorship of French provinces was essentially an honorific title and governors were not allowed to reside or even penetrate in their provinces).[6]

Friend of the Duke of Beauvilliers and of the famous archbishop Fénelon, he maintained a steady exchange of correspondence with the latter. It is at the Duke of Chevreuse's estate in Chaulnes (Somme department) that Fénelon wrote his Tables de Chaulnes (1711).[7]

Along with his friends, Chevreuse was a reformist in the circle of the Duke of Burgundy, petit dauphin, grandson of Louis XIV and heir to the throne, advocating a less centralised and absolute monarchy relying more on the aristocracy. His ideas were briefly applied after 1715 (see polysynody), although he did not live long enough to see it.[7]

Personal life

Château de Dampierre in Dampierre-en-Yvelines: domesticated Baroque built for the duc de Chevreuse by Jules Hardouin Mansart.

On 3 February 1667, he was married to Jeanne Marie Colbert in Paris. She was the daughter of French statesman Jean-Baptiste Colbert, who served as First Minister of State from 1661 until 1683 under the rule of King Louis XIV. Among her siblings were brothers Jean-Baptiste Colbert, Marquis de Seignelay and Jacques-Nicolas Colbert, the Archbishop of Rouen. Together, they were the parents of three children:[3]

• Honoré Charles d'Albert de Luynes (1669–1704), who was styled the Duke of Montfort then the Duke of Chevreuse; he married Marie Anne Jeanne de Courcillon, daughter of Philippe de Courcillon, the French officer and diarist.[7]
• Marie Anne d'Albert de Luynes (1671–1694), who married Charles François de Montmorency-Luxembourg, a son of François Henri de Montmorency, Duke of Luxembourg, no issue.[7]
• Louis Auguste d'Albert de Luynes (1678–1744), who married Marie Anne Romaine de Beaumanoir and had issue.[7] The Duke of Luynes assinted the duchy of Chaulnes to Louis Auguste, Vidame d'Amiens, on the occasion of his marriage in 1710. This transmission was confirmed by letters patent in October 1711 and registered on 1 December 1711.[8]

He died in Paris on 5 November 1712.[7]

Descendants

Through his eldest son, he was a grandfather of Charles Philippe d'Albert de Luynes (1695–1758), 4th duc de Luynes as well as the astronomer Paul d'Albert de Luynes (1703–1788), Cardinal and Archbishop of Sens.[7]

Through his youngest son, he was a grandfather of the astronomer, physicist and freemason Michel Ferdinand d'Albert d'Ailly (1714–1769), Duke of Picquigny and then Duke of Chaulnes from 1744.[9]

See also

• Duke of Luynes
• Duke of Chevreuse

Ancestry

Ancestors of Charles Honoré d'Albert, duc de Luynes

16. Léon d'Albert 8. Honoré d'Albert 17. Jeanne de Ségur, Dame of Luynes 4. Charles d'Albert de Luynes 9. Anne de Rodulf 2. Louis Charles d'Albert de Luynes 20. Louis de Rohan, Prince of Guéméné 10. Hercule de Rohan, Duke of Montbazon 21. Eléanore de Rohan 5. Marie de Rohan 11. Madeleine de Lenoncourt 1. Charles Honoré d'Albert de Luynes 6. Pierre III Seguier 3. Louise Marie Seguier, Marquise d'O 7. Marguerite de La Guesle

References

1. "Louise Marie Seguier, Marquise d'O (1624–1651) duchesse de Luynes, épouse de Charles Albert". art.rmngp.fr. Retrieved 10 November 2020.
2. Du Prat, Antoine-Théodore (1857). Généalogie historique, anecdotique et critique de la maison Du Prat (in French). Dagneau Jne. p. 58. Retrieved 10 November 2020.
3. Sainte-Marie, Anselme de (1730). Histoire généalogique et chronologique de la Maison Royale de France, des pairs, des grands officiers de la Couronne & de la Maison du Roy : & des anciens barons du Royaume... Par le P. Anselme,... continuée par M. Du Fourny. Troisième édition, revûë, corrigée & augmentée par les soins du P. Ange & du P. Simplicien... (in French). par la compagnie des libraires associez. p. 566. Retrieved 10 November 2020.
4. Chesne, François Du (1680). Histoire des chanceliers et gardes des sceaux de France distingués par les règnes de nos monarques... enrichie de leurs armes, blasons et généalogies par François Du Chesne, fils d'André... (in French). L'auteur. p. 815. Retrieved 10 November 2020.
5. Hatton, Ragnhild Marie (1976). Louis XIV and Absolution. Springer. p. 299. ISBN 978-1-349-16981-8. Retrieved 10 November 2020.
6. Doyle, William (2001). Old Regime France, 1648-1788. Oxford University Press. p. 271. ISBN 978-0-19-873130-6. Retrieved 10 November 2020.
7. Luynes, Charles Philippe d'Albert de (1861). MÉMOIRES DE DUC DE LUYNES SUR LA COUR DE LOUIS XV (1735-1758): PUBLIÉS SOUS LE PATRONAGE DE M. LE DUC DE LUYNES (in French). FIRMIN DIDOT FRÈRES, FILS ET CIE, LIBRAIRES IMPRIMEURS DE L'INSTITUT, RUE JACOB, No 56. Retrieved 10 November 2020.
8. Morenas, Henri Jougla de (1934). Grand armorial de France: catalogue général des armoiries des familles nobles de France. ... (in French). Les éditions héraldiques. pp. 138–139. Retrieved 11 November 2020.
9. Chevallier, Pierre (1994). Les ducs sous l'acacia: Ou, Les premiers pas de la Franc-Maçonnerie française, 1725-1743 (in French). Geneva: Slatkine. ISBN 9782051013253.