Charles Henri, Prince of Commercy

Charles Henri of Lorraine (French pronunciation: [ʃaʁl ɑ̃ʁi pʁɛ̃s dy kɔmɛʁsi pʁɛ̃s dy vodemɔ̃]) (17 April 1649 – 14 January 1723) was the legitimated son of Charles IV, Duke of Lorraine, and Béatrix de Cusance. He was given the Principality of Commercy in 1708 by his cousin Leopold, Duke of Lorraine. He was also the Count of Falkenstein.^[2]

Biography

Charles Henri was the third child and only surviving son of the second marriage of Charles IV, Duke of Lorraine (there had been no children from his first marriage). This second marriage, contracted while Duke Charles was in exile, was not canonically recognized because the separation between the duke and his first wife, Nicole de Lorraine, was not recognized as a valid annulment by the Holy See. Charles Henri's claim to inherit Lorraine was therefore disputed, and rule of the duchy had been obtained by his father's younger brother through French intervention. He was born in Brussels.

On 27 April 1669, in Bar-le-Duc, he married a cousin, Anne Elisabeth de Lorraine,^[3] daughter of Charles de Lorraine, Duke of Elbeuf of the House of Guise. The princess was known as Mademoiselle d'Elbeuf, a style derived from her father's title. They had one son, Charles Thomas de Lorraine (1670–1704), who later took his father's non-territorial title, Prince of Vaudémont. This son was killed in battle near Ostiglia.

In exile like his father, Charles Henri served in the Spanish-Habsburg army against France, fighting in numerous battles. In 1675, he was made a knight of the Order of the Golden Fleece. He served in the Nine Years' War in Flanders under William III of England.

He was attached to the household of le Grand Dauphin along with his two nieces, the Princess of Epinoy and Béatrice Hiéronyme de Lorraine, future Abbess of Remiremont.

In 1698, he was appointed Governor of Milan.

In 1700, the last Habsburg king of Spain, Charles II, died. Charles was replaced by Louis XIV's grandson, Philip, Duke of Anjou, triggering the War of Spanish Succession in which the territory around Milan was one of the major battlefields.

The Prince of Vaudémont accepted the new king as sovereign of Lombardy, but he was not trusted: Saint Simon suggests he passed on military information to the enemy. It is a fact that his son, Charles Thomas, became an Austrian commander.

After the Battle of Turin, the French and Spanish were forced to withdraw from Italy, and Charles Henri signed a treaty with the Imperial commander, Prince Eugene of Savoy, putting Lombardy under Austrian rule.

In 1708, the Duke of Lorraine, his cousin Leopold, gave Charles Henri the minuscule principality of Commercy. He engaged the famous architect Germain Boffrand to build the beautiful château de Commercy. The principality was later given to Élisabeth Charlotte d'Orléans, widow of Leopold.

Charles Henri de Lorraine died at the château de Commercy at the age of seventy-three, his only son having predeceased him.

Issue

Charles Thomas de Lorraine, Prince de Vaudémont (7 March 1670 – 12 May 1704) died unmarried.

Ancestry^[4]

Ancestors of Charles Henri, Prince of Commercy

16. Antoine, Duke of Lorraine

8. Francis I, Duke of Lorraine

17. Renée de Bourbon

4. Charles III, Duke of Lorraine

18. Christian II of Denmark

9. Christina of Denmark

19. Isabella of Austria

2. Charles IV, Duke of Lorraine

20. Francis I of France

10. Henry II of France

21. Claude of France

5. Claude of Valois

22. Lorenzo II de' Medici, Duke of Urbino

11. Catherine de' Medici

23. Madeleine de La Tour d'Auvergne

1. Charles Henri de Lorraine, Prince of Commercy

24. Claude II de Cusance

12. Evandelin Simon de Cusance

25. Philiberte de Lugny

6. Claude François de Cusance

26. François de Vergy

13. Béatrice de Vergy

27. Claudine de Pontailler

3. Béatrice de Cusance

28. Maximilian van Witthem, Viscount of Sebourg

14. Jean van Witthem, Viscount of Sebourg

29. Gillette van Halewyn, Heiress of Boesinghe

7. Ernestine van Witthem

30. Jean IX de Merode, Sire of Petershem

15. Maria Margareta de Merode

31. Mencia de Berghes

Titles and styles

17 April 1649 – 7 March 1670 Monsieur le Comte de Vaudémont
7 March 1670 – 31 December 1707 Monsieur the Prince of Commercy

References

↑ Davies, Norman, Europe:A History, (Oxford University Press, 1996), 169; In the Middle Ages, the feudal nobility needed to associate themselves with the fief or landed property which justified their rank. As a result, they adopted place-named surnames using either a prefix such as von or di, or suffix, such as -ski. Hence the French prince Charles de Lorraine would be known in German as "Karl von Lotharingen" or in Polish as "Karol Lotarinski."
↑ van de Pas, Leo. "Charles Henri de Lorraine". Genealogics.org. Retrieved 2010-07-06.
↑ Le grand dictionnaire historique, p. 411.
↑ Pange, Jean de (1966). L’Auguste Maison de Lorraine, Lyon, ,. éditions Dugast Rouillé. p. 225.