Ferdinand Maximilien Mériadec de Rohan

Ferdinand Maximilien Mériadec de Rohan
Archbishop Emeritus of Cambrai
ChurchRoman Catholic
ArchdioceseCambrai
Elected28 January 1781
Term ended23 November 1801
PredecessorHenri-Marie-Bernardin de Ceilhes de Rosset de Fleury
SuccessorLouis Belmas
Orders
Consecration8 April 1770
by Louis-René de Rohan
Personal details
Born7 November 1738
Paris, France
Died31 October 1813 (aged 74)
ParentsHercule Mériadec, Prince of Guéméné
Louise de Rohan
Previous post(s)Archbishop of Bordeaux (1769–81)

Ferdinand Maximilien Mériadec de Rohan (7 November 1738 – 31 October 1813) was a French Catholic Prelate who was Archbishop of Bordeaux and then Archbishop of Cambrai.

Early Life

He was the son of Hercule Meriadec de Rohan, prince de Guéméné and Louise-Gabrielle Julie de Rohan; brother of Cardinal de Rohan, and Jules, prince de Guéméné. Mériadec was a chaplain of the Empress Joséphine de Beauharnais. He served as prior and doctor of the Sorbonne and provost of the church of Strasbourg.

Episcopate

He was nominated Archbishop of Bordeaux by King Louis XV on 26 December 1769, and his bulls were granted by Pope Clement XIV in the Consistory of 29 January 1770. He was consecrated a bishop in the church of the Sorbonne on 8 April 1770 by his brother Louis, the coadjutor Archbishop of Strasbourg, assisted by the Bishops of Poitiers and Vabres.[1] He was installed in Bordeaux by procurator. He made his solemn entry into Bordeaux on 5 May 1771. He was nominated Archbishop of Cambrai by King Louis XVI on 28 January 1781, and received his bulls from Pope Pius VI dated 2 April 1781.[2][3]

Private life

His mistress was Charlotte Stuart, Duchess of Albany, illegitimate daughter of Prince Charles Edward Stuart, with whom he had three children, including Charles Edward Stuart, Count Roehenstart. Lacking legitimacy or permission, Charlotte was unable to marry. Thus, she otherwise sought a protector and provider. Probably unbeknownst to her father, Prince Charles Edward Stuart ("Bonnie Prince Charlie"), she became the mistress of Mériadec – related by blood to the house of Stuart as well as Bourbon and Lorraine – who was also unable to marry legitimately, having entered the Church as a younger son of a noble house. By him, she had three children: two daughters, Marie Victoire and Charlotte, and finally a son, Charles Edward. Her children were kept secret, and remained largely unknown until the 20th century. When Charlotte eventually left France for Florence shortly after her son's birth, she entrusted the children into the care of her mother, Clementina Walkinshaw, and it appears that few, and certainly not her father, knew of their existence.

His sister-in-law, Marie Louise de La Tour d'Auvergne, was a first cousin of Prince Charles Edward Stuart and became his mistress. They had a son together, Charles Godefroi Sophie Jules Marie de Rohan, but Charles left her for Clementina Walkinshaw, with whom he had Charlotte.

He died in Paris in 1813.

Ancestry

Ancestors of Ferdinand Maximilien Mériadec de Rohan
16. Louis VII, Prince of Guéméné
8. Charles II, Prince of Guéméné
17. Anne de Rohan
4. Charles de Rohan, Prince of Guéméné
18. Henri de Schomberg
9. Jeanne Armande de Schomberg
19. Anne de La Guiche
2. Hercule Mériadec de Rohan, Prince of Guéméné
20. André de Cochefilet, Seigneur of Vauceslas
10. Charles de Cochefilet, Count of Vauvineux
21. Élisabeth de L'Aubespine, Lady of Vauvineux
5. Charlotte Élisabeth de Cochefilet
22. Robert Aubéry, Marquis of Vatan
11. Françoise Angélique Aubéry
23. Claude de Prestreval
1. Ferdinand Maximilien Mériadec de Rohan
24. Hercule de Rohan, Duke of Montbazon
12. François de Rohan, Prince of Soubise
25. Marie de Bretagne d'Avaugour
6. Hercule Mériadec de Rohan, Duke of Rohan-Rohan
26. Henri Chabot, Duke of Rohan
13. Anne de Rohan-Chabot, Princess of Soubise
27. Marguerite de Rohan, Duchess of Rohan
3. Louise Gabrielle Julie de Rohan
28. Charles de Lévis, Duke of Ventadour
14. Louis Charles de Lévis, Duke of Ventadour
29. Marie de La Guiche
7. Anne Geneviève de Lévis
30. Philippe de La Mothe-Houdancourt, Duke of Cardona
15. Charlotte de La Motte Houdancourt
31. Louise de Prie

References

  1. ^ Fisquet, p. 370.
  2. ^ Ritzler, Remigius; Sefrin, Pirminus (1958). Hierarchia catholica medii et recentis aevi VI (1730-1799). Patavii: Messagero di S. Antonio. p. 143, with n. 4. Retrieved 2016-07-06.
  3. ^ "Archbishop Ferdinand-Maximilien-Mériadec de Rohan-Guéménée [Catholic-Hierarchy]". www.catholic-hierarchy.org. Retrieved 2024-04-29.

Sources

  • Fisquet, Honore (1864). La France pontificale (Gallia Christiana): Cambrai (in French). Paris: Étienne Repos. pp. 359–368.
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