Louis-René de Rohan

Common card · No. 425636

Louis-René-Édouard de Rohan, known as Cardinal de Rohan (25 September 1734 – 16 February 1803), Prince de Rohan-Guéméné, was a French bishop of Strasbourg, politician, cardinal of the Catholic Church, and cadet of an ancient and powerful House of Rohan (which traced its origin to the Kings of Brittany). His parents were Hercule Mériadec, Prince of Guéméné, and Princess Louise Gabrielle Julie de Rohan-Rohan. He was born in Paris. Members of the Rohan family had filled the office of bishop of Strasbourg since 1704, which made them princes of the Holy Roman Empire and the compeers rather of the German prince-bishops than of the French ecclesiastics. Louis de Rohan was destined for this high office from birth. Soon after taking orders, in 1760, he was nominated coadjutor to his uncle, Louis Constantin de Rohan-Rochefort, who then held the bishopric, and he was also appointed titular bishop of Canopus, Egypt. But he preferred the elegant life and the gaiety of Paris to his clerical duties, and...

Read on Wikipedia · Image Unidentified painter, Public domain