Viktoria of Hesse-Rotenburg (Anna Viktoria Maria Christina; 25 February 1728 – 1 July 1792) was a princess of Hesse by birth, and the Princess of Soubise

Princess of Soubise

- Princess of Soubise :...

 by marriage. Her husband was a renowned French commander, known as the Maréchal de Soubise. She died without descendants.

Biography

Born in Rotenburg an der Fulda

Rotenburg an der Fulda

Rotenburg an der Fulda is a town in Hersfeld-Rotenburg district in northeastern Hesse, Germany lying, as the name says, on the river Fulda.- Geography :- Location :...

 to Joseph, Hereditary Prince of Hesse-Rotenburg

Joseph, Hereditary Prince of Hesse-Rotenburg

Joseph of Hesse-Rotenburg was the Hereditary Prince of Hesse-Rotenburg from his birth till his death in 1744. He was Heir apparent to the Landgraviate of Hesse-Rotenburg.-Biography:...

 and his wife, she was the eldest of four children.

She married Charles de Rohan

Charles, Prince of Soubise

Charles de Rohan , duke of Rohan-Rohan, seigneur of Roberval, and marshal of France from 1758, was a military man, a minister to the kings Louis XV and Louis XVI, and a notorious libertine. The last male of his branch of the House of Rohan, he was also the great grandfather to the duc d'Enghien,...

, prince de Soubise on 23 December 1745 at the château des Rohan

Rohan Castle

Rohan Castle , also known as Château Neuf , is a Neoclassicist monumental building in the city of Saverne in Alsace, France...

 in Saverne

Saverne

Saverne is a commune in the Bas-Rhin department in Alsace in north-eastern France. It is situated on the Rhine-Marne canal at the foot of a pass over the Vosges Mountains, and 45 km N.W...

. He was head of the cadet branch

Cadet branch

Cadet branch is a term in genealogy to describe the lineage of the descendants of the younger sons of a monarch or patriarch. In the ruling dynasties and noble families of much of Europe and Asia, the family's major assets – titles, realms, fiefs, property and income – have...

 of the wealthy and powerful House of Rohan, which, enjoyed the rank of princes étrangers

Foreign Prince

Foreign Prince is the English translation of prince étranger, a high, though somewhat ambiguous, rank at the French royal court of the ancien régime.-Terminology:...

at the court of Versailles

Versailles

Versailles , a city renowned for its château, the Palace of Versailles, was the de facto capital of the kingdom of France for over a century, from 1682 to 1789. It is now a wealthy suburb of Paris and remains an important administrative and judicial centre...

.

Her husband was a two-time widower, having been married first to Anne Marie Louise de La Tour d'Auvergne

Anne Marie Louise de La Tour d'Auvergne

Anne Marie Louise de La Tour d'Auvergne was a French noblewoman and the wife of Charles de Rohan. She was Marchioness of Gordes and Countess of Moncha in her own right as well as Princess of Soubise by marriage...

 (1722–1739), and secondly to Princess Anne Thérese of Savoy-Carignan  (1717–1745). Victoire had two step-daughters from these marriages; Charlotte, future Princess of Condé

Princess of Condé

- Princess of Condé :-See also:*Duchess of Bourbon*Duchess of Guise*Duchess of Enghien*Duchess of Montmorency...

 and Madame de Guéméné, who became governess of the children of Louis XVI

Louis XVI of France

Louis XVI was a Bourbon monarch who ruled as King of France and Navarre until 1791, and then as King of the French from 1791 to 1792, before being executed in 1793....

.

Among her first cousins were King Victor Amadeus III of Sardinia

Victor Amadeus III of Sardinia

Victor Amadeus III was King of Sardinia from 1773 until his death. Although he was politically conservative, he carried out numerous administrative reforms until declaring war on revolutionary France in 1792...

 and the tragic princesse de Lamballe.

Like her husband, she took lovers outside her marriage. In 1757, by order of Louis XV, she was arrested in Tournai

Tournai

Tournai is a Walloon city and municipality of Belgium located 85 kilometres southwest of Brussels, on the river Scheldt, in the province of Hainaut....

, purportedly for having stolen 900,000 livres

French livre

The livre was the currency of France until 1795. Several different livres existed, some concurrently. The livre was the name of both units of account and coins.-Etymology:...

worth of jewels from her husband in order to run away with her apparent lover, Monsieur de Laval-Montmorency.

The couple separated and her parents were given a pension of 24,000 livres to take Victoire, exiled from court, to dwell with them at Echternach

Echternach

Echternach is a commune with city status in the canton of Echternach, which is part of the district of Grevenmacher, in eastern Luxembourg. Echternach lies near the border with Germany, and is the oldest town in Luxembourg....

. The couple had no children and Victoire died in Paris, having outlived her husband by five years to the day.

Ancestry

Titles and styles

• 25 February 1728 – 23 December 1745 Princess Viktoria of Hesse-Rotenburg
• 23 December 1745 – 1 July 1787 Her Highness the Princess of Soubise
• 1 July 1787 – 1 July 1792 Her Highness the Dowager Princess of Soubise

See also