Louis-René de Rohan
Catholic cardinal (1734-1803)
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 had also an ambition to make a figure in politics. In 1761 he was elected to seat 36 of the Académie Française.
Louis de Rohan was a member of the palace cabal opposed to the Austrian alliance. This party was headed by the Duc d'Aiguillon who, in 1771, sent Rohan on a special embassy to find out what was being done in Vienna with regard to the partition of Poland.
“Louis-René de Rohan” enters the record as catholic cardinal (1734-1803). Crown Archives preserves that source wording while asking what Louis-René, Rohan and Catholic can confirm, complicate or overturn.
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The citation trail is more important than the brevity of the summary: it shows where individual claims can be examined in context. The source revision retrieved here is dated Sep 26, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q363636. VIAF identifies the subject as 54904154. The Library of Congress control number is n86074257. 3 of 3 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1734, 1803, 1704 and 1760.
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