Louis Antoine Sophie de Vignerot du Plessis (4 February 1736 – 1791), duke of Fronsac

Duke of Fronsac

The seigneurie of Fronsac was promoted to a duchy twice during the 17th century.- First promotion : 1608 :The title of duke of Fronsac was first created in 1608 for the Orléans-Longueville family, a bastard branch of the house of Valois...

, then duke of Richelieu

Duke of Richelieu

Duke of Richelieu was a title in the peerage of France. It was created on 26 November 1629 for cardinal Richelieu who, as a clergyman, had no issue to pass it down to...

 (1788), prince de Mortagne, marquis du Pont-Courlay, comte de Cosnac, baron de Barbezieux, baron de Coze et baron de Saugeon, was a French nobleman and general.

Life

He was the son of Louis François Armand de Vignerot du Plessis (1696–1788), duc de Richelieu, marshal of France

Marshal of France

The Marshal of France is a military distinction in contemporary France, not a military rank. It is granted to generals for exceptional achievements...

 and an expert courtier, and of Marie Élisabeth Sophie de Lorraine (daughter of Anne Marie Joseph de Lorraine. Madame de Pompadour

Madame de Pompadour

Jeanne Antoinette Poisson, Marquise de Pompadour, also known as Madame de Pompadour was a member of the French court, and was the official chief mistress of Louis XV from 1745 to her death.-Biography:...

 wished Louis to marry her daughter but his father avoided that demand by pretending that Louis's mother was princess of Lorraine

House of Lorraine

The House of Lorraine, the main and now only remaining line known as Habsburg-Lorraine, is one of the most important and was one of the longest-reigning royal houses in the history of Europe...

 (much superior to the house of Richelieu) and that he would thus need the permission of the head of that house (Francis I

Francis I, Holy Roman Emperor

Francis I was Holy Roman Emperor and Grand Duke of Tuscany, though his wife effectively executed the real power of those positions. With his wife, Maria Theresa, he was the founder of the Habsburg-Lorraine dynasty...

) for the marriage. Madame de Pompadour did not press her claims any further.

A first cousin was Marie Charlotte, Princess of Beauvau

Marie Charlotte de La Tour d'Auvergne

Marie Charlotte de La Tour d'Auvergne was a French noblewoman and member of the House of La Tour d'Auvergne. Married into the House of Beauvau, a powerful family originating in Anjou, she had a daughter aged twenty and died of smallpox at the age of thirty three...

, wife of Charles Juste de Beauvau and daughter of the Duke of Bouillon

Duke of Bouillon

The Duke of Bouillon is a title of nobility. Until the nineteenth century, the Duke of Bouillon was the ruler of the semi-sovereign Duchy of Bouillon , a small state located between Luxembourg, Champagne, and the Three Bishoprics and centered on Bouillon.- History of the Duchy of Bouillon :The...

.

He succeeded his father as a premier gentilhomme de la chambre to King Louis XVI, and later became a maréchal de camp and lieutenant général

Lieutenant General

Lieutenant General is a military rank used in many countries. The rank traces its origins to the Middle Ages where the title of Lieutenant General was held by the second in command on the battlefield, who was normally subordinate to a Captain General....

 (1780).

Marriage and issue

His first marriage, on 25 February 1764, was to Adélaïde de Hautefort. They had one child, Armand Emmanuel (1766–1822).

His second marriage, on 20 April 1776, was to Marie-Antoinette de Galliffet. They had two children :

• Armande Marie (born 1777) (marquise de Montcalm-Gozon) ;
• Armande Simplicie Gabrielle (born 1778) (marquise de Jumilhac)

Ancestry