Anne Thérèse of Savoy was a Savoyard princess born in Paris. She was the second wife of Charles de Rohan, the friend of Louis XV

Louis XV of France

Louis XV was a Bourbon monarch who ruled as King of France and of Navarre from 1 September 1715 until his death. He succeeded his great-grandfather at the age of five, his first cousin Philippe II, Duke of Orléans, served as Regent of the kingdom until Louis's majority in 1723...

 and great military man.

Biography

Born at the Parisian Hôtel de Soissons, she was a member of the House of Savoy

House of Savoy

The House of Savoy was formed in the early 11th century in the historical Savoy region. Through gradual expansion, it grew from ruling a small county in that region to eventually rule the Kingdom of Italy from 1861 until the end of World War II, king of Croatia and King of Armenia...

. Her father was the Prince of Carignano and a grandson of Thomas Francis, Prince of Carignano

Thomas Francis, Prince of Carignano

Thomas Francis of Savoy was an Italian military commander, the founder of the Savoy-Carignano branch of the House of Savoy which reigned as kings of Sardinia from 1831 to 1861, and as kings of Italy from 1861 until the...

.

Through her mother, she was a granddaughter of the then king of Sicily

Victor Amadeus II of Sardinia

Victor Amadeus II was Duke of Savoy from 1675 to 1730. He also held the titles of marquis of Saluzzo, duke of Montferrat, prince of Piedmont, count of Aosta, Moriana and Nizza. Louis XIV organised his marriage in order to maintain French influence in the Duchy but Victor Amadeus soon broke away...

. Her mother was Maria Vittoria Francesca of Savoy

Maria Vittoria Francesca of Savoy

Maria Vittoria of Savoy was an illegitimate daughter of Victor Amadeus II of Sardinia and his favourite mistress Jeanne Baptiste d'Albert de Luynes, estranged wife of Joseph Ignace Scaglia, Count of Verua. She was an ancestor of Victor Emmanuel II of Italy and thus the whole present pretending...

, an illegitimate daughter of Victor Amadeus II and his favourite mistress Jeanne Baptiste d'Albert de Luynes

Jeanne Baptiste d'Albert de Luynes

Jeanne Baptiste d'Albert de Luynes, comtesse de Verrue was a French noblewoman and the mistress of Victor Amadeus II of Sardinia.-Biography:...

.

She grew up in Paris, their parents fleeing the court of Savoy due to her father incurring large debts in the state. Their parents arrived in Paris during the Regency of Philippe d'Orléans

Régence

The Régence is the period in French history between 1715 and 1723, when King Louis XV was a minor and the land was governed by a Regent, Philippe d'Orléans, the nephew of Louis XIV of France....

 (1715–1723), regent of the Kingdom for the infant Louis XV

Louis XV of France

Louis XV was a Bourbon monarch who ruled as King of France and of Navarre from 1 September 1715 until his death. He succeeded his great-grandfather at the age of five, his first cousin Philippe II, Duke of Orléans, served as Regent of the kingdom until Louis's majority in 1723...

.

She was an aunt of the future princesse de Lamballe

Princess Marie Louise of Savoy

Maria Luisa of Savoy was a member of the House of Savoy. She was married at the age of 16 to Louis Alexandre de Bourbon, Prince de Lamballe, the heir to the greatest fortune in France. After her marriage, which lasted a year, she went to court and became the confidante of Queen Marie Antoinette...

as well as cousin of Louis XV.

Her mother successfully intrigued to bring about good marriages for her two surviving children; Anne Thérèse's only surviving brother, Louis Victor, Prince of Carignano married Christine of Hesse-Rotenburg

Landgravine Christine Henriette of Hesse-Rotenburg

Christine of Hesse-Rheinfels-Rotenburg was a princess of the German dynasty of Hesse-Rheinfels-Rotenburg...

, youngest sister of the late Queen of Sardinia

Polyxena Christina of Hesse-Rotenburg

Princess Polyxena of Hesse-Rheinfels-Rotenburg was the second wife of Charles Emmanuel, Prince of Piedmont whom she married in 1724...

.

Anne Thérèse herself would marry into the House of Rohan, one of the most powerful and extravagant families at the French court.

Her husband to be was Charles de Rohan, the widower of 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...

, a granddaughter of the famous Marie Anne Mancini

Marie Anne Mancini

Marie Anne Mancini, duchesse de Bouillon , was the youngest of the five famous Mancini sisters, who along with two of their female Martinozzi cousins, were known at the court of King Louis XIV of France as the Mazarinettes because their uncle was the king's chief minister, Cardinal...

. Charles was the Prince of Soubise, Duke of Rohan-Rohan, Lord of Roberval, and 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...

 from 1758, was a military man, a minister to the Louis XV and 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....

, and a notorious libertine. Orphaned at the age of 9, his younger sister Marie de Rohan was later known as Madame de Marsan as wife of Gaston de Lorraine.

The couple married at the vieux Château de Rohan

Rohan Castle

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

 in the town of 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...

 on 6 November 1741. Presiding over the ceremony was Armand de Rohan, bishop of Strasbourg and brother of Charles. Anne Thérèse had a step daughter, Charlotte de Rohan

Charlotte Élisabeth Godefride de Rohan

Charlotte de Rohan was a French aristocrat who married into the House of Condé, a cadet branch of the ruling House of Bourbon, during the Ancien Régime. She was Princess of Condé by her marriage...

, future wife of Louis Joseph de Bourbon

Louis Joseph de Bourbon, prince de Condé

Louis Joseph de Bourbon was Prince of Condé from 1740 to his death. A member of the House of Bourbon, he held the prestigious rank of Prince du Sang.-Biography:...

 and grandmother of the murdered duc d'Enghien.

Anne Thérèse was a quiet wife. She died in childbirth at the Hôtel de Soubise

Hôtel de Soubise

The Hôtel de Soubise is a city mansion entre cour et jardin , located at 60 rue des Francs-Bourgeois, in the IIIe arrondissement of Paris....

. In December 1745, her widowed husband married again; this time to Anna Viktoria of Hesse-Rotenburg, niece of the later Princess of Condé

Landgravine Caroline of Hesse-Rotenburg

Princess Caroline of Hesse-Rheinfels-Rotenburg was the consort of Louis Henri, Duke of Bourbon.-Biography:Born at Rotenburg an der Fulda in Hesse, Germany, she was the daughter of Ernest Leopold, Landgrave of Hesse-Rotenburg, head of the Roman Catholic branch of the House of Hesse, by his wife...

. Charles' new wife, as amorous as he, tried to steal 900,000 livres from the prince; she was arrested by order of Louis XV and later given a pension of 24,000 livres.

Issue

Name	| Portrait	Lifespan	Notes
Victoire Armande Josèphe de Rohan Princess of Guéméné		28 December 1743 – 20 September 1807	Born at the Hôtel de Soubise Hôtel de Soubise The Hôtel de Soubise is a city mansion entre cour et jardin , located at 60 rue des Francs-Bourgeois, in the IIIe arrondissement of Paris.... ; married Henri Louis Marie de Rohan and had issue; was the governess of Madame Royale and Monsieur le Duaphin, children of Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette Marie Antoinette Marie Antoinette ; 2 November 1755 – 16 October 1793) was an Archduchess of Austria and the Queen of France and of Navarre. She was the fifteenth and penultimate child of Holy Roman Empress Maria Theresa and Holy Roman Emperor Francis I.... ;

Ancestry

Titles and styles

• 1 November 1717 – 6 November 1741 Her Highness Anne Thérèse, Princess of Savoy
• 6 November 1741 – 5 April 1745 Her Highness the Princess of Soubise

See also