Charles Godefroy de La Tour d'Auvergne, Duc de Bouillon

Charles Godefroy de La Tour d'Auvergne was the last child born to Emmanuel Théodose de La Tour d'Auvergne and Marie Armande Victoire de La Trémoille; as the third son, there was little chance of Charles inheriting more than a smaller curtesy title. He was born on 16 July 1706 and spent his childhood in somewhat obscurity. At the age of eleven, his mother passed away and his father remarried to Louise Françoise Angélique le Tellier.

The home-life of Charles was changing. His new stepmother gave birth to a half-brother in 1718 before dying in 1719. This prompted his father to remarry again, this time to Anne Marie Christiane de Simiane who - in turn - had daughter. Like her predecessor, Anne also died young after just a few years of marriage. Despite being in his sixties' Charles' father remarried for the fourth time to the beautiful (and young) Louise Henriette Françoise de Lorraine who gave Charles another half-sister.

Thus, in the space of 12 years, Charles had had three stepmothers and three half-siblings. Little is known of the particulars of his personal upbringing which likely took place away from both court and his father. As he grew older, Charles' personal status would change considerably. His eldest brother had died before Charles was born but he was still the younger of two remaining son - until 1723.

The year 1723 turned out to be a turning point in Charles' life. His brother married the Polish-born Maria Karolina Sobieski - promptly Frenchified into Marie Caroline - before dying just ten days after their wedding. This premature death had two massive consequences for Charles: firstly, he was catapulted from the third son to the heir of the Duc de Bouillon and secondly, he was given a wife.

Charles Godefroy

The union between Charles and Marie Caroline was unexpected by outsiders. By Catholic law such a marriage required papal dispensation as the two were considered to be relatives due to Marie Caroline's first marriage. This dispensation was promptly acquired by Marie Caroline's sister, Clementina, but without either informing or asking permission from the bride's father. This caused a massive rift between Marie Caroline and her wealthy parents. That wealth happened to be the motif behind the hasty remarriage; the young woman had been given a massive dowry of 750.000 livres.

Marie Caroline became pregnant with their first child who was named Marie Louise Henriette Jeanne. Their second (and last) child was the son Godefroy Charles Henri.

By this time, the relationship had deteriorated rapidly; the couple officially separated in 1730 with Marie Caroline travelling to Poland to restore relations with her father. Meanwhile, Charles took up a liaison with none other than his last stepmother! 

The life of the Duc de Bouillon was characterised by libertinage, privilege and royal favour. At court, he had the advantage of being a favourite of Louis XV who often included him in his private dinners behind the scenes. Charles possessed no fewer than three of the most coveted positions at court: Grand Chambellan, Grand Écuyer and Grand Maître. These brought him both considerable income and influence, the latter boosted by his personal friendship with the king.

Indulging fully in the finer things in life, Charles had several affairs and dappled heavily in gambling. Unfortunately, he was not particularly skilled at the pastime - the Duc de Luynes claimed that his gambling debts amounted to over a million livres. Ironically, Charles owned several of the most beautiful properties in France which helped diminish the public appearance of financial troubles. He therefore had high hopes that Marie Caroline would reconcile with her immensely wealthy father.

Besides his gambling, his temper was apparently not entirely under control. An incident occurred at his country estate in 1731 which ended in a brawl between himself and the Duc de Durfort; the scuffle went so far as Durfort being stabbed.

Still, his contemporaries hesitated to label him entirely a bad egg. Despite his propensity for scandal, his ill-luck at gambling and his less desirable qualities, he was also said to possess integrity and bravado. In this manner, he resembled Louis XV whose own libertinage was counteracted by several strong, good qualities. 

Marie Caroline

Marie Caroline never returned from Poland; she died in 1740. Charles did not seem to care much about the loss of his estranged wife.

His financial issues caused him to sell his viscounty of Turenne to Louis XV. His relationship with the king only grew closer over the years; he would even act as intermediary between Louis XV and "Bonnie Prince Charlie" prior to the latter's arrest. His personal expenses must have been considerable; the Duc de Luynes reported that his annual income was about 500.000 livres with one of his counties being worth 250.000 livres.

One would imagine that a man of Charles' tastes would not care particularly much about the emerging Enlightenment ideas and that might have been true. Nevertheless, he came to the rescue of Rousseau whose Journal Encyclopédie was in dire danger of being strangled by external powers. Charles offered the tiny territory that was his duchy of Bouillon for the philosopher who then successfully published his work. Charles himself was not much in favour if these new ideas but the publishing meant creating a potentially lucrative income for his tiny duchy. It worked, as the editions were in demand and generated a small fortune.

By this time, Charles was getting on in age but still had enough spirit to engage in various liaisons. His affair with Mademoiselle de Verrières resulted in an illegitimate son, Charles Godefroy. 

Charles Godefroy died on 24 October 1771 at his estate of Montalet.