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Cardinal Rohan was a high-ranking clergyman from the influential Rohan family, tracing lineage to the Kings of Brittany. A prince of the blood, he held status just below the royal family at the French court. Appointed Bishop of Strasbourg, a family-held position since 1704, it granted him princely rank within the Holy Roman Empire. Despite his ecclesiastical role, he favored fashionable Parisian life over his Strasbourg duties.
His relationship with Queen Marie Antoinette was hostile, stemming from his earlier Vienna posting. There, his licentious behavior and political maneuvers against Austrian interests angered Empress Maria Theresa, the queen's mother, leading to his exclusion from her Versailles circle. Seeking to regain royal favor, he became entangled with the impostor Jeanne de la Motte, who claimed friendship with the queen. De la Motte manipulated him into believing Marie Antoinette desired reconciliation, staging a nocturnal garden encounter at Versailles where an impersonator posing as the queen handed him a rose.
De la Motte further deceived him into acting as intermediary for purchasing an extravagant diamond necklace originally rejected by the queen. He guaranteed payment of 1.6 million livres to jewelers Böhmer and Bassenge, believing the necklace destined for Marie Antoinette. Instead, de la Motte and accomplices stole it. Upon discovery, Rohan was arrested in the Hall of Mirrors on the king's orders. His subsequent trial before the Parlement de Paris resulted in acquittal, but the scandal irreparably damaged the queen's reputation, as the verdict implied her promiscuity and possible involvement.
Politically aligned with the anti-monarchy Duke of Orléans, the Duke later facilitated de la Motte's escape after imprisonment and funded her memoir publication, spreading damaging rumors about the queen and Oscar François de Jarjayes. Following acquittal, Rohan was exiled by the king but returned to Strasbourg. During the French Revolution, he left France for Ettenheim in the German part of his diocese, using his remaining wealth to support exiled French clergy. He resigned as Bishop of Strasbourg in 1801 and died in 1803.
His relationship with Queen Marie Antoinette was hostile, stemming from his earlier Vienna posting. There, his licentious behavior and political maneuvers against Austrian interests angered Empress Maria Theresa, the queen's mother, leading to his exclusion from her Versailles circle. Seeking to regain royal favor, he became entangled with the impostor Jeanne de la Motte, who claimed friendship with the queen. De la Motte manipulated him into believing Marie Antoinette desired reconciliation, staging a nocturnal garden encounter at Versailles where an impersonator posing as the queen handed him a rose.
De la Motte further deceived him into acting as intermediary for purchasing an extravagant diamond necklace originally rejected by the queen. He guaranteed payment of 1.6 million livres to jewelers Böhmer and Bassenge, believing the necklace destined for Marie Antoinette. Instead, de la Motte and accomplices stole it. Upon discovery, Rohan was arrested in the Hall of Mirrors on the king's orders. His subsequent trial before the Parlement de Paris resulted in acquittal, but the scandal irreparably damaged the queen's reputation, as the verdict implied her promiscuity and possible involvement.
Politically aligned with the anti-monarchy Duke of Orléans, the Duke later facilitated de la Motte's escape after imprisonment and funded her memoir publication, spreading damaging rumors about the queen and Oscar François de Jarjayes. Following acquittal, Rohan was exiled by the king but returned to Strasbourg. During the French Revolution, he left France for Ettenheim in the German part of his diocese, using his remaining wealth to support exiled French clergy. He resigned as Bishop of Strasbourg in 1801 and died in 1803.