Benjamin de Rohan, duc de Soubise (1580–1642), was a French

Huguenot The Huguenots ( , also , ) were a religious group of French Protestants who held to the Reformed, or Calvinist, tradition of Protestantism. The term, which may be derived from the name of a Swiss political leader, the Genevan burgomaster Be ...

leader. Son of

René II, Viscount of Rohan René (''born again'' or ''reborn'' in French) is a common first name in French-speaking, Spanish-speaking, and German-speaking countries. It derives from the Latin name Renatus. René is the masculine form of the name ( Renée being the feminin ...

, and younger brother of

Henri de Rohan Henri (II) de Rohan (21 August 157913 April 1638), Duke of Rohan and Prince of Léon, was a Breton-French soldier, writer and leader of the Huguenots. Early life Rohan was born at the Château de Blain (now a part of Blain, Loire-Atlantique ...

, he inherited the lordship of Soubise through his mother

Catherine de Parthenay Catherine de Parthenay (22 March 1554 – 26 October 1631) was a French noblewoman and mathematician. She studied with mathematician François Viète and was considered one of the most brilliant women of the era. She married Charles de Que ...

. He served his apprenticeship as a soldier under

Maurice of Nassau Maurice of Orange ( nl, Maurits van Oranje; 14 November 1567 – 23 April 1625) was ''stadtholder'' of all the provinces of the Dutch Republic except for Friesland from 1585 at the earliest until his death in 1625. Before he became Prince o ...

in the

Low Countries The term Low Countries, also known as the Low Lands ( nl, de Lage Landen, french: les Pays-Bas, lb, déi Niddereg Lännereien) and historically called the Netherlands ( nl, de Nederlanden), Flanders, or Belgica, is a coastal lowland region in N ...

. In the religious wars from 1621 onwards his elder brother chiefly commanded on land and in the south, Soubise in the west and along the sea-coast. His exploits in the conflict have been sympathetically related by his brother, one of the most highly regarded military critics of the time. Soubise's chief exploit was a singularly bold and well-conducted attack (in 1625) on the Royalist fleet in the river

Blavet The Blavet (; br, Blavezh) river flows from central Brittany and enters the Atlantic Ocean on the south coast near Lorient. It is long. The river is canalised for most of its length, forming one of the links in the Brittany canal system. It con ...

(which included the cutting of a boom in the face of superior numbers) and the occupation of the islands of Ré and

Oléron The Isle of Oléron or Oléron Island (french: île d'Oléron, ; Saintongese: ''ilâte d'Olerun''; oc, illa d'Olairon or ; la, Uliarus insula, ) is an island off the Atlantic coast of France (due west of Rochefort), on the southern side of the ...

in 1625, leading to the Siege of Saint-Martin-de-Ré (1625) in which

Louis XIII Louis XIII (; sometimes called the Just; 27 September 1601 – 14 May 1643) was King of France from 1610 until his death in 1643 and King of Navarre (as Louis II) from 1610 to 1620, when the crown of Navarre was merged with the French crown ...

recovered the island of Ré. He commanded at

La Rochelle La Rochelle (, , ; Poitevin-Saintongeais: ''La Rochéle''; oc, La Rochèla ) is a city on the west coast of France and a seaport on the Bay of Biscay, a part of the Atlantic Ocean. It is the capital of the Charente-Maritime department. Wi ...

during the famous

Siege of La Rochelle The siege of La Rochelle (, or sometimes ) was a result of a war between the French royal forces of Louis XIII of France and the Huguenots of La Rochelle in 1627–28. The siege marked the height of the struggle between the Catholics and the Pr ...

(1627–1628). According to his brother, the failure of the defence and of the English attack on

Île de Ré Île de Ré (; variously spelled Rhé or Rhéa; Poitevin: ''ile de Rét''; en, Isle of Ré, ) is an island off the Atlantic coast of France near La Rochelle, Charente-Maritime, on the northern side of the Pertuis d'Antioche strait. Its high ...

was mainly due to the alternate obstinacy of the townsfolk and the English commanders in refusing to listen to Soubise's advice. When surrender became inevitable he fled to

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

, which he had previously visited in quest of succour. He died in 1642 in

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

. No such title as "Duke of Soubise" ever existed in France. The title, ''

prince de Soubise Within the French nobility, the title of "Prince of Soubise" was created in 1667 when the '' sirerie'' of Soubise, Charente-Maritime was raised to a principality for the cadet branch of the House of Rohan. The first prince was François de Rohan (1 ...

'' was later borne by a

cadet branch In history and heraldry, a cadet branch consists of the male-line descendants of a monarch's or patriarch's younger sons ( cadets). In the ruling dynasties and noble families of much of Europe and Asia, the family's major assets— realm, tit ...

of the House of Rohan, which inherited the secundogeniture of Soubise from a Rohan-Chabot heiress, a descendant in the female line of Henri, 1st Duke of Rohan. The ''princes de Soubise'' did not descend from Benjamin, who never bore that title. Nor did he ever receive the dukedom of Frontenay, although that title, too, is sometimes mistakenly attributed to him.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Soubise, Benjamin de Rohan, duc de 1580s births 1642 deaths French military leaders French Protestants Huguenots Benjamin de Rohan

See also

References