Rohan, Louis-René-Édouard, prince de

born Sept. 25, 1734, Paris, France

died Feb. 17, 1803, Ettenheim, Baden

French clergyman.

A cardinal and bishop of Strasbourg (1779–1801), he spent much of his time at the French court. He was involved in the Affair of the Diamond Necklace (1785) when he was duped into purchasing a necklace for Marie-Antoinette without her authority. Tried for fraud, he was acquitted but was exiled from the court in disgrace, and he became a martyr to the queen's enemies and the critics of royal absolutism.

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▪ French cardinal

born Sept. 25, 1734, Paris, Fr.

died Feb. 17, 1803, Ettenheim, Baden [Germany]

      cardinal from 1778 and bishop of Strasbourg from 1779 to 1801, who was the antihero of the French scandal known as the Affair of the Diamond Necklace in 1785 (see Diamond Necklace, Affair of the (Affair of the Diamond Necklace)). Duped into undertaking the purchase of a necklace for Queen Marie-Antoinette, without her authority and without funds of his own, he was tried for fraud and acquitted but was nevertheless exiled in disgrace from the French court, thus becoming a martyr in the eyes of the queen's enemies and of the critics of royal absolutism.

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