Charles, Count of Charolais  

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According to Michelet, Charolais loved the fair sex only "in bloody condition." His father, Prince Conde, had derived his pleasure from poisoning people as, for example, the poet Santeul, and had willed to his sons, the Duke of Bourgogne and Prince Charolais, these perverse inclinations. --Marquis de Sade: His Life and Works, Iwan Bloch


'I grant you pardon,' said Louis XV to Charolais, who, to divert himself, had just killed a man; 'but I also pardon whoever will kill you.' [Marquis de Sade, Philosophy in the Bedroom]


Some historians have seen in him an inspiration for certain characters in the novels of the Marquis de Sade.

In one particular instance, in the street and in front of witnesses, this nobleman, a relative of the king, fired his pistol and killed, coldly and without reason other than his own pleasure, a man who had the misfortune of being within reach of his weapon. The regent Philippe d'Orléans was truly shocked by this heinous crime, and summoned the count to say that, while he could not punish him on account of his rank, he would willingly forgive anyone who took reciprocal action.

Another story tells of how in a drunken rage, he assaulted and badly injured the unfortunate driver of the Spanish ambassador who had parked his carriage in an alley beside the Louvre usually reserved for cars of the princes of the blood.[1]


The Comte de Charolais, the King's brother, emerged with impunity from a series of ... In one of them he invited a woman, Mme de Saint-Sulpice, to supper, made her drunk and undressed her. Inserting a firework into her vagina, he said, "The little lapdog has to eat too"... via --Marquis de Sade: The Genius of Passion, Ronald Hayman, quoted from Jean A Cherasse: Sade, j'écris ton nom Liberté by Jean André Chérasse and Geneviève Guicheney

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Charles de Bourbon, Count of Charolais (19 June, 1700 – 23 July, 1760) was a French noble. As a member of the reigning House of Bourbon, he was a prince of the Blood. Because of the many scandals he was involved in and his psychopathic character traits, he was frequently mentioned by Marquis de Sade (Marquis de Sade: His Life and Works, Iwan Bloch) and is seen as a typical instance of the impunity of nobility.

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Biography

A son of Louis III, Prince of Condé, he was made governor of Touraine in 1720. He fought in Hungary in the war against the Ottoman Turks and won distinction at the battle of Belgrade. He was governor of his nephew Louis Joseph de Bourbon, prince de Condé.

He secretly married Jeanne de Valois-Saint Remy, a descendent of Henri II via an illegitimate branch. Their son was Louis-Thomas (17181799), who was not legitimated by the king, later was exiled to England.

He had two illegitimate children with Marguerite Caron de Rancurel :

  • Marie Marguerite de Bourbon (17521830), who married Denis Nicolas, comte de Puget.
  • Charlotte Marguerite Élisabeth de Bourbon (17541839), who married François Xavier Joseph, comte de Lowendal.

On his death the county of Charolais reverted to the king. Some years later it was granted to a brother of the future Louis-Philippe of France.

He was buried at the Église Collégiale Saint-Martin, Montmorency.

Scandals

What follows is a machine translation from [2]:

Character debauched, violent, angry, sadistic, bloodthirsty, murderous occasionally, with a limit of psychopathy, incredibly steeped in his person and his rank, certain of his impunity as a prince of blood, Charles de Bourbon, Count of Charolais, never ceased to make headlines of news items of his time. It was probably his father, Louis III of Bourbon, called the Green Monkey by his contemporaries because of his ugliness and depravity. On the orders of power, overwhelming police reports on Charles de Bourbon were long kept secret. These relate, among other appalling depravity, he was removed and kidnap women and girls for use in its sadistic orgies he arranged with other depraved of its kind. Historians have thought to see in him that would have inspired the Marquis de Sade to create certain characters in his novels.
It is promoted, and in the street in front of witnesses, that awful member of the royal family fired his pistol and killed him, coldly and without reason (fun to say) a man who had the misfortune to within reach of his weapon. The regent Philippe d'Orleans, truly shocked by this heinous crime, and summoned him that he could punish him with regard to his rank, but he willingly forgive anyone he would reciprocate.
Another story tells of a qu'ivre uncontrolled rage, he assaulted and seriously wounded the unfortunate driver of the Spanish ambassador had had the stupidity (or maybe he knew this regulation concerning parking) of park his carriage in an alley beside the Louvre usually reserved for cars of the princes of the blood.
A book would write about all the scandals and the depravity of this odious character.

As mentioned on the German Wikipedia page

Der Nachwelt blieb er vor allem als exzessiver Libertin in Erinnerung (Iwan Bloch: Der Marquis de Sade und seine Zeit)

Sade erwähnt sehr häufig den Grafen Charolais (z.B. Philosophie dans le Boudoir I, 153, II, 131), der „Morde aus Wollust begangen habe“. Dieser Graf von Charolais (1700-1760) „düsteren Angedenkens“ verband nach Moreau den empörendsten Cynismus mit einer kaum fassbaren Wildheit. Er liebte, Blut bei seinen Orgien fliessen zu sehen und richtete die ihm zugeführten Courtisanen in grausamer Weise zu. „Inmitten seiner Ausschweifungen mit seinen Maitressen war ihm nichts angenehmer, als mit seiner Flinte Dachdecker oder Passanten zu erschiessen“. Das Herabrollen der Leichen vom Dache bereitete ihm ein unendliches Vergnügen. ...
Nach Michelet liebte dieser Charolais das schöne Geschlecht nur „im blutigen Zustande“. Sein Vater, der Prinz von Condé, hatte schon ein Vergnügen daran gefunden, Menschen zu vergiften, so z.B. den Dichter Santeul, und hatte auf seine beiden Söhne, den Herzog von Bourgogne und den Grafen Charolais diese perversen Neigungen vererbt. Beide bedienten sich als einer Helfershelferin bei ihren Orgien der Madame de Prie. Eines Tages erschien wie Michelet erzählt, bei derselben eine Madame de Saint-S., die alsbald von den sauberen Herren Prinzen nackt ausgezogen wurde, et Charolais la roula dans une serviette [rollte sie ihn ein Tuch] . Trotz dieses Erlebnisses liess sich die Unglückliche noch einmal in das Haus der Prie locken und wurde diesmal „wie ein Hühnchen gebraten“. Von ihren schweren äusseren und inneren Brandwunden erholte sie sich erst nach mehreren Jahren. Ausdrücklich erwähnt Michelet, dass der Herzog von Bourgogne diese grausame Idee hatte.

Der französische Regent Philippe II. de Bourbon (nach anderen Quellen Ludwig XV.) gewährte ihm Dispens von strafrechtlicher Verfolgung mit dem Kommentar „Monsieur, die Gunst, die Sie von mir erbitten, schulde ich Ihrem Rang als Prinz edelsten Geblüts, ich würde sie aber noch viel lieber jemandem gewähren, der Ihnen Gleiches mit Gleichem vergilt.“[3]

"Il faut que le petit bichon mange aussi"

An infamous story is that of Mme de Saint-Sulpice, who was invited to supper and tortured. Reports on how she was tortured vary. In one version, a piece of fireworks is introduced in her vulva and lit. This version can be found in Sade, j'écris ton nom liberté (1976). It was translated into English in Marquis de Sade: The Genius of Passion (2003) by Ronald Hayman. What the source is before 1976 is unclear.

Le comte lui introduit un pétard dans le vagin en disant : « Il faut que le petit bichon mange aussi ». Il met le feu, le pétard explose, elle est horriblement brûlée. On l'enveloppe dans un drap, et on la renvoie chez elle, dans un fiacre. Il y a les ...
Sade, j'écris ton nom liberté- page 87, Jean André Chérasse, ‎Geneviève Guicheney, 1976

See also




Unless indicated otherwise, the text in this article is either based on Wikipedia article "Charles, Count of Charolais" or another language Wikipedia page thereof used under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License; or on research by Jahsonic and friends. See Art and Popular Culture's copyright notice.

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