Charles de Bourbon, Count of Charolais

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. He was the fifth child and second son of Louis, Prince of Condé and Louise Françoise, Princess of Condé.

Biography
The second son of Louis III, Prince of Condé and Louise-Françoise de Bourbon, Charles de Bourbon-Condé 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. In 1728 he became one of the candidates for the hand of the wealthy heiress Maria Zofia Sieniawska, supported by Louis XV in an attempt to gain a strong position in Poland before the royal election. He was gouverneur of his nephew Louis Joseph, Prince of Condé.

Charles' character is reputed to have been very bad. Not merely common debauchery but also a violent temper and sadistic tendencies were attributed to him. His rank had completely gone to his head which led him to believe himself immune from public criticism. It did not help that Louis XV ordered the police reports concerning him to be kept secret. Apparently, Charles besieged the king for help the fourth and fifth time he had been found guilty of murder.

At the age of 20 he had already killed a man; allegedly the man, Anet, was shot in the streets by the Comte de Charolais "for his entertainment". This resulted in the Regent commenting that although he could not personally punish Charles (due to his rank) he would gladly pay another person to do it. The depravities of Charles knew little boundaries if the contemporary sources are to be believed. He was widely believed to have abducted women and young girls to be kept for his "sadistic orgies". These orgies he quite likely enjoyed with the infamous Marquis de Sade; the two were connected by interests as well as relations. Charles' sister was the mistress of the Marquis de Sade.

His sadism would leave a trail of victims behind. Besides Anet the Comte was well-known for firing at peasants and workmen for no apparent reason. In a vicious prank he tied explosives to the skirt of the Marquise de Saint-Sulpice. Beforehand he had gotten her drunk enough to prevent her from untying them. The attacked lady suffered severe burns to her legs.

In some contrast to his "lawless" character, Charolais was rather good at keeping his economy in order and had a talent for organization. It was he who settled the debts of his nephew when he took charge of his household. The two appeared to have developed quite a good relationship.

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 I.

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

Children
He had two illegitimate children with Marguerite Caron de Rancurel: It was the Prince de Condé who managed to ensure the legitimization of Charles' two daughters. Charles himself had been dead for nine years when this took place.
 * 1) Marie Marguerite de Bourbon (1752–1830); married Denis Nicolas, Comte de Puget.
 * 2) Charlotte Marguerite Élisabeth de Bourbon (1754–1839); married François Xavier Joseph, Comte de Lowendal (son of Marshal de Lowendal).