François de Rohan, 1st Prince of Soubise (1630 – 24 August 1712) was a member of the House of Rohan and founder of the House of Soubise. His wife Anne Julie de Rohan was the one-time mistress of Louis XIV and mother of François's own eleven children. Prince of Soubise jure uxoris, he was also the Lord of Frontenay and of Ponghes.
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, and de Rohan raised to prince. François would be succeeded by three further princes before the male line of Rohan-Soubise became extinct.
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Biography
François was born to Hercule de Rohan and his wife Marie de Bretagne d'Avaugour. His father had been married twice, and François was the only son born from the second marriage. His older sister was Marie de Rohan, wife of the Duke of Chevreuse, Duke of Luynes and a key figure of the Fronde, the great civil war which threatened the power of the monarchy. His older brother was Louis de Rohan, Prince of Guéméné.
He was married twice.
Firstly to Cathérine Lyonne (1633–1660). The couple had no issue before she died in 1660 aged roughly twenty seven.
Secondly he married Anne Julie de Rohan, who was the mother of his eleven children. The couple were married in Paris on 17 April 1663.
On 27 March 1700, at the insistence of his wife Anne, François bought of the Hôtel de Guise, in Paris, renaming it the Hôtel de Soubise. It was purchased from the trustees of the late Duchess of Guise.