Rohan (family)

The House of Rohan is a French noble family of viscounts, later dukes and princes, coming from the locality of Rohan in Brittany. Their line descends from the viscounts of Porhoët and is said to trace back to the legendary Conan Meriadoc. Through the Porhoët, the Rohan are related to the Dukes of Brittany, with whom the family intermingled again after its inception. They developed ties with the French and English royal houses as well, and played an important role in France and European history.

Alain I de Rohan, son of the viscount of Porhoët, was the first to take on the name of Rohan, after the place where he was born.

The main branch of the family became extinct when Jean II died childless in 1638; his title and possessions passed on to the cadet branch of Rohan-Gié.

When the first duke of Rohan, Henri II de Rohan-Gié, died, his title and name passed on to the family as his only daughter married Henri Chabot. This created the Rohan-Chabot lineage, which was not really a branch of the Rohan family.

During the 17th and 18th centuries the Rohan also bore the title Prince Étranger habitué en France due to their descent from the old kings of Brittany and their hereditary control of the archbishopric of Strasbourg, which made them princes of the Holy Roman Empire.

The family of Rohan has a long documented history, with close ties to the Dukes of Brittany.

Alain I (-c. 1127), son of Eudes, Viscount of Porhoët

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