René Godeffroi Le Hachard, Comte de Linange, Prince de Chabanois

René Godeffroi Le Hachard, Comte de Linange, Prince de Chabonois (born according to his own divergent information possibly on November 1, 1676, allegedly in Chabanais , France; died probably in Austrian custody in the 1720s) was a con man and cheater who in the early 18th century European fame after he and Philippe de Gentil, the Marquis de Langallerie , were arrested and sentenced to life imprisonment in 1716 on suspicion of colluding with Turkey against the Pope .

Birth and death dates, names and titles

The traditional documents associated with his name have a variety of titles and identities, which the "Comte" or "Landgrave de Linange" or "Prince de Chabonois" (the titles that others mostly used in relation to him from 1715-1717) ) grew. Linange tried to secure a wide range of room for maneuver. The following title from the investigation documents of the authorities in Aurich, who arrested Linange on June 30, 1716 and interrogated on July 2, is characteristic:

René-Godeffroy-Louis-Ernest-Joseph, le Hachard De Handres, par la Grace de Dieu Land-grave de Linange, Prince du St. Empire et de Chabanois; Duc d'Angelport, de Madagascar, d'Ophir et de Feros. Marquis de Luzignon, D'Olevon, De Pizani, et de Ruzé, Comte de la Motte-Hachard, de Moriac, D'Autel, D'Apremeont etc. Cy devant Chef Descardres, Des Armées navales de France; Puis Capitaine General des mers dans l'Amerique & Dans L'Azie; et presentement par la Divine Providence Grand-Admiral, generalissime des Armées Navales De la Theocratie du verbe incarné.

The titles of the years 1715–1716 served him above all, as far as can be seen, in investment frauds that promised maritime trade participation. Linange had already tried out a large number of title variants and had two prison sentences with other projects. The titles last used had to confuse German-speaking authorities in particular, as he assigned himself to the Leiningen house with them .

The dates of birth vary according to the different documents. Linange wanted the authorities in Arich to calculate it "exactly" in 1716: on July 3, 1716, he reported to them that he was born on November 1, 1676 and that he was 39 years, 7 months and 3 days old on that day. At the interrogation in Vienna on January 17, 1717, he wanted to be 42 years old, at that time he preferred to also be Prince of Antioch.

Life

John T. O'Connor (1999) gives brief biographical details: Linange was therefore of low French nobility. As a young man in a Catholic missionary seminary, he is said to have stolen the papers of a missionary who was on his way to the Far East. He allegedly posed with them as the Pope-appointed Archbishop of Macao and the primacy of Japan . In Geneva he is said to have converted to Reformed Protestantism later .

In 1709 Linange attracted attention with frauds, the victims of which were French exiles in the Netherlands and Great Britain. His plan at the time is said to have been to overthrow Louis XIV with Huguenot support and to bring Leopold of Lorraine to the throne. Linange was caught and imprisoned in the Bastille until 1714.

His projects of 1715 were aimed at interested parties who would participate in a trading company that would do business with the ports that were supposedly under his control on the islands off Madagascar . The projects were given a religious orientation in 1715 after meeting the Marquis de Langallerie, who had founded an order to overthrow the papacy.

Remarks

1. ↑ NLA-StA Aurich: Rep 4 I b 265 , sheet 163.
2. ↑ AT-OeStA / HHStA MEA Varia27-5 , interrogation protocol January 17, 1717.

Archive sources

State Archives Aurich

• Rep 4 BI b 265 The arrest of the so-called Comte de Linange and his extradition to the emperor. 1716. [1]

Austrian State Archives , House, Court and State Archives

• AT-OeStA / HHStA MEA Varia27-5 Marquis de Langallerie and Comte Linange, arrest, 1716 Act of the Mainz Reich Chancellery with the interrogation of the Jews Süsskind and D'Acosta and Linanges along with several confiscated objects. From the Langallerie case, only the list of things found on him is not passed down from the interrogation. [2]

literature

• A completely new song, because of the Marquis de Langallerie and the Count Linange, who ... were arrested ... and imprisoned ... after Vienna, etc. (Prague, 1716). British Library Call Number: 11521.a.4.
• Copia of the Capitulation of the Marquise de Langallerie and the Printzen de Linange With the Grand Sultan [Sl], [1716], [4] p. 4 °, GWLB Hannover: Bu 5745: 18
• Tractaat, geslooten tussen the Turxen Sultan, the marquis de Langallerie, en den prins de Linange: Hamburg, the 3 july (Amsterdam: Jacob Willemsz, 1716).
• Christian August Vulpius , "Something about the knightly order Du verbe incarnè of Count Linage, the founder of the same and his friend, the Marquis Langallerie incidents and fates." German magazine. Vol. 12 July-December (1796), pp. 408-421. [3]
• John T. O'Connor: Une conspiration chimérique tramée par un 'comte imaginaire'. In: Yves-Marie Bercé and Elena Fasano Guarini (eds.): Complots et Conjurations dans l'Europe Moderne. École Française de Rome, Rome 1996, pp. 411-421.
• John T. O'Connor, "Exploitation and subversion of Utopian Ideals. The Schemes of Two French Exiles in the Netherlands," EMF Studies in Early Modern France Vol. 5 (1999) 42-59 Google Books
• Olaf Simons, “A general as a religious project planner. The Langallerie case ”, in: Martin Mulsow (ed.), Criminals - Freethinkers - Alchemists. Underground spaces in the early modern period (Cologne / Weimar / Vienna, 2014), pp. 235–263.