Charles Henri of Lorraine was the legitimated son of Charles IV, Duke of Lorraine, and Béatrix de Cusance.
Background
Charles Henri was the third child and only surviving son of the second marriage of Charles IV, Duke of Lorraine (there had been no children from his first marriage). Charles Henri"s claim to inherit Lorraine was therefore disputed, and rule of the duchy had been obtained by his father"s younger brother through French intervention.
Career
He was also the Count of Falkenstein. He was born in Brussels. The princess was known as Mademoiselle d"Elbeuf, a style derived from her father"s title.
They had one son, Charles Thomas de Lorraine (1670–1704), who later took his father"s non-territorial title, Prince of Vaudémontana
This son was killed in battle near Ostiglia. In exile like his father, Charles Henri served in the Spanish-Habsburg army against France, fighting in numerous battles.
He served in the Nine Years" War in Flanders under William III of England. In 1698, he was appointed Governor of Milan.
In 1700, the last Habsburg king of Spain, Charles II, died.
Charles was replaced by Louis XIV"s grandson, Philip, Duke of Anjou, triggering the War of Spanish Succession in which the territory around Milan was one of the major battlefields. The Prince of Vaudémont accepted the new king as sovereign of Lombardy, but he was not trusted: Saint Simon suggests he passed on military information to the enemy. After the Battle of Turin, the French and Spanish were forced to withdraw from Italy, and Charles Henri signed a treaty with the Imperial commander, Prince Eugene of Savoy, putting Lombardy under Austrian rule.
He engaged the famous architect Germain Boffrand to build the beautiful château de Commercy.
The principality was later given to Élisabeth Charlotte d"Orléans, widow of Leopold. Charles Thomas de Lorraine, Prince de Vaudémont (7 March 1670 – 12 May 1704) died unmarried.
17 April 1649 – 7 March 1670 Monsieur le Comte de Vaudémont
7 March 1670 – 31 December 1707 Monsieur the Prince of Commercy.