In his summary of French Europe in the Age of Enlightenment published in 1938, the art historian Louis Réau is categorical:
"All the princes of Europe have made every effort to imitate the castle of Versailles with its park ordered by Le Nôtre and its annexes of Marly and the Trianons: an accomplished type of royal residence.
Among these princes, those of Rohan when this dynasty succeeded that of Fürstenberg as prince-bishop of Strasbourg.
In 1704, as part of the "francization" of a largely Protestant and German-speaking Alsace, Armand-Gaston-Maximilien de Rohan, born to a lady from Soubise and the lieutenant general of the king's armies (unless he was one of the many bastards of Louis XIV) was entrusted with the diocese as well as its own, very substantial territorial possessions.
See also
Caserta, the Neapolitan dream of Louis XIV's great-grandson
If he lives in Strasbourg as a religious dignitary, the political overlord chooses Saverne as his place of residence, about thirty kilometers to the northwest.
What else…
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