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Prince of Europe: The Life of Charles-Joseph de Ligne
Prince Charles-Joseph de Ligne was a provocative writer, an ambitious general, a brilliant conversationalist, and an innovative garden designer. His desire for military and literary glory was as great as his appetite for lovers. A worldly aristocrat, equally at home in Paris, Vienna, and St. Petersburg, he electrified and wrote about everyone he met, from Catherine the Great to Casanova, Marie Antoinette to Goethe. Prince of Europe is a story overflowing with memorable incidents and characters, told with delicacy and skill by one of Britain’s leading historians.
414 pages, Paperback
First published January 10, 2003
69 people want to read
About the author
Philip Mansel
33 books67 followersPhilip Mansel is a historian of courts and cities, and of France and the Ottoman Empire. He was born in London in 1951 and educated at Eton College, where he was a King’s Scholar, and at Balliol College, Oxford, where he read Modern History and Modern Languages. Following four years’ research into the French court of the period 1814-1830, he was awarded his doctorate at University College, London in 1978.
His first book, Louis XVIII, was published in 1981 and this - together with subsequent works such as The Court of France 1789-1830 (1989), Paris Between Empires 1814-1852 (2001) - established him as an authority on the later French monarchy. Six of his books have been translated into French.
Altogether Philip Mansel has published eleven books of history and biography, mainly relating either to France or the Ottoman Empire and the Middle East: Sultans in Splendour was published in 1988, Constantinople: City of the World’s Desire 1453-1924 in 1995 and Levant: Splendour and Catastrophe on the Mediterranean in 2010.
Over the past 30 years he has contributed reviews and articles to a wide range of newspapers and journals, including History Today, The English Historical Review, The International Herald Tribune, Books and Bookmen, The Daily Telegraph, The Independent and Apollo. Currently he writes reviews for The Spectator, Cornucopia, The Art Newspaper and The Times Literary Supplement.
In 1995 Philip Mansel was a founder with David Starkey, Robert Oresko and Simon Thurley of the Society for Court Studies, designed to promote research in the field of court history, and he is the editor of the Society’s journal. The Society has a branch in Munich and is linked to similar societies in Versailles, Madrid, Ferrara and Turin.
He has travelled widely, lecturing in many countries - including the United States, France, Germany, Italy and Turkey - and has made a number of appearances on radio and television, including in the two-part Channel 4 documentary “Harem” and in two BBC2 documentaries on Versailles in 2012. He is a Fellow of the Royal Historical Society, the Royal Society of Literature, the Institute of Historical Research (University of London) and the Royal Asiatic Society, and is a member of the Conseil Scientifique of the Centre de Recherche du Chateau de Versailles. In 2010 Philip Mansel was appointed Chevalier de l’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres and in 2012 was the recipient of the annual London Library Life in Literature Award.
Philip Mansel wrote the introduction to the 2012 re-issue of Nancy Mitford’s The Sun King and is currently working on his own biography of Louis XIV. His short history of Aleppo: Rise and Fall of a World City is scheduled for publication in April 2016. His book on Napoleon and his court, The Eagle in Splendour, was republished by I. B. Tauris in June 2015.
In 1995 Philip Mansel started a campaign to save Clavell Tower, a ruined folly of 1831 which threatened to fall over the cliff above Kimmeridge Bay. This led, in 2007-8, to the Tower’s deconstruction, relocation, reconstruction, restoration and modernisation by the Landmark Trust. Clavell Tower is now the Trust’s most popular property.
Philip Mansel lives in London, travelling to Paris, Istanbul and elsewhere for research, conferences and lectures. He also runs the family estate at Smedmore, near Wareham in Dorset. For more information on this historic house, visit the web site and read the recent articles published in The World of Interiors and Country Life.
His first book, Louis XVIII, was published in 1981 and this - together with subsequent works such as The Court of France 1789-1830 (1989), Paris Between Empires 1814-1852 (2001) - established him as an authority on the later French monarchy. Six of his books have been translated into French.
Altogether Philip Mansel has published eleven books of history and biography, mainly relating either to France or the Ottoman Empire and the Middle East: Sultans in Splendour was published in 1988, Constantinople: City of the World’s Desire 1453-1924 in 1995 and Levant: Splendour and Catastrophe on the Mediterranean in 2010.
Over the past 30 years he has contributed reviews and articles to a wide range of newspapers and journals, including History Today, The English Historical Review, The International Herald Tribune, Books and Bookmen, The Daily Telegraph, The Independent and Apollo. Currently he writes reviews for The Spectator, Cornucopia, The Art Newspaper and The Times Literary Supplement.
In 1995 Philip Mansel was a founder with David Starkey, Robert Oresko and Simon Thurley of the Society for Court Studies, designed to promote research in the field of court history, and he is the editor of the Society’s journal. The Society has a branch in Munich and is linked to similar societies in Versailles, Madrid, Ferrara and Turin.
He has travelled widely, lecturing in many countries - including the United States, France, Germany, Italy and Turkey - and has made a number of appearances on radio and television, including in the two-part Channel 4 documentary “Harem” and in two BBC2 documentaries on Versailles in 2012. He is a Fellow of the Royal Historical Society, the Royal Society of Literature, the Institute of Historical Research (University of London) and the Royal Asiatic Society, and is a member of the Conseil Scientifique of the Centre de Recherche du Chateau de Versailles. In 2010 Philip Mansel was appointed Chevalier de l’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres and in 2012 was the recipient of the annual London Library Life in Literature Award.
Philip Mansel wrote the introduction to the 2012 re-issue of Nancy Mitford’s The Sun King and is currently working on his own biography of Louis XIV. His short history of Aleppo: Rise and Fall of a World City is scheduled for publication in April 2016. His book on Napoleon and his court, The Eagle in Splendour, was republished by I. B. Tauris in June 2015.
In 1995 Philip Mansel started a campaign to save Clavell Tower, a ruined folly of 1831 which threatened to fall over the cliff above Kimmeridge Bay. This led, in 2007-8, to the Tower’s deconstruction, relocation, reconstruction, restoration and modernisation by the Landmark Trust. Clavell Tower is now the Trust’s most popular property.
Philip Mansel lives in London, travelling to Paris, Istanbul and elsewhere for research, conferences and lectures. He also runs the family estate at Smedmore, near Wareham in Dorset. For more information on this historic house, visit the web site and read the recent articles published in The World of Interiors and Country Life.
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
January 14, 2018
My Goodreads year 2018 started interestingly, I actually met my Goodreads friend Markus face-to-face somewhere in the Provence. I complemented Markus with the reviews he started to write on this site after having completed reading a book. He said that indeed, he is doing this now more and more and also in English, even though the book may have been in a different language and English is not our mother tongue. It is a little exercise but is appreciated by the Goodreads community.
I think Markus is perfectly right and I want to at least attempt to follow up on his recommended practice by –for once- sharing some of my impressions on a book. This time it is an encounter with the life and times of the Prince de Ligne. Five stars here, because I really enjoyed discovering this character and the circumstances of his life. I also appreciated what I experienced as a lively writing style of the author.
Why the 5 stars? The key to me being captivated by the book, is that that I have been reading a lot about the history of the period in which Charles-Joseph De Ligne lived, a for me very interesting period on the crossing of the “ancien régime”, the French revolution and the rise and fall of Napoleon I (the prince was born in 1735 and died 1814). Consequently I am quite familiar with this period. Reading about this Prince makes you now see this period from different angles than the ones I get served normally (the French): the Austrian, Habsburg view as opposed to the French, but equally the view of the Russian, Polish or Flemish nobleman that De Ligne was; our Prince can not be resumed by referring to one empire or territory, he was a true European “avant la lettre”. Consequently he travelled a lot all over Europe. And I found out that he dwelled in a places that oddly enough correspond to places I have a lot of affinity with. I will give three examples thereof.
Firstly, the Prince was from the Austrian Netherlands, in what we call Belgium today. Being Dutch, I have an affinity with the The Netherlands and appreciated the description of political circumstances in that region –also around the revolts following the French revolution and the position this Prince took during and after the revolts.
Secondly, I could relate to a lot of the action that took place in Vienna as I had the good fortune to live there for several years. I visited then so many sites there that I could now imagine these easily when reading about De Ligne’s adventures in this city. Apparently he constructed a temple-like retreat on the Kahlenberg, just outside Vienna, where he could amuse himself whenever he had irritated the Emperor, some other Viennese big-wig or simply his wife. From there, on a safe distance from the Court and his family, he became temporarily a Prince ‘hors ligne’ and amused himself with rather simple dining parties, writing and meeting lovers. A pity that Napoleon’s troops destroyed this temple, an event that Napoleon himself excused for later in his (rare) exchanges with the Prince. I was a regular visitor of the Kahlenberg in my time (in the car I just had to make a left from my street and started to climb the mountain..) and appreciated the 20th century view on Vienna and the Donau from there a lot. I still have a small lithographic view from this mountain in a local Biedermeier frame hanging in my study. I had a friend from Bulgaria asking me to bring him to the Kahlenberg to admire the view on the Donau, shortly after Bulgaria’s borders were opened to the West. A happy moment for us to see this river now flowing from a free Austria to a free Bulgaria, through a free Hungary and so on. Little did I then know that the French female painter Elisabeth Vigée Le Brun adored the view so much as well when visiting the Prince, come to think of it I did not even know this painter back then, but now it was an element that seems so interesting.
Thirdly, I liked the observations of the Prince on all things French, be it the Court, its writers (Voltaire, de Staël, Rousseau, Sénzac de Meilhan, Casanova if we want to consider the latter a bit a French writer – which I do in fact..) and those others that emigrated the country during the Terror and the sites in Paris or Versailles. Cool to read in this booklet that the Prince was completely impressed when he visited the Provence in the South of France for the first time: he loved the colors, the nature, its sights, the food and the gardens of the Marquis Jean-Baptiste d’Albertas in Gémenos. The same Marquis that was killed so unfortunate in his own superb -but as he experienced- not quite Eden- like gardens. The Prince tried to describe his Provence impression to others and to do so best he came up with saying that the Provence is really another, separate country that does not compare with anything else he had seen on the continent. I remember very clearly that about 20 years ago I went through an absolutely similar enthusiastic state, although not having been the “invité” of a Marquis, but driving around in a small and basic rental car, and also still today find myself saying to others that the Provence is different and quite unique in many ways, convinced – as I now found out - like the Prince that this is really to some magic extent another country, with its own rules and notions. Furthermore I like to pass by the Place d’Albertas in Aix-en-Provence and can now link this to the Prince de Ligne, this Prince that was unknown to me before reading this book.
De Ligne was a member of a loge in Brussels called “L’Heureuse Rencontre”; the happy encounter, and is that also not a sign again: me meeting the Prince de Ligne virtually and my book friend Markus for real at the same time and the latter in the bucolic scenery of a coffee bar in the Provence?
I think Markus is perfectly right and I want to at least attempt to follow up on his recommended practice by –for once- sharing some of my impressions on a book. This time it is an encounter with the life and times of the Prince de Ligne. Five stars here, because I really enjoyed discovering this character and the circumstances of his life. I also appreciated what I experienced as a lively writing style of the author.
Why the 5 stars? The key to me being captivated by the book, is that that I have been reading a lot about the history of the period in which Charles-Joseph De Ligne lived, a for me very interesting period on the crossing of the “ancien régime”, the French revolution and the rise and fall of Napoleon I (the prince was born in 1735 and died 1814). Consequently I am quite familiar with this period. Reading about this Prince makes you now see this period from different angles than the ones I get served normally (the French): the Austrian, Habsburg view as opposed to the French, but equally the view of the Russian, Polish or Flemish nobleman that De Ligne was; our Prince can not be resumed by referring to one empire or territory, he was a true European “avant la lettre”. Consequently he travelled a lot all over Europe. And I found out that he dwelled in a places that oddly enough correspond to places I have a lot of affinity with. I will give three examples thereof.
Firstly, the Prince was from the Austrian Netherlands, in what we call Belgium today. Being Dutch, I have an affinity with the The Netherlands and appreciated the description of political circumstances in that region –also around the revolts following the French revolution and the position this Prince took during and after the revolts.
Secondly, I could relate to a lot of the action that took place in Vienna as I had the good fortune to live there for several years. I visited then so many sites there that I could now imagine these easily when reading about De Ligne’s adventures in this city. Apparently he constructed a temple-like retreat on the Kahlenberg, just outside Vienna, where he could amuse himself whenever he had irritated the Emperor, some other Viennese big-wig or simply his wife. From there, on a safe distance from the Court and his family, he became temporarily a Prince ‘hors ligne’ and amused himself with rather simple dining parties, writing and meeting lovers. A pity that Napoleon’s troops destroyed this temple, an event that Napoleon himself excused for later in his (rare) exchanges with the Prince. I was a regular visitor of the Kahlenberg in my time (in the car I just had to make a left from my street and started to climb the mountain..) and appreciated the 20th century view on Vienna and the Donau from there a lot. I still have a small lithographic view from this mountain in a local Biedermeier frame hanging in my study. I had a friend from Bulgaria asking me to bring him to the Kahlenberg to admire the view on the Donau, shortly after Bulgaria’s borders were opened to the West. A happy moment for us to see this river now flowing from a free Austria to a free Bulgaria, through a free Hungary and so on. Little did I then know that the French female painter Elisabeth Vigée Le Brun adored the view so much as well when visiting the Prince, come to think of it I did not even know this painter back then, but now it was an element that seems so interesting.
Thirdly, I liked the observations of the Prince on all things French, be it the Court, its writers (Voltaire, de Staël, Rousseau, Sénzac de Meilhan, Casanova if we want to consider the latter a bit a French writer – which I do in fact..) and those others that emigrated the country during the Terror and the sites in Paris or Versailles. Cool to read in this booklet that the Prince was completely impressed when he visited the Provence in the South of France for the first time: he loved the colors, the nature, its sights, the food and the gardens of the Marquis Jean-Baptiste d’Albertas in Gémenos. The same Marquis that was killed so unfortunate in his own superb -but as he experienced- not quite Eden- like gardens. The Prince tried to describe his Provence impression to others and to do so best he came up with saying that the Provence is really another, separate country that does not compare with anything else he had seen on the continent. I remember very clearly that about 20 years ago I went through an absolutely similar enthusiastic state, although not having been the “invité” of a Marquis, but driving around in a small and basic rental car, and also still today find myself saying to others that the Provence is different and quite unique in many ways, convinced – as I now found out - like the Prince that this is really to some magic extent another country, with its own rules and notions. Furthermore I like to pass by the Place d’Albertas in Aix-en-Provence and can now link this to the Prince de Ligne, this Prince that was unknown to me before reading this book.
De Ligne was a member of a loge in Brussels called “L’Heureuse Rencontre”; the happy encounter, and is that also not a sign again: me meeting the Prince de Ligne virtually and my book friend Markus for real at the same time and the latter in the bucolic scenery of a coffee bar in the Provence?
September 26, 2025
Marvellous biography of a fascinating man - if I could go back and meet any 18th century figures it would be de Ligne and Casanova - maybe at the same time as they knew each other.
The Habsburg courtier Charles Joseph Prince de Ligne seduced and symbolized 18th-century Europe. Speaking French, the international language of the day, he travelled between Paris and St Petersburg, charming everyone he met. He stayed with Madame du Barry, dined with Frederick the Great and travelled to the Crimea with Catherine the Great. But Ligne was more than a frivolous charmer. He participated in and recorded some of the most important events and movements of his day: the Enlightenment; the struggle for mastery in Germany; the decline of the Ottoman Empire; the birth of German nationalism; and the wars to liberate Europe from Napoleon. He had surprisingly radical views, believing for example in property rights for women, legal rights for Jews and the redistribution of wealth. He was also a highly respected writer and his books on gardens, his letters from the Crimea and his epigrams are considered minor classics of French literature. Though sometimes neglected in the anglophone world, Ligne has remained a popular historical figure in Europe.
He could not have found a finer English language biographer then Philip Mansell.
The Habsburg courtier Charles Joseph Prince de Ligne seduced and symbolized 18th-century Europe. Speaking French, the international language of the day, he travelled between Paris and St Petersburg, charming everyone he met. He stayed with Madame du Barry, dined with Frederick the Great and travelled to the Crimea with Catherine the Great. But Ligne was more than a frivolous charmer. He participated in and recorded some of the most important events and movements of his day: the Enlightenment; the struggle for mastery in Germany; the decline of the Ottoman Empire; the birth of German nationalism; and the wars to liberate Europe from Napoleon. He had surprisingly radical views, believing for example in property rights for women, legal rights for Jews and the redistribution of wealth. He was also a highly respected writer and his books on gardens, his letters from the Crimea and his epigrams are considered minor classics of French literature. Though sometimes neglected in the anglophone world, Ligne has remained a popular historical figure in Europe.
He could not have found a finer English language biographer then Philip Mansell.
November 20, 2017
a biography of one of the most amazing yet insane and weird General/Prince of all time. He was a real eccentric, wealthy, genius. BiPolar in the 1700's It was a fun and eye opening read.
October 30, 2012
Enjoyable read about a fascinating life.
The writing style is a bit dense at times but overall, engaging.
The writing style is a bit dense at times but overall, engaging.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews