ROHAN FAMILY

one of the great families of the European nobility. Sometimes claiming descent from the first independent house of Brittany, it is traceable to the 12th-century lords, or viscounts, of Rohan, whose descendants by the end of the 15th century were in possession not only of Rohan but also of numerous other Breton lands. The French title of duc de Rohan (created 1603) was transferred in 1648 to the house of Chabot, thereafter called Rohan-Chabot; but the titles of prince de Gumene (said to date from 1570) and of duc de Montbazon (first created in 1588) remained with the Rohans, who later also obtained those of prince de Soubise (1667) and of duc de Rohan-Rohan (1714). The 19th-century Rohans acquired the Austrian rank of prince (Frst) in 1808, and they were recognized as heirs to the title of duc de Bouillon in 1816.