Anne of Rohan

"The Rohan women were known for adroit political manoeuvring and valour in defending Protestantism." Rohan was also a member of an elite group of European scholars, some of whom remained unmarried to pursue their intellectual interests.

• Name — Anne de Rohan • Born — 1584 • Died — 1646 (Age 62) • Place of death — Germany • Other Names — Anna de Rohan Anne de Rohan-Soubise Protestant Princess Anne de Rohan • Occupation — Huguenot leader and fighter, poet • Parents — Catherine de Parthenay and René II, Viscount of Rohan • Relatives — Henri, Duke of Rohan (brother), Benjamin, Duke of Soubise (brother)

Rohan, born in 1584, was the daughter of Catherine de Parthenay and René II, Viscount of Rohan. Her siblings were René, a brother who died young; Henrietta; Henri II, Duke of Rohan; Catherine de Rohan; and Benjamin, Duke of Soubise. Her education included classical and modern literature.

A collection of her works, Poèmes d'Anne de Rohan-Soubise was published in 1816. A notable poem is Sur une dame nommée bien-aimée (On a Lady Named Beloved), written in 1617. It may have been the first poem about Sappho by a French woman. Rohan writes of her love for a woman, using the French aimee, to describe the object of her affection.

Anne was a French Huguenot who fought against the Catholics during the French Wars of Religion.

Beginning in 1626, Anne and her mother lived at the Hotel de Marsan in La Rochelle, a Huguenot stronghold, safe from the court's orders to have her mother arrested. The Siege lasted 16 months, during which 75% of the defenders died of starvation. Anne and her mother survived on a daily ration of four ounces of bread and horsemeat towards the end of the war. Anne and Catherine de Parthenay were lauded as "indomitable heroines of the ruthless 16-month Siege of La Rochelle". On 1 November 1628, La Rochelle surrendered. Richelieu ordered the arrest of only two women, Anne and her mother, for their efforts to lead the Huguenots. The Catholic army imprisoned them at the medieval castle Donjon de Niort and razed Parthenay's residences in Josselin and Blain in Brittany. Anne and her mother were released after four months in captivity. On 16 June 1629, the Peace of Alès treaty was signed. • Illustration — Chateau de Parc Soubise Her mother, Catherine de Parthenay, died at her Parc Soubise home on 26 October 1631. She is also said to have died while imprisoned. Anne expressed her deep feelings of loss following the death of her mother on 26 October 1631 in the poem Plaintes de mademoiselle Anne de Rohan: A la mort de sa mère (Complaints of Miss Anne de Rohan: On the death of her mother). It was published with other poems that she wrote in the Bulletin of the Society for the History of French Protestantism.