  prince charles alexander of lorraine (charles alexandre emanuel de lorraine) (12 december 1712 in lunÃ©ville â 4 july 1780 in tervuren) was a lorraine-born austrian general and soldier, governor and de facto sovereign of the austrian netherlands, and sometime duke of lorraine. ==background== charles was the son of leopold joseph, duke of lorraine and Ãlisabeth charlotte d'orlÃ©ans. when his elder brother francis stephen, duke of lorraine, married the archduchess maria theresa, daughter of emperor charles vi, charles alexander entered the imperial service in 1737. during the war of the austrian succession, he was one of the principal austrian military commanders. he was most notable for his defeat by better trained and superior forces under the formidable frederick the great at the battle of chotusitz in 1742 and the battle of hohenfriedberg in 1745. he was also defeated by maurice de saxe at the battle of rocoux in 1746. on 7 january 1744 he married maria theresa's only sister, archduchess maria anna of austria, thus making him doubly maria theresa's brother-in-law. the pair were jointly made governors of the austrian netherlands.  although maria anna died later the same year after marriage, charles' popularity and lack of clear replacement allowed him to continue as governor and de facto sovereign until his own death in 1780. charles also became grand master of the teutonic order in 1761. with events including his brother franÃ§ois stephen de lorraine (francis i, holy roman emperor) taking the throne of the holy roman empire and relinquishing the duchy lorraine, the ducal title to the somewhat ambiguously ruled lorraine passed to france, back to charles nominally for a brief time, and back to france temporarily in 1766âall of which was later made moot by the french revolution of 1789. with the loss of his co-soverei
1712_births 1780_deaths 18th-century_French_people Austrian_military_personnel_of_the_War_of_the_Austrian_Succession Burials_at_St._Michael_and_St._Gudula_Cathedral Governors_of_the_Habsburg_Netherlands Grand_Masters_of_the_Teutonic_Knights House_of_Lorraine Knights_of_the_Golden_Fleece People_from_LunA(c)ville People_of_the_Austrian_Netherlands Princes_of_Lorraine