Maurice de Broglie

Maurice-Jean Madeleine de Broglie (Broglie, Eure, 5 September 1766 – 20 June 1821, Paris) was a French aristocrat and bishop. He was the son of Marshal of France Victor-Francois, Duc de Broglie, created, by Emperor Francis I, Prince of the Holy Roman Empire, a title which was to be hereditary in the family. Career Called to the ecclesiastical state, Maurice pursued his studies at St.-Sulpice. During the Reign of Terror, when they were driven out of France, he and his father went to Berlin. King Frederick William II of Prussia received the duke with marked distinction and granted to the young prince a provostship in the cathedral chapter of Posen. Maurice returned to France in 1803, and the steps he took to recover some family property not yet sold brought him to the attention of Napoleon, who invited him to his court and named him his almoner. De Broglie became a follower of the monarch and eulogized him in a pastoral letter issued on the occasion of the victory at the battle of Austerlitz. In 1805 Napoleon nominated him to the See of Acqui, Italy, and in 1807 appointed him Bishop of Ghent, Belgium. Bishop of Ghent