of Charles, Count of Charolais Charles was born at Versailles as the second son of
Louis III, Prince of Condé and
Louise-Françoise de Bourbon a legitimized daughter of
Louis XIV and his mistress Madame de Montespan. Charles father Louis was considered one of the wealthiest noblemen in France. But he was not so richly endowed physically, as he was very short, had a
bilious complexion and suffered from
macrocephaly. He was intelligent and well-educated but had an extremely ferocious and arrogant personality. In 1710, when Charles was just 15 years old, his father died. He was made governor of
Touraine in 1720. Charles fought in Hungary in the war against the Ottoman Turks and won distinction at the
battle of Belgrade. He was
gouverneur of his nephew
Louis Joseph, Prince of Condé. At the age of 20, he had already killed a man; allegedly the man, a citizen of Anet, was shot in the streets by the Charles, "for his entertainment". This resulted in the Regent commenting that although he could not personally punish Charles (due to his rank) he would gladly pay another person to do it. In some contrast to his "lawless" character, Charles was rather good at keeping his economy in order and had a talent for organization. It was he who settled the debts of his nephew when he took charge of his household. The two appeared to have developed quite a good relationship. == Personal life ==