Charles Juste was born at the
Hôtel de Craon in
Lunéville in the capital of the
Duchy of Lorraine.
Beauvau family was the most powerful family in Lorraine after the ruling
Duke of Lorraine. His mother, Anne Marguerite de Ligneville, was the
mistress of
Leopold I, Duke of Lorraine, husband of
Élisabeth Charlotte d'Orléans (niece of
Louis XIV). He was the thirteenth of twenty children. He married twice; firstly on 3 April 1745 to
Marie Charlotte de La Tour d'Auvergne (20 December 1729 – 6 September 1763), daughter of
Emmanuel Théodose de La Tour d'Auvergne and his last wife
Louise Henriette Françoise de Lorraine. The couple had one child who married into the Noailles family. His first wife Marie Charlotte died of
Smallpox aged 33. Marie Charlotte died in 1763. The next year, on 14 March, he married again; this time to Marie Charlotte Sylvie de Rohan-Chabot, a cousin of
Charles, Prince of Soubise. The couple had no children, Marie Charlotte Sylvie outliving her husband till 1807. He entered military service for France and was made a lieutenant of the cavalry on 10 December 1738; colonel of the guard (Lorraine) on 1 May 1740 and distinguished himself under the leadership of the
Duke of Belle-Isle at the
Siege of Prague in 1742. Created a brigadier on 16 May 1746, he was later created a
field marshal on 10 May 1748. He was later elevated to
lieutenant general on 28 December 1758. He gained further distinction in 1762 while serving in
Spain. He was named the governor of
Languedoc on 12 June 1747; he was later created the governor of
Provence. A
Grandee of Spain, first class from 11 May 1754, he became a Knight of the
Order of the Holy Spirit, the highest decoration in
Ancien régime France (1 January 1757). He had dealings with the
Académie française. He kept a fashionable salon, keeping company with the likes of
Jean Devaines, the philosopher
Jean-François Marmontel, the poet
Jean François de Saint-Lambert as well as his nephew
Stanislas de Boufflers. He was created a Marshal of France in 1783. In 1789, he served in the
Secretary of State for War for six months. A supporter of reforms, he was untroubled by the
French Revolution and died in his bed at the height of the
Reign of Terror. The
maréchal de Beauvau, died at the
hôtel de Beauvau, his Parisian residence on the
Place Beauvau, named after him. The hôtel was built by the architect
Nicolas Le Camus de Mézières around 1770 for Charles Juste. The hôtel de Beauvau has housed the
Ministry of the Interior since 1861. He owned the
Château du Val at
Saint-Germain-en-Laye, a property later acquired by
Benjamin Franklin. His nephew
Marc Étienne Gabriel de Beauvau (1773–1849) became the next Prince of Beauvau. The present
Noailles duc de Mouchy is a direct descendant of Charles Juste. ==Issue==