Ligne, Charles Joseph, Prince de (1735-1814)

Belgian-born Austrian soldier, wit, and writer. He distinguished himself in the Seven Years' War, afterwards rising to the rank of lieutenant field-marshal. He lost all his estates at the conquest of Belgium by the French.

He was born in Brussels, and was descended from a princely family of Hainault. He was given an honorary command at the Viennese court after his lands were appropriated. From then until his death, he devoted himself to literary work and to his vast circle of literary acquaintances. His collected works, of which Military Fancies and Prejudices (1780) is the best known, appeared in 34 volumes during the last years of his life, selections being published in French by Mme de Staël.