Charles Emmanuel de Crussol, 8th Duke of Uzès

Crussol was born in Paris on 11 January 1707.^[1] He was the eldest son of Jean Charles de Crussol, 7th Duke of Uzès (1675–1739), and, his second wife, Anne Marie Marguerite de Bullion de Fervacques (1684–1760). His father was widowed from his first wife, Princess Anna Hippolyte Grimaldi of Monaco (daughter of the reigning Prince of Monaco, Louis I, and the former Catherine de Gramont, herself a mistress of King Louis XIV). From his parents' marriage, he had a younger sister, Jeanne Julie Françoise de Crussol, who married Louis César de La Baume Le Blanc, 3rd Duke of La Vallière. His father became duke in 1693 following the death of his unmarried elder brother, Louis de Crussol, 6th Duke of Uzès.^[1]

His paternal grandparents were Emmanuel de Crussol, 5th Duke of Uzès, and Julie Marie de Sainte-Maure (a daughter of Charles de Sainte-Maure, duc de Montausier and Julie d'Angennes).^[1] His maternal grandparents were Charles-Denis de Bullion, Marquis de Bonnelles (grandson of King Louis XIII's Minister of Finance Claude de Bullion) and Anne Rouillé de Meslay.^[2]

In 1729, during the Ancien régime, he served as a deputy for the nobility to the Estates of Languedoc. In 1731, at the Battle of Parma, he received a terrible wound which made him hunchbacked.^[1] Upon the death of his father in 1739, he became the 8th Duke of Uzès.^[3]

The Duke was a book collector,^[4] and exchanged correspondence with Voltaire.^[5]