CHARLES (KARL ALEXANDER) (1712-1780) , prince of Lor raine, the youngest son of Leopold, duke of Lorraine, and grandson of Charles V., duke of Lorraine (see p. 289), was born at Luneville on Dec. 12, 171 2. After his elder brother Francis, the duke, had exchanged Lorraine for Tuscany and married Maria Theresa, Charles became an Austrian officer, and he served in the cam paigns of 1737 and 1738 against the Turks. At the outbreak of the Silesian wars in 1740 (see AUSTRIAN SUCCESSION, WAR OF the queen made her brother-in-law a field marshal, and in 1742 Charles encoufltered Frederick the Great for the first time at the battle of Chotusitz (May 17). He conducted the successful cam paign of 1743 against the French and Bavarians. He married, Jan. Marianne of Austria (died in 1744), sister of Maria Theresa, who made them jointly governors-general of the Austrian Nether lands. When the war broke out afresh, Charles, at the head of the Austrian army on the Rhine, crossed that river, but on Frederick's resumption of the Silesian war he hurried to Bohemia, whence, aided by the advice of the veteran field marshal Traun, he quickly expelled the Prussians. He took the field again in 1745 in Silesia, but this time without the advice of Traun, and he was twice se verely defeated by Frederick, at Hohenfriedberg and at Soor. Subsequently, as commander-in-chief in the Low Countries he re ceived, at Roucoux, a heavy defeat at the hands of Marshal Saxe. His government of the Austrian Netherlands during the peace of was marked by many reforms. After the first reverses of the Seven Years' War (q.v.), Maria Theresa called Charles again to the supreme command in the field. The campaign of opened with Frederick's great victory of Prague, and Prince Charles was shut up with his army in that fortress. In the victory of the relieving army under Daun at Kolin Charles had no part, but he won the battle of Breslau, and great enthusiasm was dis played in Austria over the victory, which seemed to be the final blow to Frederick. But soon afterwards the king of Prussia routed the French at Rossbach, and, swiftly returning to Silesia, he in flicted on Charles the complete and crushing defeat of Leuthen (Dec. 5, A mere remnant of the Austrian army reassem bled after the pursuit, and Charles was relieved of his command. For a year thereafter Prince Charles acted as a military adviser at Vienna, he then returned to Brussels, where he continued to gov ern till his death on July 4, 178o, at the castle of Tervueren.