Emmanuel Maurice, Duke of Elbeuf

Emmanuel Maurice was born the youngest son of Charles III, Duke of Elbeuf, and his second wife, Élisabeth de La Tour d'Auvergne, daughter of the Duke of Bouillon, member of the illustrious House of La Tour d'Auvergne.

In 1706, he served under Joseph I, Holy Roman Emperor at Naples as lieutenant general of the Cavalry.

Living in Naples, he commissioned the Neapolitan architect Ferdinando Sanfelice to construct him a private residence on the outskirts of the city in Portici in 1711.

His men happened to dig right into an ancient Roman theater at Herculaneum and were able to extract a number of marble statues.

Styled prince d'Elbeuf,[4] he was not expected to become Duke of Elbeuf as he was the youngest of five sons born to his father and his first two wives.