Jean Charles Joseph, Count of Merode, Marquess of Deynze was a noble of the Austrian Netherlands, born in the Prince-Bishopric of Liège.

[1] He was the second and eldest surviving son of Joachim Maximilien of Mérode, Marquess of Deynze by his first wife and 2nd cousin, Thérèse-Jeanne, countess of Mérode-Nalinnes.

[2] His elder brother, Maximilien Louis being dead in 1728 and his father having left no will when he died in 1740, he inherited his whole succession, as the surviving eldest son.

He was appointed Colonel (Commander-in-Chief) of the Regiment of Los Rios (1745-1751), General-major (1751),[4] Lieutenant-Feldmarschall of the Holy Roman Empire.

See List of directors of the Théâtre de la Monnaie[5] His half-brother Balthazar-Philippe of Mérode, Lord of Rixensart inherited his lordships when he died in Ham-sur-Heure Castle on 10 August 1774.