CHARLEMAGNE, JEAN ARMAND (1753-1838), French dramatic author, was born at Bourget (Seine) on the 30th of November 1753. Originally intended for the church, he turned first to being a lawyer’s clerk and then a soldier. He served in the American War of Independence, and on returning to France (1783) began to employ his pen on economic subjects, and later in writing for the stage. He became the author of a large number of plays, poems and romances, among which may be mentioned the comedies M. de Crac à Paris (1793), Le Souper des Jacobins (1795)and L’Agioteur (1796) and Observations de quelques patriotes sur la nécessité de conserver les monuments de la littérature et des arts (1794), an essay written in collaboration with M.M. Chardin and Renouard, which induced the Convention to protect books adorned with the coats of arms of their former owners and other treasures from destruction at the hands of the revolutionists. He died in Paris on the 6th of March 1838.
CHARLEMONT, JAMES CAULFEILD, 1st Earl of (1728-1799), Irish statesman, son of the 3rd viscount Charlemont, was born in Dublin on the 18th of August 1728, and succeeded his father as 4th viscount in 1734. The title of Charlemont descended from Sir Toby Caulfeild (1565-1627) of Oxfordshire, England, who was given lands in Ireland, and created Baron Charlemont (the name of a fort on the Blackwater), for his services to King James I. in 1620, and the 1st viscount was the 5th baron (d. 1671), who was advanced by Charles II. Lord Charlemont is historically interesting for his political connexion with Flood and Grattan; he was a cultivated man with literary and artistic tastes, and both in Dublin and in London his amiable character gave him considerable social influence. For various early services in Ireland he was made an earl in 1763, but he disregarded court favours and cordially joined Grattan in 1780 in the assertion of Irish independence. He was president of the volunteer convention in Dublin in November 1783, having taken from the first a leading part in the embodiment of the volunteers; and he was a strong opponent of the proposals for the Union. He died on the 4th of August 1799; his eldest son, who succeeded him, being subsequently (1837) created an English baron.
His Life, by F. Hardy, appeared in 1810.
CHARLEROI (Carolus Rex), a town in the province of Hainaut, Belgium. Pop. (1904) 26,528. It was founded in 1666 on the site of a village called Charnoy by the Spanish governor Roderigo and named after his sovereign Charles II. of Spain. Charleroi is the centre of the iron industry of Belgium. It is connected by a canal with Brussels, and from its position on the Sambre enjoys facilities of communication by water with France as well as Belgium. It was ceded soon after its foundation to France by the treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle, and Vauban fortified it. During the French occupation the town was considerably extended, and the fortifications were made so strong that Charleroi twice successfully resisted the strenuous attacks of William of Orange. In 1794 Charleroi again fell into the hands of the French, and on this occasion instead of fortifying they dismantled it. In 1816 Charleroi was refortified under Wellington’s direction, and it was finally dismantled in 1859. Some portions of the old ramparts are left near the railway station. There is an archaeological museum with a miscellaneous collection of Roman and Frank antiquities.
CHARLEROI, a borough of Washington county, Pennsylvania, U.S.A., on the Monongahela river, near the S.W. corner of the state, about 20 m. S. of Pittsburgh. Pop. (1900) 5930, (1749 foreign-born); (1910) 9615. It is served by the Pennsylvania railway. The surrounding country has good farming land and large coal mines. In 1905 the borough ranked fifth among the cities of the United States in the manufacture of glass (plate-glass, lamp chimneys and bottles), its product (valued at $1,841,308) being 2.3% of that of the whole country. Charleroi was settled in 1890 and was incorporated in 1891.
CHARLES (Fr. Charles; Span. Carlos; Ital. Carlo; Ger. Karl; derived from O.H.G. Charal, latinized as Carolus, meaning originally “man”: cf. Mod. Ger., Kerl, “fellow,” A.S. ceorl, Mod. Eng. “churl”), a masculine proper name. It has been borne by many European princes, notices of the more important of whom are given below in the following order: (1) Roman emperors, (2) kings of England, (3) other kings in the alphabetical order of their states, (4) other reigning princes in the same order, (5) non-reigning princes. Those princes who are known by a name in addition to Charles (Charles Albert, &c.) will be found after the private individuals bearing Charles as a surname.