PR E L I MI N A R Y R E MA R KS . Th e feu dal nobility of France consisted of six classes duk and es, marquesses, counts, viscounts, barons, chate lains . U fir ffi k nder the st races of sovereigns the o ces of du e, h marquess, and count were held by those to w om the King delegated authority in places at a distance from the court ; dukes were charged with the government of provinces and had jurisdiction over a certain number of marquesses and a h ad h the o and counts ; m rquesses c arge of fr ntiers, counts of towns . An d C IX 1566 ha all e ict of harles of , provided t t in new h ul d creations of duchies, marquisates, and counties t ey sho on failure of male issue revert to the crown ; this provision h l of the edict, owever, soon became a dead letter, as a ready in 1571 it was customary to insert in the letters a waiver the of forfeiture . H E D U KE S A N D D U C I S . D k d k the the u es ate bac to last period of Roman empire, “ ” and i Du x derive the r name from the word , leader of m h h h mi ar ies ; t is dignity, w ic originally was purely litary, occupied in the imperial hierarchy th e most exalted rank later it was conferred upon the representatives of the a C esars and upon governors of provinces . The k i Fran s retained the title, and the r conquests were divided into duchies and counties ; but though dukes and counts exercised the most extensive military and civil h ffi ll aut ority, they were simply o cers at wi . Al r VIIIth d k eady, however, in the century, some u es, G h notably those of Aquitaine and ascony, had made t em selves independent . Charles Martel undertook a crusade against the refrac k tory du es, but he succeeded only in so far that, while they his ffi di . recognized suzerainty, the o ce remained here tary Charlemagne compelled the dukes to submit to his authority ; but after his death they soon regained their former power . Th e H C D k accession to the throne of ugues apet, u e of h u h k r ll led France, t ro g the assistance of the du es, natu a y to the recognition of their asserted rights . 6 PRINCES o r THE BLOOD OF THE HOUSE o r FRANCE . France contained at that time the following duchies u G Rain ulf fi k 845 850 Aq itaine or uienne ( , rst du e, ; since a county) T C fir k 778 oulouse ( hosson , st du e , ) u H fi k 970 B rgundy ( enry, rst du e, ) Geofi re fir k 992 Brittany ( y, st du e, ) N ll fir uk ormandy (Ro o, st d e, During some centuries no new duchies were added to the fi the list, and the rst created were in favor of members of royal house ; the first case was that of the duchy of Bour 1327 in L C C . bon, erected in favor of ouis, ount of lermont Down to the year 1519 the foll owing duchies were re created : r 1360 Bu gundy, ; N 1468 ormandy, ; 1469 G . uienne, And the following new ones were created O 1344 rleans, ; 1354 Bar, and T 1360 Anjou, Berry, Auvergne, ouraine, N em ou rs 1404 , ; 1406 Valois, ; l 1414 A encon, ; Valentin ois 1498 , , L ill 1505 onguev e , , 1 14 C 5 . Angouleme, Vendome, hatellerault, All these renew als and new creations were in favor of members and connections of the royal house, except those Val entinois of Bar and , the former being for a prince of L Ca . orraine, and the latter for esar Borgia In 1519 we have the first instance of a duchy being kin created for a subject not a sman of the King, namely, Ro annais hi in A that of , w ch was created favor of rthur Go uffi r e . i Formerly, when a duchy was created, it conta ned fou r w C counties, and in accordance ith the edicts of harles IX H III ul and enry , it was necessary that it sho d yield a reve nue of écus ; but already in the XVIth century all that F F T H PRINCES O THE BLOOD O E HOUSE OF FRANCE . 7 was required when a duchy was created was that the lord shi l o f i fic p shou d be one some mportance, and at times the tion was resorted to of uniting under one head lordships situ ated in dijferent provinces . As a duchy could not be placed diffi under the suzerainty of another duchy, this culty was avoided when it was within the territory of an existing one b y placing it under the suzerainty of the Great Tower of L ” the ouvre . T k hi hé- here were two inds of duc es, the duc pairie and é é é the duch h r ditaire . I - 1 . T h e D uch é Pairie . The hé- h duc pairie, as its name indicates, carried wit it a In the h peerage . some cases peerage might lapse althoug h f the duc y itsel did not, as the case might be , according to f h the provisions O t e erection . 11 T h H t . e D uch é é ré d i aire . Duchés héréditaires were of thr ee kinds a The é the o w as ( ) duch ordinaire, in which successi n confined to heirs male ; b The é a et h h ( ) duch m le femel, w ich in failure of eirs male descended in the female line ; 0 The é d ( ) duch femel, created for a female and descen ing as the case might be . d - h h A uchy was created by letters patent , w ic had to be submitted to the P arliament of P aris for registration h r w wit in a year from the date of thei issue, and hen regis I P tered C r C . n , to the ou des omptes case arliament refused - the registration of the letters patent, they lapsed on the death b k w of the grantee, unless revived y what were no n as “ ’7 u r nn i n Lettres de S a at o . Under the last kings there existed also another kind Of ” d k not du e a e u e, but of duchy, namely, the brev t, simply a di l . gnity, created for ife 1 - é P r 25 . For list of duch s pairie,see ai ies, page 8 PRINCES OF T HE BLOOD OF T HE HOUSE OF FRANCE . L I S T OF D U C H ES H ER ED I T A I R E S . ' A iguillon ( Guienne) . 4— Duplessis 170 1800. A l b ré t (Gascony) . H II kin 1 N 555 . enry , g of avarre A ng oul eme . - - Valois Auvergne 1620 1653 . A e n uv rg e . 140 -1 2 Bourbon 0 5 7 . A y en N ill o a es 1737 . B ar. L — orraine 1354 1735 . B r eaufo t (Champaign) . Montmorency-Luxemburg 1688 - - B eaumont (Isle Of France) . - — Montmorency Luxemburg 1765 1878. - - B eaumont a u Main e (Maine) . - 1 4 -1 8 Al encon and Bourbon Vendome 5 3 5 9. B r eaup eau (Anjou) . - - - - — Bourb on la Roche sur Yon 1562 1578. B l ournonville (Bou onnais) . 1 Bournonville 600. N B roglie ( ormandy) . 1 42 Broglie 7 . n L x C arig an ( u emburg) . S - - 4 avoy Carignan 1661 173 . C h artres . R n 152 —15 é ée 8 75 . of France, duchess of Ferrara E h Cr N r 1575 Anne of ste, duc ess of uise and emou s 16 07 . S -N —1 2 avoy emours 1607 6 3 . h C ateauroux (Berry) . C C é M i é Co é 1639 laire l mence of a ll , princess of nd 16 4 9 . - 1 4 Bourbon Condé 69 . 1 M m M 11 Name changed to ont orency, see ontmorency, page . T HE F 9 PRINCES OF T HE BLOOD OF HOUSE O FRANCE . Ch at elle rault (Poitou) . 1 — 2 Bourbon 15 5 15 7 . 152 —1531 Louisa of S avoy 7 . James Hamilton 2d earl of Arran 1548 1 —1582 D e 563 . iana, duchess of Angoul me - — 2 Bourbon Montpensier 1583 16 7 . — Anne Mary Louisa of Orleans 1627 1693 . 1 —1 4 Orleans 693 69 . - - i Ch at illon sur L oing (Orléanna s ) . - -1 Montmorency Luxemburg 1696 795 . I -of- Ch evreu se ( sle France) . 4 —1 4 Brosse 15 5 5 7 . L - 1 —1 12 orraine Cruise 555 6 . Al bert 1657—1667 m C oigny (Nor andy) . Coigny 1747 P C roy ( icardy) . C 15 8—1612 roy 9 . D amville (Normandy) . L h f 1 2 a Ro c e ou caul t 73 . u i nn D uras (Cr e e ) . Du 1 —1 rfort 689 858. E N st out e ville ( ormandy) . E - - 4 stoutevill e and Bourbon VendOme 1534 15 6 . O -L rleans ongueville . P M rinces of onaco . E t s ampes (Beauce) . Anne of Pisseleu 1536—1565 — C h 1576 1577 .