Georges de Brancas

Georges de Brancas (* around 1565/68; † January 23, 1657 in Maubec Castle at the age of 89 or 92) was a French military man. He was Marquis de Villars and Baron d'Oyse, became the first Duke of Villars in 1627 , and Pair de France in 1652 .

Life

He was the third son of Ennemond de Brancas, Seigneur et Baron d'Oyse, and Catherine de Joyeuse, and a brother of Admiral André-Baptiste de Brancas , Seigneur de Villars, called l'Amiral de Villars .

His military career began in 1586 under King Henry III. in the Navy as Chevalier d'Oyse with command of three ships

On June 30, 1595 he fought on the side of King Henry IV in the Battle of Fontaine-Française . In the same year he became governor of Le Hâvre-de-Grâce (and Honfleur) as the successor to his brother André-Baptiste of Brancas († July 24, 1595).

With a marriage contract of January 7, 1597, he married Julienne-Hippolyte d'Estrées , sister of Gabrielle d'Estrées , daughter of Antoine IV. D'Estrées , Marquis de Cœuvres , Grand Master of the Artillery of France , and Françoise Babou de La Bourdaisière . Gabrielle d'Estrées was the lover of King Henry IV at that time, so that Georges de Brancas - at least until Gabrielle's death in 1599 - was given direct access to the center of power in France. The king gave the bride and groom 30,000 écu , while Gabrielle d'Estrées gave 10,000 écu.

On August 12, 1619, King Ludwig XIII. him into the order of the Holy Spirit .

In 1625 he equipped 25 warships, which he made available to the king for the conflict with the Huguenots . In 1626 he became Lieutenant General au Gouvernement de Normandie. With a sponsorship letter from September 1627, King Ludwig XIII. - in recognition of his services (specifically: as a reward for the support of 1625) - the Barony Oyse and the Terre de Champtercier with the rule of Villars and elevated the new rule to the Duchy of Villars and Georges de Brancas to the Duke. The new duke registered the increase in rank on July 24, 1628 with the Parlement of Aix.

In July 1652 he was appointed Pair de France by Louis XIV , but he died about six months later before he could also register the Pairie. This was done by his son a month after his death, also at the Parlement of Aix - and not in Paris, which only recognized his own entries. "This therefore represented," says Saint-Simon , "a very lame duchy and an intellectual pairie, a duke for whom no one stepped aside and who was consequently excluded from every ceremony."

In his Historiettes, Gédéon Tallemant des Réaux describes the Duke of Villars as “ridiculous in body and mind because he is hunchbacked and almost stupid and, moreover, a beggar.” He also draws a portrait of the Duke and Duchess of Villars as spendthrifts managed to squander their entire fortune: "He and his wife consumed 800,000 écu cash and 60,000 livre land, of which only 17 remained, which are encumbered. He had land with 25,000 livre pension, [on top of that] the money, which he had received from Cardinal Richelieu for Le Hâvre de Grace , the representative of the king in Normandy and the old palace in Rouen . Because of the trade he had a certificate as duke, but was only received by the Parlement of Provence, where he was more recognized than found anywhere else because he came from this country. "

progeny

From his marriage to Julienne-Hippolyte d'Estrées he had five children:

• Louis François de Brancas, † October 1679, Duc de Villars, 1650 Maréchal de camp; ⚭ (1) (marriage contract December 26, 1649) Madeleine-Claire de Lenoncourt, † August 16, 1661, daughter of Antoine de Lenoncourt, Marquis de Maroles, and Marie d'Angennes; ⚭ (2) April 22, 1662 Marie-Madeleine Girard, † April 20, 1674, daughter of Louis Girard, Seigneur de Villetaneuse , Procureur-général en la Chambre des comptes de Paris, and Marie Boyer de Breuil; ⚭ (3) September 10, 1676 Louise Catherine Angélique de Fautereau de Mainières, * probably 1650, † February 11, 1701 in Paris, 51 years old
• Charles de Brancas, dit le Comte de Brancas, * probably 1618, † January 28, 1681, 63 years old, Lieutenant-général des Armés du Roi, buried in the Carmelite Church in the Faubourg Saint-Jacques in Paris; ⚭ 1649 Susanne Garnier, daughter of Mathieu Garnier and Louise Bazin, widow of François de Brézé, Seigneur d'Isigny en Normandie
• Marie de Brancas, attested in 1756; ⚭ July 13, 1713 Henri de Castellane, Marquis d'Ampus, † before 1756
• Madeleine-Hippolyte de Brancas, founder and superior of the Ursulines of Narbonne
• Françoise de Brancas, † young

Remarks

1. ^ Aubert and Saint-Simon
2. ↑ Le Paige
3. ↑ Artefeuil
4. ↑ Chevalier de l'ordre du Saint-Esprit and thus automatically also Chevalier de l'ordre de Saint-Michel
5. ↑ "Cela faisait donc un duché fort boiteux et une pairie en idée, un duc à qui aucun ne cédait, par conséquent exclu de toute cérémonie." (Saint-Simon, p. 198)
6. ^ "Ridicule de corps et d'esprit, car il est bossu et quasi imbécile et gueux par-dessus cela."
7. ↑ from 1625, see above
8. ↑ "Lui et sa femme ont mangé huit cent mille écus d'argent comptant, et soixante mille livres de rente en fonds de terre, dont il n'en est resté que dix-sept qui étoient substités. Il avoit eu une terre de vingt -cinq mille livres de rente, de l'argent qu'il avoit reçu du cardinal de Richelieu pour le Hâvre-de-Grâce, la lieutenance de roi de Normandie, et le vieux palais de Rouen. Par le marché il eut un brevet de duc, mais il ne fut reçu qu'au parlement de Provence, où il trouva plus de crédit qu'ailleurs, parce qu'il étoit de ce pays-là. "

literature

• Artefeuil, Louis Ventre, Histoire héroïque et universelle de la noblesse de Provence , Impr. De la veuve Girard, 1776
• André René Le Paige, Dictionnaire topographique, historique, généalogique et bibliographique de la province et du diocèse du Maine, Volume 1, Toutain, 1777, p. 471
• Louis de Rouvroy, duc de Saint-Simon , Henri Saint-Simon, Mémoires complets et authentiques du duc de Saint-Simon sur le siècle de Louis XIV et la régence , Publié par A. Sautelet, 1829, pp. 197-200
• Gédéon Tallemant des Réaux , Historiettes, Volume 5, Levavassuer, 1834, p. 114, pp. 122–127
• François-Alexandre Aubert de La Chenaye-Desbois , Jacques Badier, Dictionnaire de la Noblesse , Paris, Schlesinger, 1853, 3rd edition, volume 3, columns 987f
• Jean Gallian, Généalogie de la famille Brancas , 2016

Web link

• Libro d'Oro della Nobilità Mediterranea - de Brancas - Duchi di Villars e Pari di Francia ( online , without references, accessed on January 10, 2020)