Great Falconer of France

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Royal Falconry in Montainville (Yvelines)

In the Ancien Régime , the office of the Grand Falconer of France ( Grand Fauconnier de France ) was one of the major offices of the household of the King of France ; the associated task was the royal hunts with birds of prey . The office dates back to 1205, with this title since 1406.

A falcon could fetch a high price: On March 9, 1455, some bird traders acknowledged the noble Georges de La Châtre, Écuyer et Grand Fauconnier de France, who had “bought six birds for the king, in detail: four faucons mues for eighty new ones Gold- Écu , a faucon sor for ten Gold-Écu and a Lannerfalke for crows for ten Gold-Écu, that adds up to a hundred kroner surrounded by new gold. "

In 1471 the pension of Olivier Salat, Grand Fauconnier , was regulated by the Recveur à l'Élection of Montivilliers (Seine-Maritime). Olivier Salaert von Doncker comes from a Brabant family who specialized in training falcons for the Dukes of Burgundy. He became the falconer of Louis XI. , when he was still a Dauphin and was in his offices by Charles VIII , who also issued him his naturalization certificate, and by Louis XII. approved.

From Louis XIV onwards , the task tended to become ceremonial after the kings stopped hunting . Nevertheless, Louis XIV maintained a falconry as a symbol of power, which was located in Montainville (Yvelines) from 1670: the falcons are presented to the king on the occasion of the New Year celebrations in the Hall of Mirrors of the Palace of Versailles , mostly in the presence of foreign ambassadors. Only the kings of the north and the Grand Fauconnier are allowed to give the king a falcon.

Grands Fauconniers de France

Coat of arms of the Grand Fauconnier Louis Cesar de la Baume le Blanc, Duc de la Vallière with the official ornaments
Ornaments
  • 1406: Eustache de Gaucourt "Rassin" († around 1415)
  • 1415: Jean V. Malet († 1449), Seigneur de Graville, de Marcoussis et de Montaigu, Grand Bread Master of France , Grand Master of Crossbowmen
  • 1416: Nicolas de Bruneval
  • 1418: Guillaume Després
  • 1428: Jean de Lubin (Premier Fauconnier du Roi)
  • 1429: Philippe de La Châtre
  • 1455: Georges de La Châtre, Écuyer et Grand Fauconnier de France
  • 1471: Olivier Sallard (Salaert or Salat) (Grand Fauconnier), Seigneur de Bourron († 1503)
  • around 1514–1516: Raoul de Vernon († 1516), Seigneur de Montreuil-Bonnin
  • 1516–1540: René de Cossé (1460–1540), Seigneur de Cossé
  • 1547-around 1549: Charles I de Cossé (1505–1563), Marshal of France , Comte de Brissac
  • around 1549–1562: Louis Prévost (1496–1576), Baron de Sansac
  • 1562–1569: Timoléon de Cossé (1545–1569), Comte de Brissac
  • 1569–1596: Charles II. De Cossé (1550–1621), Marshal of France, Duc de Brissac
  • 1596–1610: Robert de la Vieuville († 1612), Marquis de La Vieuville
  • 1610–1612: Charles de La Vieuville (1582–1653), marquis de La Vieuville
  • 1612–1616: André de Vivonne († 1616), Baron de La Chataigneraie
  • 1616–1621: Charles d'Albert (1578–1621), Connétable of France , Duc de Luynes
  • 1622–1643: Claude de Lorraine (1578–1657), Duc de Chevreuse
  • 1643–1650: Louis Charles d'Albert (1620–1690), Duc de Luynes
  • 1650–1666: Nicolas Dauvet († 1666), Comte Desmarets, Baron de Boursault
  • 1672–1688: Alexis-François Dauvet († 1688), Comte Desmarets, Marquis de Saint-Phalle
  • 1688–1717: François Dauvet (1681–1718), Comte Desmarets, Marquis de Saint-Phalle
  • 1717–1748: Louis-François Dauvet (1711–1748), Marquis Desmarets
  • 1748–1762 and 1762–1780: Louis César de La Baume Le Blanc (1708–1780), Duc de La Vallière
  • 1762: Louis-Gaucher de Châtillon (1737–1762), Duc de Châtillon
  • 1780: Jules-César de Crémeaux (1732–1780), Marquis d'Entragues
  • 1780–1791: Joseph-Hyacinthe de Rigaud (1740–1817), Comte de Vaudreuil

literature

  • Sigrid Schwenk, The hunt in the mirror of medieval literature and hunting books , in: Werner Rösener (ed.), Hunting and court culture in the Middle Ages, Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, 1997

Remarks

  1. ↑ "six pièces d'oyseaux pour le roy, assavoir, quatre Faucons mues pour quatre-vingt écus d'or neufs, un faucon for pour dix écus d'or et un pour lanier corneille pour dix écus d'or, qui font entour cent écus d'or neuf "; faucon mué = a falcon that has moulted several times, faucon sor = falcon before its first moult (Schwenk, p. 447, citing Dagmar Thoss, Max Haehn, Das Jagdbuch des Königs Modus , p. 90.)
  2. ↑ Sources: Quittance de gages pour Olivier Salat du 28 février 1471 (new style) and Historique du château de Bourron