France Courtenay House

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The France-Courtenay House , also known as the younger House Courtenay , was a French noble family that existed from the mid-12th to the 18th century. Descended from a younger son of King Ludwig VI. of France , this family represents a side branch of the ruling family of the Capetians , next to the older house of Burgundy and the house of Vermandois the third oldest of all.

The progenitor of the house was the king's son Peter I (around 1126–1180 / 83), who married the heiress of the Courtenay rule . Isabella von Courtenay came from the first, older, House of Courtenay , which still existed in England in the county of Devon . Peter and Isabella are the descendants of all of the younger Courtenays that followed and were already in their second generation in two lines.

Emperor of Constantinople

The first branch that descended from Peter II , the eldest son of Peter I, was historically significant . Through his marriages, Peter II acquired the counties of Nevers and Auxerre , as well as the entitlement to the county of Namur . As the brother-in-law of Emperors Baldwin I and Heinrich , who died childless , Peter II finally achieved the title of Emperor of Constantinople . Although he himself died on the way to his empire, which had been founded during the course of the fourth crusade , his sons Robert and Baldwin II ruled there until Constantinople was recaptured in 1261 by the Byzantine emperor in exile Michael VIII Palaiologos .

The descendants of Emperor Baldwin II continued to hold onto the imperial title, but without ever being able to recapture the empire. The imperial line of Courtenay died out in 1307/08 with Catherine de Courtenay , the second wife of Count Charles of Valois . Catherine de Courtenay was also the last owner of her family's rights to the Courtenay castle, which gives her name. She transferred her rights to her husband in April 1301, with which Courtenay came into the possession of the Valois family .

Courtenay mushrooms

After the end of the first line, the second Courtenay line continued to exist in France, which was descended from Robert von Courtenay († 1239), lord of Champignelles , who was a younger son of Peter I of Courtenay. Their representatives were owned by some castle lords and in the Middle Ages were mainly active as participants in crusades and battles at the side of their royal cousins. Is known Robert de Courtenay Champignelles , Archbishop of Reims , who one after his cousins , Louis X , Philip V and Charles IV. Had crowned kings of France.

Some Courtenay were active in military service, but without having achieved higher ranks.

After several branches of Courtenay died out, the family was only represented by the branch represented in Chevillon from the middle of the 17th century .

Prince de Courtenay

Louis de Courtenay († 1672), seigneur de Chevillon, called himself prince de Courtenay to underline his claim to be the royal prince of the blood (prince du sang royal) , which he was entitled to as a Capetian descendant. In addition to the ruling Bourbons , the Courtenay were the last Capetian noble house in France from the 17th century. However, they were denied recognition as princes of the blood by the Bourbons. In the Treaty of Montmartre , which was signed with Duke Charles IV of Lorraine on February 6, 1662 , King Louis XIV granted the House of Lorraine-Guise the right of succession to the French throne, in the event that the Bourbons and their branch lines Condé , Conti and Orléans would become extinct, although the House of Lorraine-Guise was not of Capetian descent. In the same month, however, Louis de Courtenay protested in front of the Parlement in Paris and demanded that King Louis VI be the legitimate descendant of King Louis VI. to be taken into account in the Montmartre succession plan before the House of Lorraine-Guise. King Louis XIV, however, forced the parliament, in a so-called lit de justice , on February 27, 1662, to ratify the agreements of the treaty that had already been determined, thereby depriving the Courtenay of their blood rights. Regardless of this, Louis de Courtenay and his descendants retained the title of prince de Courtenay .

Although the Treaty of Montmartre did not last long, the Crown could not wrest any recognition of the Courtenay's inheritance rights. In a further lit de justice , on August 2, 1714, Louis XIV forced his sons Louis Auguste, duc du Maine , and Louis Alexandre, comte de Toulouse , and their descendants into the line of succession, although they were of illegitimate, illegitimate, origin . The Courtenay house was again ignored.

On October 1, 1715, the year of King Louis XV's succession to the throne . , directed Louis-Charles de Courtenay and his sons Charles-Roger and Roger a renewed request to the Parliament for recognition of their parentage, which was rejected just like the first. Louis-Charles died in 1723, Charles-Roger committed suicide in 1730 and Roger died in 1733, making her sister Hélène the last direct descendant of Peter I of Courtenay. Hélène de Courtenay had been married to Louis-Bénigne de Bauffremont († 1755), marquis de Bauffremont, since 1712. Both appealed directly to the king on February 22, 1737, unsuccessfully, after their title princesse du sang royal de france was removed from all documents of the court by a resolution of the parliament .

As the last member of the House of Courtenay, Hélène de Courtenay died on June 20, 1768. Her descendants from the House of Bauffremont took the title prince de Courtenay back into their title.

Master list (extract)

  1. Peter I (Pierre I.) (* probably 1126; † between 1179 and April 10, 1183 in Palestine ), 1161 Seigneur de Courtenay , Montargis , Château-Renard , Champignelles , Tanlay , Charny et de Chantecoq , ⚭ after 1150 Elisabeth ( Ysabeau) de Courtenay , 1161 Dame de Courtenay etc. († September 14 after 1205), heir daughter of Renaud de Courtenay and Helvis du Donjon - for ancestors see list of the Capetians
    1. Peter II (* around 1155; † before January 1218), Count of Nevers and Auxerre , 1217 Emperor of Constantinople ⚭ I 1184 Agnes von Nevers († 1192), daughter of Count Guido I ( House of Monceaux ), ⚭ II June 1193 Jolante of Flanders († August 1219), heiress of the County of Namur , daughter of Baldwin V , Count of Flanders , sister of Emperor Baldwin I and Henry of Constantinople, regent
      1. Mathilde (around 1188; † December 12th after 1254), 1192 heiress of Nevers ⚭ I Oct 1199 Hervé IV. De Donzy († 22 January 1223), ⚭ II 1225 Guigues IV. Count of Forez († 29 October 1241 )
      2. Margarete († July 17, 1270), Margravine of Namur 1228–1237 ⚭ I around 1210 Raoul III. d'Issoudun († March 1 after 1212), ⚭ II before 1217 Heinrich I, Count of Vianden († November 19, probably 1253)
      3. Elisabeth († after August 1253), ⚭ I Gaucher de Bar-sur-Seine († 1219), son of Milon von Le Puiset , Count of Bar-sur-Seine ( House of Le Puiset ); ⚭ II 1220 Eudes I de Montagu († after August 1253)
      4. Jolante († 1233), ⚭ 1215 Andrew II, King of Hungary
      5. Agnes († after 1247), ⚭ 1217 Gottfried II of Villehardouin , Prince of Achaia († 1245)
      6. Maria († after 1228), ⚭ 1218 Theodor I. Laskaris Emperor of Nicaea
      7. Eleonore († before 1230), ⚭ Philippe I. de Montfort († 1270/73), ( House Montfort-l'Amaury )
      8. Constanze (attested in 1210)
      9. Sibylle (* 1197; † 1210), nun
      10. Philip II (1195–1226), Count of Namur in 1216, turned down the offered Imperial Crown of Constantinople
      11. Peter (attested in 1210), clergyman
      12. Robert († 1228 before February 13), Emperor of Constantinople, ⚭ 1228 NN, daughter of Balduin de Neufville
      13. Henry II († 1229), Count of Namur 1226
      14. Baldwin II (* 1218; † after October 15, 1273), Emperor of Constantinople, ⚭ April 19, 1229 Maria von Brienne († after May 5, 1275), daughter of John of Brienne , King of Jerusalem , then co-emperor in Constantinople ,
        1. Philipp von Courtenay (* 1243; † 1283), titular emperor of Constantinople, ⚭ October 15, 1273 Beatrice d'Anjou († 1275), daughter of Charles of Anjou , King of Naples
          1. Catherine de Courtenay († 1307/1308), ⚭ Charles I, Count of Valois and Anjou (1270–1325) - see House Valois
        2. Helene, † 1314; ⚭ Stefan Uroš I of Serbia
    2. Adelheid (* around 1160; † 1218), ⚭ I around 1178, divorced 1180, Wilhelm I Count of Joigny († 1219), ( House Joigny ), ⚭ II Aimar I, Count of Angoulême († 1218), ( House Taillefer )
    3. Eustachia († after 1235), ⚭ I Wilhelm von Brienne († before 1199), ⚭ II 1200 Wilhelm I von Champlitte , Prince of Achaia († 1209/10), ⚭ III around 1211 Wilhelm Graf von Sancerre († 1219)
    4. Klementia, ⚭ before 1185 Guy VI. de Thiern ( House Thiern )
    5. Robert (1168–1239), ⚭ 1216/18 Matilde von Mehun-sur-Yèvre († 1240), daughter (and heir) of Philipp
      1. Peter († 1250), Lord of Mehun, ⚭ Peronette de Joigny, daughter of Gaucher ( House of Joigny )
        1. Amicia, ⚭ Robert II of the Count of Artois ( House of France-Artois )
      2. Rudolf († 1271), Count of Chieti
        1. Matilde, ⚭ Philipp († 1308), Regent of Flanders
      3. Wilhelm († 1282), Lord of Courtenay - descendants, extinct in 1733
    6. Philipp († after 1186)
    7. Wilhelm († 1233/47), ⚭ I before 1209 Adeline de Noyers († after 1222), daughter of Clerambaud I, ⚭ II before 1231 Nikolaea - descendants
    8. Johann († after 1221)
    9. Daughter , ⚭ Aimon III. de Charros († after 1221)
    10. Konstanze, ⚭ I Gasce de Poissy, Seigneur de Châteaufort , ⚭ II Wilhelm von Breteuil, Seigneur de La Ferté-Arnaud and Villepreux

Coat of arms gallery

  • The coat of arms of the House of Courtenay

  • The coat of arms of the Courtenay-Champignelles line

  • The coat of arms of the Courtenay-Chevillon line in the 17th and 18th centuries.

literature

  • Wolfgang von Rintelen: Courtenay , in: Biographisches Lexikon zur Geschichte Südosteuropas . Vol. 1. Munich 1974, pp. 331-333
  • Detlev Schwennicke: European family tables . Volume II (1984) plate 17, volume III.1 (1984) plate 57ff.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ so in the article by Peter I of Courtenay; at Schwennicke only: NN de Châteaufort or Wilhelm von La Ferté-Arnaud