Montmorency (noble family)

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Blason Thibaut de Montmorency.svg
Original coat of arms of the Montmorency
Blason Mathieu Ier de Montmorency (+1160) .svg
Modified original coat of arms of the Montmorency
Armoiries Montmorency.png
Later ancestral coat of arms of the Montmorency


Montmorency was the name of one of the oldest and most respected noble families of France , which got its name from the place Montmorency near Paris and whose members since 1327 carried the title of "First Christian Barons of France". Since 1551 it carried the title Duke of Montmorency . It was built by Henry IV. - by the Bourbons declared the "first house in Europe" - itself.

The House of Montmorency produced six connétables of France , twelve marshals of France , several admirals and cardinals, innumerable grand officers of the crown and several grand masters of various orders of knighthood . In 1878 it became extinct in the male line with Anne Edouard Louis Joseph de Montmorency-Luxembourg, Duke of Beaumont, Prince of Tingry.

history

Lesbius is named as the legendary progenitor , who was converted by St. Dionysius and who is said to have died a martyr's death with him. The dynasty's title of “First Christian Baron of France” (“Primus Baro Christianus Franciae” or “Premier baron chrétien de France”) is derived from this.

Donjon of the old castle of Montmorency in 1708

In older literature, a Bouchard de Bray († around 980) is named as the progenitor. It was assumed that he was the father of Bouchard I. de Montmorency , also called the bearded one (Bouchard le Barbu) († after February 1028), for which, however, there is no evidence. This, the actual and proven progenitor of the house, acquired the Montmorency Castle through his marriage to the daughter of Hugo Basset and received the possession confirmed in 997 by King Robert II . The wooden fortress was built in the 9th century on a rocky mountain promontory, which overlooks the Lac d'Enghien, 4 km north of the Seine , in the middle of a wooded area . The mountain also dominated the road to Rouen named after Julius Caesar and is located 13 km north of the Paris city center.

In the first two centuries the fortress went up in flames several times, for example, during the lifetime of Bouchard I, the razing of the castle by King Robert II is confirmed because the baron was in feud with the royal abbey of Saint-Denis . In February 1028 Bouchard received from Count Fulko III. Nerra of Anjou transferred the castles of Écouen and Marly . Bouchard I had at least three sons: Bouchard II , Gelduin and Aubry . In the 12th century, the wooden fortress was replaced by a stone castle, and Montmorency became a market center. During the Hundred Years War , the castle was razed by the English and no longer rebuilt. The lords of Montmorency preferred the castle of Écouen .

Mathieu I , Sire de Montmorency, became a connétable in 1138 and died in 1160. His wife Alice was an illegitimate daughter of Henry I "Beauclerc" of England . His second wife was Adelaide, also Alice, of Savoy, the widow of Louis VI. and mother of Louis VII of France . Matthieu was - together with Abbot Suger of Saint-Denis - during the absence of the future king ( Second Crusade ) regent of France.

Mathieu II. De Montmorency (1174-1230), Connétable

Mathieu II, nicknamed "the great Connétable" (* 1174; † November 24, 1230) distinguished himself under Philip II August during the conquest of Normandy in 1203, then in the war against England and Germany and especially in the battle of Bouvines 1214 off. Legend has it that he conquered twelve standards of Emperor Otto IV there and then added twelve more to the four eagles in his own coat of arms. He became a connétable in 1218 , forced the Albigensians into submission in 1226 and protected the underage son of King Louis VIII , Louis IX. , against the rebellious greats in the country. He died in 1230.

After Mathieu II's death in 1230, the house split into two main branches, the older of the Barons of Montmorency and the younger of the Montmorency-Laval (Guy VII., Sire de Laval, † 1267).

At the beginning of the 15th century , Jean II (* 1402; † July 6, 1477) from the first main branch again became the progenitor of three branches by using his son Guillaume († May 24, 1531) from a second marriage as the main heir while his two sons by first marriage, Jean and Louis, endowed the estates of their mother, the heiress of Nivelle and Fosseux in Brabant , who founded the Nivelle and Fosseux lines .

1484 Chantilly Castle came into the possession of the Montmorency.

Main line

Duke Anne de Montmorency (1493–1567), Marshal and Connétable of France

The line of barons of Montmorency founded by Guillaume received the title Duke of Montmorency in 1551 from his son Anne de Montmorency , one of the greatest generals of the 16th century , peer , marshal and connétable of France . He was raised together with Franz I and followed him on his campaigns to Italy; In 1525 he freed the king after both were captured, and was rewarded with the offices of Governor of Languedoc and Grand Master of France . Later he won victories against the armies of Charles V. Under Henry II he lost the battle of Saint-Quentin in 1557 . He later fought in the First and Second Huguenot Wars and died after being injured in the Battle of Saint-Denis (1567) . He owned more than 130 castles and palaces. In 1538 he started the construction of the renaissance castle Écouen and between 1528 and 1551 he also rebuilt the castle Chantilly in the style of the time.

With his grandson Henri II. De Montmorency , who was executed in 1632 for taking part in an uprising against Cardinal Richelieu , the main line of Montmorency went extinct. His estates - including Écouen and Chantilly - inherited because he was childless, his sister Charlotte-Marguerite de Montmorency , the wife of Henri II. De Bourbon, prince de Condé and temporary lover of King Henry IV. , Who made Duchess of Montmorency has been; so the title initially went to the House of Bourbon-Condé , a branch line of the Bourbon royal family . She was followed by her son Louis II. De Bourbon, prince de Condé and then his son Henri III. Jules de Bourbon, prince de Condé , with whom the title Duke of Montmorency initially expired in 1689; in the same year it was created again for the Ast Fosseaux and awarded to Charles François Frédéric I de Montmorency-Luxembourg , a son of François-Henri de Montmorency-Luxembourg , and thus again to a member of the House of Montmorency.

Secondary lines

Over the centuries, the house branched out into numerous lines, which were named after their respective headquarters:

  • Montlhéry (noble family) (extinct 1128)
  • Gisors (extinguished in 1244)
  • Marly (extinct in 1358), the government in 1676 to Louis XIV. Sold
  • Laval Castle
    Laval (main branch extinguished in 1465); Mathieu II. de Montmorency acquired the rule by marrying Emma de Laval (1200–1264)
    • Attichy (extinct 1408)
      • Loué
        • Lezay , Dukes of Laval (extinct 1872)
        • Bois-Dauphin (extinct 1672)
        • Brée (extinct around 1563)
        • La Faigne (extinct around 1584)
          • Laval- Tartigny , Marquis de Laval (extinct 1770)
          • Laval- Montigny (extinct 1748)
          • Comte de Laval (extinct after 1820)
    • Pacy (extinguished after 1415)
    • Retz (extinguished after 1481)
  • Nangis (extinct 1402)
  • Conflans (extinct 1423)
  • Bouqueval (extinct 1461)
  • Croisilles (extinct 1621)
  • Nivelle (extinguished after 1585)
  • Fosseux : Marquis de Fosseux, by marriage from 1689 dukes of Montmorency (expired in 1862 with Anne Louis Raoul Victor de Montmorency, 6th Duc de Montmorency)
    • Robech: beginning with Jean de Montmorency (1581–1631), 1st Prince de Robech, expired with Gaston de Montmorency (1801–1853), 9th Prince de Robech
    • Hotel de Montmorency-Luxembourg , Paris
      Seigneurs d'Hauteville, then Comtes de Bouteville, then Ducs de Piney-Luxembourg (extinguished in 1829). The Duke title de Piney-Luxembourg came to the Montmorency as a result of the marriage of Francois Henri , Marshal of France (called the "Marshal of Luxembourg"), with Madeleine de Clermont-Tonnerre , daughter of Marguerite Charlotte de Luxembourg, Duchess of Piney , Princess of Tingry.
      • Dukes of Montmorency: Charles Francois Frederic (son of the Marshal) became Duke of Montmorency in 1689 with the third award. Extinguished in 1862 with Anne Louis Raoul Victor de Montmorency, 6th Duc de Montmorency.
      • Dukes of Châtillon from 1696. Extinguished in 1861 with Charles Emmanuel Sigismond de Montmorency-Luxembourg (1774–1861), 6th Duc de Châtillon, 5th Duc de Piney-Luxembourg.
      • Prince of Tingry , from 1695 Duc de Piney-Luxembourg, Prince d'Aigremont, Prince de Tingry. Extinguished in 1878 with Anne Edouard Louis Joseph de Montmorency-Luxembourg (1802–1878), 3rd Duc de Beaumont, Prince de Tingry.
Details
  1. Nivelle line : The "Nivelle" branch was transplanted to the Netherlands and came to a bloody end with the execution of the Dutch freedom fighter Philippe de Montmorency, Count von Hoorn in 1568 by the Duke of Alba and that of his brother Floris in 1570.
  2. François-Henri de Montmorency-Luxembourg (1628–1695), Marshal of France
    Fosseux line : The lords of Bouteville (Seigneurs de Bouteville) come from the Montmorency-Fosseux branch . One of these is the duelist François de Montmorency-Bouteville , who was beheaded in 1627. His son Francois Henri (1628–1695), Marshal of France, became Duke of Piney -Luxembourg through his marriage to Madeleine Charlotte Bonne Therese de Clermont, daughter of Marguerite Charlotte de Luxembourg, Duchess of Piney. The Marshal's son, Charles Francois Frederic, became Duke of Beaufort in 1688, and in 1689 - after the death of Henri III. Jules de Bourbon, prince de Condé - appointed Duke of Montmorency in a new, third award . In 1767 the title Duke of Beaufort and Montmorency passed through marriage to another branch of the Montmorency-Fosseux branch. The Montmorency-Fosseux branch went out on August 18, 1862 with Anne Louis Raoul Victor, Duke of Montmorency, b. December 14, 1790. The most famous of the numerous but now extinct branches of the Marquis of Montmorency-Fosseux is that of the Dukes of Luxembourg, to which the famous "Maréchal de Luxembourg", François-Henri de Montmorency-Luxembourg, belongs; the latter branch did not die out until March 5, 1861 with Charles Emanuel Siegmund von Montmorency, Duke of Luxembourg, former French lieutenant general. The subsidiary Beaumont-Luxembourg went out on January 15, 1878 with Eduard, Duke of Beaumont, Prince of Luxembourg. In 1864, Emperor Napoléon III awarded the title of     Duke of Montmorency , who married one of the heiresses of the Montmorency-Fosseux line, to Count Adalbert von Talleyrand-Périgord (born March 20, 1837) . Napoléon Louis de Talleyrand-Périgord (d. 1951) was the 7th and last Duke of Montmorency from this family.
  3. Laval line: The House of Montmorency-Laval, donated by Guy de Montmorency in 1230, which received ducal dignity in 1822 and split up several times, owned u. a. the general and minister Matthieu Jean Félicité, Duke of Laval-Montmorency (1766-1826). With Eugene Alexandre de Montmorency, Duke of Laval-Montmorency, b. July 20, 1773, Lieutenant General, April 2, 1851 the lineage of the Laval branch went out.

Important personalities

Main line of barons, dukes since 1551, de Montmorency

  1. Bouchard I. le Barbu de Montmorency († after 1028)
  2. Mathieu I. de Montmorency († 1160), Connétable of France
  3. Bouchard IV. De Montmorency († 1189)
  4. Mathieu II. De Montmorency († 1230), Connétable of France
  5. Bouchard V. de Montmorency († 1243)
  6. Anne de Montmorency (1493–1567), 1st Duke of Montmorency, military leader, peer, marshal and connétable of France
  7. François de Montmorency (1530–1579), 2nd Duke of Montmorency, Marshal of France, son of Anne
  8. Henri I. de Montmorency (1534–1614), Count of Damville, 3rd Duke of Montmorency, Marshal and Connétable of France, son of Anne
  9. Henri II. De Montmorency (1595–1632), 4th Duke of Montmorency and Damville, Grand Admiral and Viceroy of New France, executed in 1632 as leader of the uprisings in Languedoc, son of Henry I.

Secondary lines

  1. Philippe de Montmorency, Count of Hoorn († 1568), freedom fighter
    Montmorency-Marly line
    1. Mathieu I. de Marly († 1203), son of Mathieu I. de Montmorency
    2. Bouchard I. de Marly († 1226), his son
    3. Theobald von Marly († 1247), his son, Abbot of Vaux-de-Cernay, church saint
  2. Montmorency-Nivelle line
    1. Philippe de Montmorency, Count of Hoorn (1526–1568), sentenced to death as a majesty criminal and rebel and beheaded on June 5, 1568 in Brussels
  3. Montmorency-Fosseux line
    1. Françoise de Montmorency-Fosseux , mistress of the French King Henry IV.
  4. Montmorency-Bouteville subline
    1. Franz von Montmorency-Bouteville (1600–1627), Seigneur de Bouteville et Comte de Luxe , beheaded in 1627 for a duel
    2. Elisabeth Angélique de Montmorency , Duchess of Châtillon (1626–1695), the heroine of the Fronde
    3. François-Henri de Montmorency-Bouteville , Duke of Luxembourg (1628–1695), Marshal of France
  5. Matthieu Jean Félicité, Duke of Laval-Montmorency (1766–1826), general, diplomat and minister
    Montmorency-Laval line
    1. Gilles de Rais , actually Gilles de Montmorency-Laval (1407–1440), comrade in arms of Joan of Arc , Marshal and Peer of France, the "French Dracula", one of the most famous serial killers of all time, hanged in 1440
    2. François de Montmorency-Laval (1623–1708), Canada's first Catholic bishop, beatified in 1980
    3. Louis-Joseph de Montmorency-Laval (1724–1808), cardinal and bishop of Metz
    4. Mathieu de Montmorency-Laval (1766–1826), general, diplomat and minister
  6. Others
    1. Charles de Montmorency, duc de Damville (1537–1612; Amiral de Montmorency), Duke of Damville and Peer of France
    2. Charlotte-Marguerite de Montmorency (1594–1650), Princess of Condé and mistress of the French King Henry IV.
    3. François-Henri de Montmorency-Luxembourg (1628–1695), French military leader, peer and marshal of France
    4. Guillaume de Montmorency, seigneur de Thoré († 1594), French military, member of the Malcontents
    5. Jehan de Montmorency (* 1500; † unknown), 1553 and 1554 ambassador of Charles V to Jane Gray
    6. Charles François II. De Montmorency-Luxembourg (1702–1764), French nobleman

Web links

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