Duke of Beaufort (France)

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The title of Duke of Beaufort ( duc de Beaufort ) was carried at the same time in both France and England (see Duke of Beaufort ).

history

The castle of Beaufort-en-Champagne was built by the Lords of Broyes and was initially in their family for several generations. Through the marriage of Felicite de Broyes to Count Hugo II of Rethel around 1191, Beaufort came to the Count of Rethel , but in their family the ownership rights to this castle were very controversial. Count Johann had a dispute with his sister-in-law Jeanne de Dampierre about this. His widow, Marie de Thourotte, for her part, denied the inheritance of her niece Felicite, and both women brought the case to the Haute Cour of the county of Champagne . Before this court could pass a verdict, both women died, which is why Count Hugo IV took over this castle. In order to settle further quarrels in connection with Beaufort, Hugo IV sold the castle to Blanche d'Artois in 1270 .

Blanche d'Artois was first married to Count Henry III. of Champagne (Henry I of Navarre) and second to Edmund Crouchback, 1st Earl of Lancaster , married. Beaufort passed it on to her sons from second marriage. At the beginning of the Hundred Years War , the Lancaster Earls lost the castle to the Crown of France; Dauphin Charles V gave it to Count Ludwig von Étampes in 1357 . In the course of the Peace of Brétigny in 1360, Beaufort was returned to John of Gaunt, 1st Duke of Lancaster . His illegitimate son was called John Beaufort , founder of the House of Beaufort , later Duke of Somerset and ancestor of the English Dukes of Beaufort .

In the further course of the war, Beaufort was finally taken over by France, whose crown awarded the castle on the basis of an annuity . 1379 to Jean III. de Melun , after his death in 1382 to Duke Philip the Bold of Burgundy . In 1404 King Karl III. of Navarre Beaufort as hereditary property, which came into the possession of the Duke of Nemours , Jacques d'Armagnac , through several inheritances . After this was executed in 1477, Beaufort fell again to the crown domain .

1479 enfeoffed King Ludwig XI. the Sire Thierry III. de Lenoncourt with Beaufort including the title of Count as an annuity. This meant that after Lenoncourt's death in 1483, despite the existence of an inheritance, Beaufort reverted to the crown.

In 1504, King Ludwig XII. his nephew the general Gaston de Foix the county of Beaufort as a hereditary fief. After Gaston fell in the Battle of Ravenna in 1512 , Beaufort went to his cousin Odet de Foix according to his will . After his successors, the son Henri in 1540 and the daughter Claude in 1553, died without heirs, Beaufort went to the Count of Nevers , François I de Clèves , who was a nephew of Odet de Foix. After François' death in 1562, his daughter Catherine Beaufort inherited .

Catharine, in turn, by marriage a Duchesse de Guise, sold Beaufort on July 6, 1597 to Gabrielle d'Estrées , Marquise de Monceaux and mistress of King Henry IV. The king merged Beaufort with the barony of Jaucourt and made both a duchy and a peerage in favor of Gabrielles.

In 1688 the 3rd Duke of Beaufort sold the duchy for 460,000 livres to Charles I Frédéric de Montmorency-Luxembourg (1662–1726), who was made Duke of Beaufort (but not Peer of France ) in the same year . In October 1689, the Duchy of Beaufort was renamed the Duchy of Montmorency , whereby this title came back into the possession of the Montmorency family .

The center of the duchy was the place Beaufort in the Aube department , which was later renamed and has since been called Montmorency-Beaufort .

Earls of Beaufort

Dukes of Beaufort

literature

  • Detlev Schwennicke: European family tables . Family tables on the history of the European states. New episode, Volume 3, Part 2: Incorrect and illegitimate descendants of the ruling houses of Europe. Klostermann, Frankfurt am Main 1983, plate 338.

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