Duke of Enghien

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The title Count or Duke of Enghien (Comte / Duc d'Enghien) was held since the 16th century by members of the House of Condé , a younger line of the Bourbons .

history

The Enghien lordship , originally ruled by the House of Enghien , was part of the inheritance of Marie de Luxembourg († 1546), daughter of Pierre II. De Luxembourg , Comte de Saint-Pol and Comte de Brienne , who she acquired through her marriage to François de Bourbon , Comte de Vendôme to the Bourbons.

Enghien is actually a town in Hainaut . But when the now County of Enghien became part of the appanage with which the House of Condé was endowed, Marie's grandson Louis I de Bourbon, prince de Condé, transferred the name Enghien to the dominion of Nogent-le-Rotrou , which from now on Enghien-le- Français was called, and under this name in 1566 it was raised to duchy and peerage . Louis I died in 1569 before the patent letters were registered. The title would actually have expired, but his son Henri I de Bourbon, prince de Condé (1552–1588) and his grandsons Henri II. De Bourbon, prince de Condé (1588–1646) led him - together with the eponymous title Condé - further.

In 1621 Henri II gave the title of Duke of Enghien to his newborn son Louis II , which gave rise to the custom of designating the eldest son of the Prince de Condé as Duc d'Enghien.

In 1633 the same Henri II was made Duke of Montmorency after the execution of his brother-in-law Henri II de Montmorency (1632) . In September 1689, Henri III baptized . Jules de Bourbon, prince de Condé (1643–1709), son of Louis II, changed the title Duc de Montmorency to Duc d'Enghien (now based on Enghien-les-Bains north of Paris instead of neighboring Montmorency (Val-d 'Oise) ), in order to give the title, the continuation of which was previously contestable, greater legitimacy, and passed it on to his son Louis III. (1668-1710). A little later, in October 1689, the Duchy of Beaufort was in turn renamed the Duchy of Montmorency (based on Montmorency-Beaufort in the Aube department ), whereby the title returned to the Montmorency family . The title Duc d'Enghien continued to be worn by the eldest son of the Prince de Condé until he had a son himself, whereupon the previous Duc d'Enghien became the Duc de Bourbon , and the newborn became the Duc d'Enghien.

The most famous Duke of Enghien was also the last: Louis Antoine Henri de Bourbon-Condé, duc d'Enghien (1772-1804), whom Napoléon Bonaparte had kidnapped, sentenced and shot. He too had the title Duke of Enghien because his father was still alive (he died in 1830). The death of the Duke of Enghien in 1804 and that of his father in 1830 also meant the extinction of the House of Condé.

Counts and Dukes of Enghien