Duchy of Brissac
The Duchy of Brissac , French duché de Brissac , is a male line hereditary French duchy ( duché-pairie ). It was built in 1611 for Charles II de Cossé , Marshal of France , from the county of Brissac . The Brissac fief in Anjou was acquired at the end of the 15th century by the Cossé family, who came from the same province. René de Cossé, seigneur de Brissac († 1540) married into the influential Gouffier family and became a grand panetier ( bread master ) of Louis XII. This office became hereditary in the family.
Two of his sons became Marshals of France. For the eldest, Charles I , Grand Master of the Artillery of France , Governor of Piedmont and Picardy , the baronies and lordships of Brissac, Châtellenies, Luygné, Claye et Denée, Pouancé, Montejean, La Grésille, La Baste and Montaugibert were raised to the county of Brissac . The second son, Arthur , Grand Panetier de France and Superintendent of Finance, distinguished himself in the wars of religion.
Charles II, son of Charles I, fought for the league and, as governor of Paris, opened the gates of the city to Henry IV , who appointed him Marshal in 1594. In 1611 the county of Brissac was elevated to a duchy and a peerage .
Louis-Hercule-Timoléon de Cossé, ninth Duke of Brissac, and commander of the garde constitutionnel of Louis XVI. , was killed in Versailles on September 9, 1792 for his devotion to the king .
In 2004, François de Cossé-Brissac resigned from his post as Grand Master of the French Obedience of the Order of Lazarus , which he had held since 1986, in order to facilitate the reunification of the Order.
Dukes of Brissac
- Charles II (1550–1621), Marshal of France 1564, Ordre du Saint-Esprit 1595, Grand Panetier et Grand Fauconnier de France
- François (around 1585–1651), Grand Panetier de France , Ordre du Saint-Esprit 1633; renounced 1644
- Louis (1625–1661), Grand Panetier de France
- Henri-Albert (1645–1698), marquis de Thouarcé
- Artus-Timoléon-Louis (around 1668–1709), Grand Panetier de France , grandson of the 2nd Duke, renounced 1702
- Charles-Timoléon-Louis (1693–1732), Duke 1702, Grand Panetier de France
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Jean-Paul-Timoléon (1698–1780), brother of the previous one, resigned in 1756 and 1760 in favor of his sons; Ordre du Saint-Esprit 1744, Marshal of France 1768, Grand Panetier de France
- Louis-Joseph-Timoléon (1733–1759), Duke of Cossé 1756
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Louis-Hercule-Timoléon (1734–92), brother of the previous one, Duke of Cossé 1760, Duke of Brissac 1780, Ordre du Saint-Esprit 1776, Capitaine-Colonel des Cent-Suisses de la Garde du Roi et Grand Panetier de France
- Hyacinthe-Hugues-Timoléon (1746–1813), cousin of the previous one, Duke of Cossé 1784
- Augustin-Marie-Paul-Petronille-Timoléon (1775–1848), his son, Comte de Brissac et de l'Empire, duc-pair 1817
- Marie-Arthur-Timoléon (1813-1883)
- Anne Marie Timoléon François de Cossé (1868–1944), duc de Brissac
- Pierre de Cossé-Brissac (1900–1993), duc de Brissac, Grand Master of the French Obedience of the Order of Lazarus from 1969 to 1986
- since 1993: François de Cossé-Brissac (* 1929), duc de Brissac, Grand Master of the French Obedience of the Order of Lazarus from 1986 to 2004