Seneschal of France
The office of Seneschal of France was the most important of the grand offices of the French Crown between the 10th and 12th centuries . Originally the seneschal was head of the royal household, but his duties soon went beyond the scope of a servant to become the most powerful person in the kingdom after the ruler himself. In particular, he was in control of the royal armies.
This too great power of the Seneschal led to the fact that the office was dissolved in 1191 by King Philip August after the death of the last incumbent, Count Theobald V of Blois .
List of Seneschals in France
The list is incomplete due to the loss of the archives of Philipp August and his predecessors:
- around 970: Gottfried (Geoffroy) I , † 987, Count of Anjou
- around 1060: Guillaume
- around 1065: Raoul
- around 1071: Frédéric
- around 1079: Robert
- around 1083: Hugues
- around 1085: Gervais
- 1091/95: Guy II. De Montlhéry († 1108) 1095 Count of Rochefort , 1104–1107 father-in-law of King Louis VI. ( House Montlhéry )
- to 1104: Anseau de Garlande († 1118) son-in-law of Guys II. de Montlhéry
- 1104/06: Guy II. De Montlhéry , 2nd time
- 1106/07: Huges de Crécy († 1147 ), son of Guys II of Montlhéry
- 1107–18: Anseau de Garlande , 2nd time
- 1118–20: Guillaume de Garlande , Anseau's brother
- 1120–27: Étienne de Garlande , Anseau's brother
- 1131: Rudolf I the Brave (Raoul I le Vaillant) , Count of Vermandois , † 1152
- 1154: Theobald V. the Good (Thiebaud V. le Bon) , Count of Blois and Chartres , † 1191