Desfours is a noble

Nobility

Nobility is a social class which possesses more acknowledged privileges or eminence than members of most other classes in a society, membership therein typically being hereditary. The privileges associated with nobility may constitute substantial advantages over or relative to non-nobles, or may be...

 family of French

French people

The French are a nation that share a common French culture and speak the French language as a mother tongue. Historically, the French population are descended from peoples of Celtic, Latin and Germanic origin, and are today a mixture of several ethnic groups...

 descent that originated in the Lorraine

Lorraine (région)

Lorraine is one of the 27 régions of France. The administrative region has two cities of equal importance, Metz and Nancy. Metz is considered to be the official capital since that is where the regional parliament is situated...

 but became prominent in Bohemia

Bohemia

Bohemia is a historical region in central Europe, occupying the western two-thirds of the traditional Czech Lands. It is located in the contemporary Czech Republic with its capital in Prague...

 during the 16th century. Their parent house is the Athienville

Athienville

Athienville is a commune in the Meurthe-et-Moselle department in north-eastern France....

 from Luneville

Lunéville

Lunéville is a commune in the Meurthe-et-Moselle department in France.It is a sub-prefecture of the department and lies on the Meurthe River.-History:...

 and Chateau-Salins

Château-Salins

Château-Salins is a commune in the Moselle department in Lorraine in north-eastern France.-See also:*Communes of the Moselle department...

. The family became official on May 30, 1634 with the declaration of Field Marshal-Lieutenant Niclas Desfours to Earl

Earl

An earl is a member of the nobility. The title is Anglo-Saxon, akin to the Scandinavian form jarl, and meant "chieftain", particularly a chieftain set to rule a territory in a king's stead. In Scandinavia, it became obsolete in the Middle Ages and was replaced with duke...

 of Athienville.

In the mid-17th Century, the counts of Desfours were owners of the estates Groß Rohosetz and Morchenstern. Count Albrecht Maximilian limited the inheritance of these holding to them and their lineal descendants, in 1678. From this family the royal branch of Desfours-Walderode derived. Other properties of the family included Potštát

Potštát

Potštát is a town in the Olomouc Region, Czech Republic....

 (1797), Malá Skála

Malá Skála

Malá Skála is a village and municipality in Jablonec nad Nisou District in the Liberec Region of the Czech Republic. -Notes:...

 (1628), Semily

Semily

Semily is a town in the Semily District, Liberec Region, of northern Bohemia in the Czech Republic. It has about 9,000 inhabitants. One important landmark is the St Peter and Paul Church, from the beginning of the previous century. The town has two notable museums: the Museum and Regional Gallery...

 (1634), Tanvald

Tanvald

Tanvald is a town in the northern Czech Republic. Its population was 6,836 as of August 28, 2006.The town has direct rail connection with Prague and Dresden. Traffic on the railway line to Jelenia Góra in Poland was restricted in 1945; the trains terminate in Harrachov...

 and Velhartice

Velhartice

Velhartice is a village in the Czech Republic dating to the 13th century, dominated by the Gothic castle Hrad Velhartice. The castle was built 1290-1310 by a nobleman who later became courtier and close friend of the Emperor Charles IV...

(1743).