Dukes in France
Encyclopedia
French nobility
The French nobility was the privileged order of France in the Middle Ages and the Early Modern periods.In the political system of the Estates General, the nobility made up the Second Estate...
during the time of the monarchy in France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
.
Old dukedoms
The highest precedence in the realm, attached to a feudal territory, was given to the twelve original pairiePairie
The French word pairie is the equivalent of the English word peerage, in the sense of an individual title carrying the rank of Pair , which derives from the Latin par 'equal', and signifies the members of an exclusive body of noblemen and prelates, considered to be the highest social order -not...
s, which had originated in the Middle Ages
Middle Ages
The Middle Ages is a periodization of European history from the 5th century to the 15th century. The Middle Ages follows the fall of the Western Roman Empire in 476 and precedes the Early Modern Era. It is the middle period of a three-period division of Western history: Classic, Medieval and Modern...
and also had a traditional function in the royal coronation, comparable to the German imperial archoffices.
Half of them were Dukes and half of them Counts. Of these, three were ecclesiastical and three were secular. Of these twelve, the prelates all ranked above the secular peers of the realm and three temporal, and the dukes all ranked above the counts.
Ecclesiastical Dukes
The Prince-BishopPrince-Bishop
A Prince-Bishop is a bishop who is a territorial Prince of the Church on account of one or more secular principalities, usually pre-existent titles of nobility held concurrently with their inherent clerical office...
s with ducal territories included:
- The Archbishop of ReimsArchbishop of ReimsThe Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Reims is an archdiocese of the Latin Rite of the Roman Catholic Church in France. Erected as a diocese around 250 by St. Sixtus, the diocese was elevated to an archdiocese around 750...
, styled archevêque-duc pair de France (in Champagne; who crown and anoint the king, traditionally in his cathedral) - Two suffragan bishopSuffragan bishopA suffragan bishop is a bishop subordinate to a metropolitan bishop or diocesan bishop. He or she may be assigned to an area which does not have a cathedral of its own.-Anglican Communion:...
s, styled evêque-duc pair de France :- the bishop-duc de LaonLaonLaon is the capital city of the Aisne department in Picardy in northern France.-History:The hilly district of Laon, which rises a hundred metres above the otherwise flat Picardy plain, has always held strategic importance...
(in Picardy; bears the 'Sainte Ampoule' containing the sacred ointment) - the bishop-duc de LangresLangresLangres is a commune in north-eastern France. It is a subprefecture of the Haute-Marne département in the Champagne-Ardenne region.-History:As the capital of the Romanized Gallic tribe the Lingones, it was called Andematunnum, then Lingones, and now Langres.The town is built on a limestone...
(in Burgundy; bears the scepter)
- the bishop-duc de Laon
Later, the Archbishop of Paris
Archbishop of Paris
The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Paris is one of twenty-three archdioceses of the Roman Catholic Church in France. The original diocese is traditionally thought to have been created in the 3rd century by St. Denis and corresponded with the Civitas Parisiorum; it was elevated to an archdiocese on...
was given the title of duc de Saint-Cloud with the dignity of peerage, but it was debated if he was an ecclesiastical peer or merely a bishop holding a lay peerage.
Secular dukes
The secular dukes in the peerage of the realm were, again in order of precedence:- Duke of BurgundyDuke of BurgundyDuke of Burgundy was a title borne by the rulers of the Duchy of Burgundy, a small portion of traditional lands of Burgundians west of river Saône which in 843 was allotted to Charles the Bald's kingdom of West Franks...
(known as Grand duc; not a separate title at that time, but a description of the wealth and power of the 15th century Dukes, cousins of the Kings of France) : bears the crown, fastens the belt - Duke of NormandyDuke of NormandyThe Duke of Normandy is the title of the reigning monarch of the British Crown Dependancies of the Bailiwick of Guernsey and the Bailiwick of Jersey. The title traces its roots to the Duchy of Normandy . Whether the reigning sovereign is a male or female, they are always titled as the "Duke of...
: holds the first square banner - Duke of AquitaineDuke of AquitaineThe Duke of Aquitaine ruled the historical region of Aquitaine under the supremacy of Frankish, English and later French kings....
(also called duc de Guyenne) : holds the second square banner
It should be noted what the theory of the participation of the peers in the coronation was laid down in the late 13th century, when some of the French peerages (the Duchy of Normandy
Duchy of Normandy
The Duchy of Normandy stems from various Danish, Norwegian, Hiberno-Norse, Orkney Viking and Anglo-Danish invasions of France in the 9th century...
and the County of Toulouse) had already been merged in the crown.
Early Modern period
At the end of the 13th century, the King elevated some countiesCounty
A county is a jurisdiction of local government in certain modern nations. Historically in mainland Europe, the original French term, comté, and its equivalents in other languages denoted a jurisdiction under the sovereignty of a count A county is a jurisdiction of local government in certain...
into duchies
Duchy
A duchy is a territory, fief, or domain ruled by a duke or duchess.Some duchies were sovereign in areas that would become unified realms only during the Modern era . In contrast, others were subordinate districts of those kingdoms that unified either partially or completely during the Medieval era...
, a practice that increased through the early modern period
Early modern period
In history, the early modern period of modern history follows the late Middle Ages. Although the chronological limits of the period are open to debate, the timeframe spans the period after the late portion of the Middle Ages through the beginning of the Age of Revolutions...
until the French Revolution
French Revolution
The French Revolution , sometimes distinguished as the 'Great French Revolution' , was a period of radical social and political upheaval in France and Europe. The absolute monarchy that had ruled France for centuries collapsed in three years...
. Many of this duchies were also peerages, so-called new peerages.
Other duchies of note include:
- Duke of AngoulêmeCounts and dukes of AngoulêmeAngoulême in western France was part of the Carolingian Empire as the kingdom of Aquitaine. Under Charlemagne's successors, the local Count of Angoulême was independent and was not united with the French crown until 1307. By the terms of the Treaty of Brétigny the Angoumois, then ruled by the...
- Duke of Anjou
- Duke of AuvergneRulers of Auvergne-History:In the 7th century Auvergne was disputed between the Franks and Aquitanians. It was later conquered by the Carolingians, and was integrated for a time into the kingdom of Aquitaine...
- Duke of BourbonDuke of BourbonDuke of Bourbon is a title in the peerage of France. It was created in the first half of the 14th century for the eldest son of Robert of France, Count of Clermont and Beatrice of Burgundy, heiress of the lordship of Bourbon...
- Duke of BrittanyDuke of BrittanyThe Duchy of Brittany was a medieval tribal and feudal state covering the northwestern peninsula of Europe,bordered by the Alantic Ocean on the west and the English Channel to the north with less definitive borders of the Loire River to the south and Normandy to the east...
(considered a particular state until personal union with France, by the marriage of Anne of BrittanyAnne of BrittanyAnne, Duchess of Brittany , also known as Anna of Brittany , was a Breton ruler, who was to become queen to two successive French kings. She was born in Nantes, Brittany, and was the daughter of Francis II, Duke of Brittany and Margaret of Foix. Her maternal grandparents were Queen Eleanor of...
with the French kings Charles VIII and Louis XII and of her daughter Claude with Renaissance King Francis IFrancis I of FranceFrancis I was King of France from 1515 until his death. During his reign, huge cultural changes took place in France and he has been called France's original Renaissance monarch...
, who conclude the 1553 treaty rendering the union permanent while granting some autonomy) - Duke of BroglieDuke of BroglieThe House of Broglie is the name of a noble French family, originally Piedmontese, who emigrated to France in the year 1643. The family counts among its members three marshals of France, a Nobel Prize laureate, several members of the Institut de France, and descendants of the Rothschild...
- Duke of GuiseHouse of GuiseThe House of Guise was a French ducal family, partly responsible for the French Wars of Religion.The Guises were Catholic, and Henry Guise wanted to end growing Calvinist influence...
- Duke of Lorraine
- Duke of Montpensier
- Duke of SavoyHouse of SavoyThe House of Savoy was formed in the early 11th century in the historical Savoy region. Through gradual expansion, it grew from ruling a small county in that region to eventually rule the Kingdom of Italy from 1861 until the end of World War II, king of Croatia and King of Armenia...
(although Haute Savoie is now part of France, the Dukes of Savoy were Princes of the Holy Roman EmpireHoly Roman EmpireThe Holy Roman Empire was a realm that existed from 962 to 1806 in Central Europe.It was ruled by the Holy Roman Emperor. Its character changed during the Middle Ages and the Early Modern period, when the power of the emperor gradually weakened in favour of the princes...
, not peers of France)
The title of Duke of France
Duke of France
Duke of France equivalent to the title dux Franciae, is a title of nobility that refers to the rulers of the Île de France, informally Francia...
refers to the rulers of the Île de France, informally Francia. The dynasts of Robert the Strong
Robert the Strong
Robert IV the Strong , also known as Rutpert, was Margrave in Neustria. His family is named after him and called Robertians. He was first nominated by Charles the Bald missus dominicus in 853. Robert was the father of the kings Odo and Robert I of France. Robert was the great-grandfather of Hugh...
's family are usually termed "Dukes of France" and their title evolved into the name for the French nation
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
after one of their members, Hugh Capet, ascended the throne. Since the end of the monarchy, it has been used by pretenders to the French throne such as Prince Henri, Count of Paris.
New dukedoms
After the French RevolutionFrench Revolution
The French Revolution , sometimes distinguished as the 'Great French Revolution' , was a period of radical social and political upheaval in France and Europe. The absolute monarchy that had ruled France for centuries collapsed in three years...
, further dukedoms were created by successive French rulers. Napoleon Bonaparte
Napoleon I of France
Napoleon Bonaparte was a French military and political leader during the latter stages of the French Revolution.As Napoleon I, he was Emperor of the French from 1804 to 1815...
created a substantial number of dukes in the Nobility of the First French Empire
Nobility of the First French Empire
Napoleon Bonaparte created titles of nobility to institute a stable elite in the First French Empire, after the instability resulting from the French Revolution....
, largely for Marshals of the Empire
Marshal of France
The Marshal of France is a military distinction in contemporary France, not a military rank. It is granted to generals for exceptional achievements...
and certain ministers, and many of them carried victory titles. The practice of creating dukedoms was continued by the House of Bourbon
House of Bourbon
The House of Bourbon is a European royal house, a branch of the Capetian dynasty . Bourbon kings first ruled Navarre and France in the 16th century. By the 18th century, members of the Bourbon dynasty also held thrones in Spain, Naples, Sicily, and Parma...
after the Restoration
Bourbon Restoration
The Bourbon Restoration is the name given to the period following the successive events of the French Revolution , the end of the First Republic , and then the forcible end of the First French Empire under Napoleon – when a coalition of European powers restored by arms the monarchy to the...
.