Blason_de_la_famille_de_Blacas_d%27Aulps

The House of Blacas is the name of two old French houses which successively owned the Lordship of

Aups Aups (; Provençal oc, Aups in the classical norm, ''Aup'' in the Mistralian norm, )However, after the preposition ''a ~ à'' 'to', the forms are ''as Aups ~ à-z-Aup'' and are pronounced is a commune in the Var department in the Provence-Alp ...

with its castle in Provence (whose name is still spelled in the ancient form ''Aulps'' in their surname).

Blacas d'Aulps family

The first Blacas, Pierre d'Aulps, is said to have participated in the

First Crusade The First Crusade (1096–1099) was the first of a series of religious wars, or Crusades, initiated, supported and at times directed by the Latin Church in the medieval period. The objective was the recovery of the Holy Land from Islamic ru ...

and to have stemmed from the

House of Baux The House of Baux is a French nobility, French noble family from the south of France. It was one of the richest and most powerful families of Medieval Provence, known as the 'Race d’Aiglon'. They were independent Lords as castellans of Les Baux ...

, whose arms are similar to those of Blacas, but with the tinctures reversed (this claimed filiation is still expressed by the two banners with the Baux arms in the coat of arms of the Dukes of Blacas). As early as the 12th century his grandson Blacacius de Blacas (died 1236), called "the great warrior," distinguished himself among the most valiant knights of the court of

Ramon Berenguer IV, Count of Provence Ramon Berenguer IV (french: Raimond-Bérenger; 1198 – 19 August 1245) was a member of the House of Barcelona who ruled as count of Provence and Forcalquier. He was the first count of Provence to live in the county in more than one hundred years ...

. He married Laure of Castellane, and excelled as both a soldier and a

troubadour A troubadour (, ; oc, trobador ) was a composer and performer of Old Occitan lyric poetry during the High Middle Ages (1100–1350). Since the word ''troubadour'' is etymologically masculine, a female troubadour is usually called a ''trobairit ...

. He left three sons, two named after him and one named Boniface.

Blacasset Blacasset, Blacassetz, Blacssetz, or Blachessetz ( fl. 1233–1242Aubrey, 23.) was a Provençal troubadour of the noble family of the Blacas, lords of Aulps, in the Empire. He was probably a son of the troubadour Blacatz, as his ''vida'' al ...

succeeded his father as a troubadour while Boniface succeeded in Aulps and married Ayceline of Moustiers. From this union was born another Blacasset, who accompanied

Charles I Charles I may refer to: Kings and emperors * Charlemagne (742–814), numbered Charles I in the lists of Holy Roman Emperors and French kings * Charles I of Anjou (1226–1285), also king of Albania, Jerusalem, Naples and Sicily * Charles I of ...

to Naples. His name was immortalized by

Frédéric Mistral Joseph Étienne Frédéric Mistral (; oc, Josèp Estève Frederic Mistral, 8 September 1830 – 25 March 1914) was a French writer of Occitan literature and lexicographer of the Provençal form of the language. He received the 1904 Nobel P ...

who attributed him the positioning of the chain that links up the two boulders at

Moustiers-Sainte-Marie Moustiers-Sainte-Marie (; oc, Mostiers Santa Maria), or simply Moustiers, is a commune in the Alpes-de-Haute-Provence department in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region of Southeastern France. In 2017, it had a population of 709. It considere ...

. Captured by infidels, Blacasset is supposed to have vowed that, if freed, he would stretch this chain between the boulders and from it suspend a sixteen-branched star, emblem of his family. The first house of Blacas became extinct at the end of the 14th century, but its heiress, Philippa de Blacas, married around 1380 Rostang de Soleilhas (perhaps a relative in the male line) who then assumed the name and arms of Blacas. The present house of Blacas descends from them. Lords of the town of

, the family fought with the town from 1346 to 1712. Aups won the contest in the end, becoming a direct legal dependent of the French king. The Blacas family possessed the castles of

Vérignon Vérignon (; Verinhon in Classical Provençal and Verignoun in Provençal of the mistralian norm) is a commune in the Var department in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region in southeastern France. Géography The town is situated at the foot ...

and of Aups as well as many other domains in the current district around Aups. The most famous member of the family was Pierre-Louis de Blacas d'Aulps, Count and later 1st Duke of Blacas, Peer of France, a renowned

antiquarian An antiquarian or antiquary () is an fan (person), aficionado or student of antiquities or things of the past. More specifically, the term is used for those who study history with particular attention to ancient artifact (archaeology), artifac ...

and minister to King

Louis XVIII Louis XVIII (Louis Stanislas Xavier; 17 November 1755 – 16 September 1824), known as the Desired (), was King of France from 1814 to 1824, except for a brief interruption during the Hundred Days in 1815. He spent twenty-three years in ...

during the Bourbon Restoration and a fervent

legitimist The Legitimists (french: Légitimistes) are royalists who adhere to the rights of dynastic succession to the French crown of the descendants of the eldest branch of the Bourbon dynasty, which was overthrown in the 1830 July Revolution. They re ...

after 1830. The present chief of the name and arms is Casimir de Blacas d'Aulps, 7th Duke of Blacas (b. 1943).

Duke of Blacas (1821)

Duke of Blacas is a title in the

Peerage of France The Peerage of France (french: Pairie de France) was a hereditary distinction within the French nobility which appeared in 1180 in the Middle Ages. The prestigious title and position of Peer of France (french: Pair de France, links=no) was ...

. It was created by ordinance dated 30 April 1821 and Letters patent dated 11 September 1824 for Pierre-Louis de Blacas d'Aulps, only surviving son of Alexandre-Pierre de Blacas, Lord of Aulps, Vérignon, Fabrègues, etc.,

Knight of Saint-Louis The Royal and Military Order of Saint Louis (french: Ordre Royal et Militaire de Saint-Louis) is a dynastic order of chivalry founded 5 April 1693 by King Louis XIV, named after Saint Louis (King Louis IX of France). It was intended as a rewar ...

(known as ''le marquis de Blacas''). He was a member of the

Government of the first Bourbon restoration The Government of the first Bourbon restoration replaced the French provisional government of 1814 that had been formed after the fall of Napoleon. It was announced on 13 May 1814 by King Louis XVIII of France. After the return of Napoleon from e ...

from 13 May 1814 to 19 March 1815. The 1st Duke had been previously made an hereditary Peer (without specific rank) as early as 17 August 1815, and had been created ''Count of Blacas'' in the French Peerage by ordinance dated 31 August 1817, but having not been regulated by Letters patent, this previous comital title did not become hereditary. In 1830, he refused to recognize

Louis-Philippe Louis Philippe (6 October 1773 – 26 August 1850) was King of the French from 1830 to 1848, and the penultimate List of French monarchs#House of Orléans, July Monarchy (1830–1848), monarch of France. As Louis Philippe, Duke of Chartres, h ...

as King of the French and so lost his seat in the House of Peers. Later, he also received, by diploma dated 23 June 1838, the Austrian title of prince (''

Fürst ' (, female form ', plural '; from Old High German ', "the first", a translation of the Latin ') is a German word for a ruler and is also a princely title. ' were, since the Middle Ages, members of the highest nobility who ruled over states of ...

von Blacas d'Aulps''), hereditary in the male line (with the title of Count for cadet sons). * Pierre-Louis de Blacas d'Aulps, Count and then 1st Duke of Blacas, 1st Prince of Blacas (1771-1839) * Louis de Blacas d'Aulps, 2nd Duke of Blacas, 2nd Prince of Blacas (1815–1866), son of the 1st Duke * Casimir de Blacas d'Aulps, 3rd Duke of Blacas, 3rd Prince of Blacas (1847-1866), son of the 2d Duke *Pierre de Blacas d'Aulps, 4th Duke of Blacas, 4th Prince of Blacas (1853-1937), brother of the 3rd Duke *Stanislas de Blacas d'Aulps, 5th Duke of Blacas, 5th Prince of Blacas (1885-1941), son of the 4th Duke *Pierre de Blacas d'Aulps de La Baume-Pluvinel, 6th Duke of Blacas, 6th Prince of Blacas (1913-1997), son of the 5th Duke *Casimir de Blacas d'Aulps, 7th Duke of Blacas, 7th Prince of Blacas (1943-), son of the 6th Duke The

Heir Apparent An heir apparent, often shortened to heir, is a person who is first in an order of succession and cannot be displaced from inheriting by the birth of another person; a person who is first in the order of succession but can be displaced by the b ...

is the present holder's only son Marquis Louis-Stanislas de Blacas d'Aulps (b.1982). The family seat is now the

Château d'Ussé Ussé is a castle in the Indre-et-Loire ''département'', in France. The stronghold at the edge of the Chinon forest overlooking the Indre Valley was first fortified in the eleventh century by the Norman ''seigneur'' of Ussé, Gueldin de Saumur, w ...

(

Indre-et-Loire Indre-et-Loire () is a department in west-central France named after the Indre River and Loire River The Loire (, also ; ; oc, Léger, ; la, Liger) is the longest river in France and the 171st longest in the world. With a length of , it ...

), inherited in 1883.

Arms

Argent, a star of sixteen points gules. Two banners gules, a star of sixteen points argent, crossed in saltier behind the shield surmounted by a coronet of prince and supported by two wild men proper, under the mantel and ducal coronet of a Peer of France (the mantle azure lined with ermine and fringed with gold). Motto: ''PRO DEO, PRO REGE''. Crest: An oak sinople issuant from a French Baron's coronet proper. War-cry: ''VAILLANCE''. According to

, the family crest is

canting ' (IPA: , VOS Spelling: ''tjanting'', jv, ꦕꦤ꧀ꦛꦶꦁ, Tjanting) is a pen-like tool used to apply liquid hot wax ( jv, ) in the batik-making process in Indonesia, more precisely '' batik tulis'' (lit. "written batik"). Traditional ''T ...

because ''blacas'' also means "

white oak The genus ''Quercus'' contains about 500 species, some of which are listed here. The genus, as is the case with many large genera, is divided into subgenera and sections. Traditionally, the genus ''Quercus'' was divided into the two subgenera '' ...

" in ProvençalF. Mistral, ''Lou tresor dóu Felibrige'', t. I, p. 294: ''"Blacas, Blachas (...): chêne blanc (…) L'illustre famille provençale de ce nom, originaire d’Aups (Var), porte un chêne dans ses armes."''

References

Hubert Cuny, Nicole Dreneau, ''Le Gotha français : état présent des familles ducales et princières (depuis 1940)'', Paris 1989. Vicomte de Ponton d'Amécourt, ''Notice nécrologique sur M. le Duc de Blacas d'Aulps, né le 15 avril 1815, mort à Venise le 10 février 1866'', Paris 1866 (extrait de la ''Revue numismatique''). Vicomte A. Révérend, ''Titres, anoblissements et pairies de la Restauration'', vol. I, Paris 1906.

Notes

{{commons category, Blacas Collection House of Baux

Blacas The House of Blacas is the name of two old French houses which successively owned the Lordship of Aups with its castle in Provence (whose name is still spelled in the ancient form ''Aulps'' in their surname). Blacas d'Aulps family The first Blaca ...