The Duchy of La Vallière (''duché de La Vallière'') was a noble French title created on 13 May 1667 by

Louis XIV , house = Bourbon , father = Louis XIII , mother = Anne of Austria , birth_date = , birth_place = Château de Saint-Germain-en-Laye, Saint-Germain-en-Laye, France , death_date = , death_place = Palace of Ver ...

for his one time mistress Louise Françoise de La Baume Le Blanc. It became extinct

de facto ''De facto'' ( ; , "in fact") describes practices that exist in reality, whether or not they are officially recognized by laws or other formal norms. It is commonly used to refer to what happens in practice, in contrast with ''de jure'' ("by la ...

in 1780 at the death of Louise's great-nephew

Louis César de La Baume Le Blanc Louis César de La Baume Le Blanc, ''duc de Vaujours'', '' ''duc de La Vallière' (9 October 1708 – 16 November 1780), was a French nobleman, bibliophile and military man. The present '' duc d'Uzès'' and ''duc de Luynes'' descend from him. ...

, the famous

bibliophile Bibliophilia or bibliophilism is the love of books. A bibliophile or bookworm is an individual who loves and frequently reads and/or collects books. Profile The classic bibliophile is one who loves to read, admire and collect books, often ama ...

and military man.

History

Louise de La Vallière, known as ''Mademoiselle de La Vallière'', was the mistress of Louis XIV from 1661 to 1667. Louise was the mother of six of Louis' children, of whom two survived infancy. The duchy was given the subsidiary title of Duke of Vaujours (''duc de Vaujours''). The Lordship of La Vallière (''seigneurie de La Vallière'') had been owned by Louise's family since the lifetime of her great-grandfather Laurent Le Blanc. Laurent's only son Jean took on the name of ''La Baume Le Blanc'' in his lifetime. He was also the baron de La Papelardière. Louise was given the title after she was displaced by

Madame de Montespan Madame may refer to: * Madam, civility title or form of address for women, derived from the French * Madam (prostitution), a term for a woman who is engaged in the business of procuring prostitutes, usually the manager of a brothel * ''Madame'' ( ...

, who also had children with Louis. When Louise left court, she gave the two duchies to her only daughter Marie Anne de Bourbon, ''Mademoiselle de Blois'' and widow of Louis Armand de Bourbon, ''prince de Conti''. Widowed in 1685 aged 19 and childless. In 1698 Marie Anne gave the title to her cousin, Charles François de La Baume Le Blanc. Till then, Charles François had been styled the ''marquis de La Vallière''. After 1698 he took the ducal title as well as the duchy of Vaujours. When his son Louis César was born in 1708, he was styled as ''duc de Vaujours'' till the death of Charles François in 1739 when he succeeded to the Duchy of La Vallière. Louis César, close to

Louis XV Louis XV (15 February 1710 – 10 May 1774), known as Louis the Beloved (french: le Bien-Aimé), was King of France from 1 September 1715 until his death in 1774. He succeeded his great-grandfather Louis XIV at the age of five. Until he reached ...

and his mistress Madame de Pompadour, was the great

who assembled a great library. He was a first cousin of Louis Jean Marie de Bourbon a grandson of Madame de Montespan and Louis XIV. Louis César had one child: his daughter, Adrienne Emilie Félicité de La Baume Le Blanc, married the Duke of Châtillon in 1756 and succeeded to the title and was styled as ''duchesse de Châtillon et de La Vallière''. At her death the title became extinct, her eldest daughter, Amable Emilie, marrying the ''duc de Crussol'' (another descendant of Madame de Montespan) and the youngest, Louise Emmanuelle, to Charles Bretagne Marie de La Trémoille. The arms of the Duke of La Vallière (from 1723) were blazoned, ''coupé de gueules et d'Or au lion léopardé coupé d'argent et de sable'' ("per fess gules and Or a lion passant per fess argent and sable").PDF de La Baume Le Blanc
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Dukes of La Vallière

Duchesses of La Vallière (1667-1675)

Duchesses of La Vallière (1680-1698)

Dukes of La Vallière (1698-c.1780)

References and notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Duchy of La Valliere Dukes of La Vallière House of Bourbon (France) French titles of nobility