Duke of Beaufort (French: ''duc de Beaufort'') was a title in the
French nobility
The French nobility (french: la noblesse française) was a privileged social class in France from the Middle Ages until its abolition on June 23, 1790 during the French Revolution.
From 1808 to 1815 during the First Empire the Emperor Napoléo ...
.
History
The
duke
Duke is a male title either of a monarch ruling over a duchy, or of a member of royalty, or nobility. As rulers, dukes are ranked below emperors, kings, grand princes, grand dukes, and sovereign princes. As royalty or nobility, they are ran ...
dom was first created in 1597 as a
peerage
A peerage is a legal system historically comprising various hereditary titles (and sometimes non-hereditary titles) in a number of countries, and composed of assorted noble ranks.
Peerages include:
Australia
* Australian peers
Belgium
* Belgi ...
for
Gabrielle d'Estrées
Gabrielle d'Estrées, Duchess of Beaufort and Verneuil, Marchioness of Monceaux (; 157310 April 1599) was a mistress, confidante and adviser of Henry IV of France. She persuaded Henry to renounce Protestantism in favour of Catholicism in 1593. La ...
, Marchioness of Monceaux, the mistress of King
Henry IV, with a remainder to their illegitimate son
César, who later also became
Duke of Vendôme
Duke is a male title either of a monarch ruling over a duchy, or of a member of royalty, or nobility. As rulers, dukes are ranked below emperors, kings, grand princes, grand dukes, and sovereign princes. As royalty or nobility, they are ranke ...
.
The
duchy
A duchy, also called a dukedom, is a Middle Ages, medieval country, territory, fiefdom, fief, or domain ruled by a duke or duchess, a ruler hierarchically second to the king or Queen regnant, queen in Western European tradition.
There once exis ...
(i.e. the lands associated with the dukedom) was sold by the
5th Duke of Beaufort in 1688 to
Charles François Frédéric de Montmorency-Luxembourg
Charles is a masculine given name predominantly found in English and French speaking countries. It is from the French form ''Charles'' of the Proto-Germanic name (in runic alphabet) or ''*karilaz'' (in Latin alphabet), whose meaning was " ...
, who was created Duke of Beaufort without a peerage that same year. The dukedom of Beaufort was renamed
dukedom of Montmorency in 1689. He later succeeded as
Duke of Piney-Luxembourg
Duke of Piney (french: Duc de Piney) was a title in the Peerage of France. The holders were also sometimes called duc de Luxembourg, after the House of Luxembourg, from whom they were descended.
History
The duchy-peerage was created in 1581 for ...
.
Dukes of Beaufort – first creation (1597)
* 1597–1599 :
Gabrielle, 1st Duchess of Beaufort (1571–1599)
* 1599–1665 :
César, 2nd Duke of Beaufort (1594–1665)
* 1665–1669 :
François, 3rd Duke of Beaufort (1616–1669)
* 1669–1675 :
Louis, 4th Duke of Beaufort (1612–1669)
* 1675–1688 :
Louis Joseph, 5th Duke of Beaufort (1654–1712)
Dukes of Beaufort – second creation (1688)
* 1688–1689 : Charles, 1st Duke of Beaufort (1662–1726).
* The dukedom's name was changed from Beaufort to Montmorency in 1689. For holders of this title, see
Duke of Montmorency
Duke of Montmorency was a title of French nobility that was created several times for members of the Montmorency family, who were lords of Montmorency, near Paris.
History
The first creation was in 1551 for Anne de Montmorency, Constable of ...
(third creation).
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Duke of Beaufort (France)
1597 establishments in France