The County of La Marche (; oc, la Marcha) was a

medieval In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire a ...

French county, approximately corresponding to the modern ''

département In the administrative divisions of France, the department (french: département, ) is one of the three levels of government under the national level (" territorial collectivities"), between the administrative regions and the communes. Ninety ...

'' of

Creuse Creuse (; oc, Cruesa or ) is a department in central France named after the river Creuse. After Lozère, it is the second least populated department in France. It is bordered by Indre and Cher to the north, Allier and Puy-de-Dôme to the ea ...

. La Marche first appeared as a separate fief about the middle of the 10th century, when

William III, Duke of Aquitaine William III (913 – 3 April 963), called Towhead (french: Tête d'étoupe, la, Caput Stupe) from the colour of his hair, was the "Count of the Duchy of Aquitaine" from 959 and Duke of Aquitaine from 962 to his death. He was also the Count o ...

, gave it to one of his vassals, Boson, who took the title of Count. In the 12th century, the countship passed to the

House of Lusignan The House of Lusignan ( ; ) was a royal house of French origin, which at various times ruled several principalities in Europe and the Levant, including the kingdoms of Jerusalem, Cyprus, and Armenia, from the 12th through the 15th centuries duri ...

. They also were sometimes

counts of Angoulême Count (feminine: countess) is a historical title of nobility in certain European countries, varying in relative status, generally of middling rank in the hierarchy of nobility. Pine, L. G. ''Titles: How the King Became His Majesty''. New York ...

and counts of

Limousin Limousin (; oc, Lemosin ) is a former administrative region of southwest-central France. On 1 January 2016, it became part of the new administrative region of Nouvelle-Aquitaine. It comprised three departments: Corrèze, Creuse, and Haute-Vienn ...

. With the death of the childless Count Guy in 1308, his possessions in La Marche were seized by

Philip IV of France Philip IV (April–June 1268 – 29 November 1314), called Philip the Fair (french: Philippe le Bel), was King of France from 1285 to 1314. By virtue of his marriage with Joan I of Navarre, he was also King of Navarre as Philip I from ...

. In 1314, the king made La Marche an ''

appanage An appanage, or apanage (; french: apanage ), is the grant of an estate, title, office or other thing of value to a younger child of a sovereign, who would otherwise have no inheritance under the system of primogeniture. It was common in much o ...

'' for his youngest son the Prince, afterwards Charles IV. Several years later in 1327, La Marche passed into the hands of the

House of Bourbon The House of Bourbon (, also ; ) is a European dynasty of French origin, a branch of the Capetian dynasty, the royal House of France. Bourbon kings first ruled France and Navarre in the 16th century. By the 18th century, members of the Spani ...

. The family of

Armagnac Armagnac (, ) is a distinctive kind of brandy produced in the Armagnac region in Gascony, southwest France. It is distilled from wine usually made from a blend of grapes including Baco 22A, Colombard, Folle blanche and Ugni blanc, traditionally ...

held it from 1435 to 1477, when it reverted to the Bourbons. In 1527 La Marche was seized by

Francis I Francis I or Francis the First may refer to: * Francesco I Gonzaga (1366–1407) * Francis I, Duke of Brittany (1414–1450), reigned 1442–1450 * Francis I of France (1494–1547), King of France, reigned 1515–1547 * Francis I, Duke of Saxe-Lau ...

and became part of the domains of the French crown. It was divided into ''Haute Marche'' and ''Basse Marche'', the estates of the former continuing until the 17th century. From 1470 until the Revolution, the province was under the jurisdiction of the parlement of Paris.

Counts of La Marche

La Marche dynasty

*Boso I le Vieux (the Old), count of La Marche and count of Périgord (958–988) *Aldebert I, count of La Marche and Périgord (988–997) **Boso II, count of La Marche and Périgord (988–1010) *Bernard I (1010–1041) **His daughter, Almodis, married firstly with

Hugh V of Lusignan Hugh V (died 8 October 1060), called the Fair or the Pious, was the fifth Lord of Lusignan and Lord of Couhé. He succeeded his father, Hugh IV, sometime around 1026. Marriage and children Hugh married Almodis (990 or c. 1020 – murdered Oc ...

, and their son Hugh VI inherited later the county of Marche by her right. *Aldebert II (1047–1088), son of Bernard I **His daughter, also named Almodis, married before 1086 with Roger the Poitevin, of the House of Montgomery. *Boso III (1088–1091), son of Aldebert II **Eudes I, son of Bernard I, probably ruled as regent for his nephew Boso III (1088)

Lusignan dynasty

* Hugh I the Devil, son of

and

Almodis de la Marche Almodis de la Marche ( 1020 – 16 October 1071) was a French noble. She was famed for her marriage career, in particularly for her third marriage to Ramon Berenguer I, Count of Barcelona, with whom she committed double bigamy in 1053, for whic ...

(1091–1102) * Hugh II (1102–1151) * Hugh III (1151–1165) * Hugh IV the Brown (1203–1219) *

Hugh V Hugh V may refer to: * Hugh V of Lusignan (died 1060) * Hugh V, Count of Maine, ruled 1069–1072 * Hugh V, Viscount of Châteaudun (died 1180) * Hugh V, Duke of Burgundy Hugh V (1294 – 9 May 1315) was Duke of Burgundy between 1306 and 13 ...

(1219–1249) * Hugh VI (1249–1260) * Hugh VII (1260–1275) * Hugh VIII (1270–1303) * Guy (1303–1308) * Yolanda (1308–1314) *Annexed by

and given as an

to Philip's son

Charles the Fair Charles IV (18/19 June 1294 – 1 February 1328), called the Fair (''le Bel'') in France and the Bald (''el Calvo'') in Navarre, was last king of the direct line of the House of Capet, King of France and King of Navarre (as Charles I) from 1322 ...

Capetian dynasty

(1314–1322) *On Charles' succession to the throne in 1322, he exchanged the county with Louis of Bourbon for the County of Clermont.

Capetian-Bourbon dynasty

* Louis I of Bourbon (1322–1341) * James I of Bourbon (1341–1362) * Peter II of Bourbon-La Marche (1362) * John I of Bourbon-La Marche (1362–1393) * James II (1393–1438), married

Joan II of Naples Joanna II (25 June 1371 – 2 February 1435) was reigning Queen of Naples from 1414 to her death, upon which the Capetian House of Anjou became extinct. As a mere formality, she used the title of Queen of Jerusalem, Sicily, and Hungary. Earl ...

Armagnac dynasty

Bernard Bernard ('' Bernhard'') is a French and West Germanic masculine given name. It is also a surname. The name is attested from at least the 9th century. West Germanic ''Bernhard'' is composed from the two elements ''bern'' "bear" and ''hard'' "bra ...

, count of Pardiac and of Marche, duke of Nemours (1438–1462) (''in right of his wife'',

Eleanor Eleanor () is a feminine given name, originally from an Old French adaptation of the Old Provençal name ''Aliénor''. It is the name of a number of women of royalty and nobility in western Europe during the High Middle Ages. The name was intro ...

, ''daughter of'' James II) * Jacques d'Armagnac, 4th Duc de Nemours, count of Pardiac and of Marche, duke of Nemours (1462–1477) *In 1477, Jacques was convicted of treason and his territories were confiscated by

Louis XI of France Louis XI (3 July 1423 – 30 August 1483), called "Louis the Prudent" (french: le Prudent), was King of France from 1461 to 1483. He succeeded his father, Charles VII. Louis entered into open rebellion against his father in a short-lived revol ...

Capetian-Bourbon dynasty

Peter II of Bourbon Peter II, Duke of Bourbon (1 December 1438 – 10 October 1503 in Moulins), was the son of Charles I, Duke of Bourbon, and Agnes of Burgundy, and a member of the House of Bourbon. He and his wife Anne of France ruled as regents during the mino ...

(1477–1503) * Charles III of Bourbon,

count of Montpensier The French lordship of Montpensier (named after the village of Montpensier, département of Puy-de-Dôme), located in historical Auvergne, became a countship in the 14th century. It changed hands from the House of Thiern, to the House of Be ...

, Beaujeu, Marche, and Forez;

duke of Bourbon Duke of Bourbon (french: Duc de 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 ...

(1505–1525)

Orleanist pretenders to Count of La Marche

The title was granted to Thibaut, a younger son of

Henri Henri is an Estonian, Finnish, French, German and Luxembourgish form of the masculine given name Henry. People with this given name ; French noblemen :'' See the ' List of rulers named Henry' for Kings of France named Henri.'' * Henri I de Mon ...

, the

Orléanist Orléanist (french: Orléaniste) was a 19th-century French political label originally used by those who supported a constitutional monarchy expressed by the House of Orléans. Due to the radical political changes that occurred during that cent ...

claimant to the throne of France. *Prince Thibaut, Count of La Marche (1948–1983) *Prince Robert, Count of La Marche (b. 1976, r. 1983- )

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:County Of La Marche Former provinces of France Creuse La Marche 958 establishments States and territories established in the 10th century History of Nouvelle-Aquitaine History of Centre-Val de Loire History of Charente History of Creuse History of Haute-Vienne History of Indre History of Vienne 10th-century establishments in France Former counties of France

Counts of La Marche

La Marche dynasty

Lusignan dynasty

Capetian dynasty

Capetian-Bourbon dynasty

Armagnac dynasty

Capetian-Bourbon dynasty

Orleanist pretenders to Count of La Marche

See also

References