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. 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. 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. With the death of the childless Count Guy in 1308, his possessions in La Marche were seized by Philip IV of France. In 1314, the king made La Marche an '' appanage'' 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 family of Armagnac 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 (1219–1249) * Hugh VI (1249–1260) * Hugh VII (1260–1275) * Hugh VIII (1270–1303) * Guy (1303–1308) * Yolanda (1308–1314) *Annexed by Philip IV of France and given as an appanage 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, 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.

Capetian-Bourbon dynasty

* Peter II of Bourbon (1477–1503) * Charles III of Bourbon, count of Montpensier, Beaujeu, Marche, and Forez; duke of Bourbon (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 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