The Duchy of Orléanais () is a former

province of France The Kingdom of France was organised into provinces until the National Constituent Assembly adopted a more uniform division into departments (''départements'') and districts in late 1789. The provinces continued to exist administratively until ...

, which was created during the

Renaissance The Renaissance ( , ) , from , with the same meanings. is a period in European history marking the transition from the Middle Ages to modernity and covering the 15th and 16th centuries, characterized by an effort to revive and surpass ide ...

by merging four former counties and towns. However after the

French Revolution The French Revolution ( ) was a period of radical political and societal change in France that began with the Estates General of 1789 and ended with the formation of the French Consulate in November 1799. Many of its ideas are conside ...

, the province was dissolved in 1791 and succeeded by five ''départments'' (less some communes to others).

Dukedom

The Duchy of Orléanais was created in 1344 by raising the former County of Orléans to a Dukedom under King Philip VI for his second son Philip de Valois. With the creation of the duchy, several localities around the former county were also integrated, they included the County of Beaugency and the Seigneurities of Neuville-aux-Bois, Yèvre-le-Châtel,

Châteauneuf-en-Thymerais Châteauneuf-en-Thymerais () is a commune in Eure-et-Loir department in northern France. The commune was once an important stronghold reigning over the whole natural and historic province of Thymerais. Born of the fierce determination of its f ...

Lorris Lorris () is a commune in the Loiret department in north-central France. Geography Lorris is located northeast of Sully-sur-Loire, southwest of Montargis, east of Orléans and south of Paris. It is in the southernmost part of the histori ...

, and Boiscommun. In 1375, Prince Philip died without a legitimate heir, the title of 'Duke of Orléans' and the duchy itself were merged into the royal domain (crown lands) of the King of France. Carte_de_l'Orléanais

In 1392, the duchy was re-created by King Charles VI for his younger brother Louis de Valois-Orléans. The duke was later succeeded by his son Charles de Valois-Orléans who reigned until 1465 when he died of natural causes. He was succeeded by his own son Louis de Valois-Orléans, who became King Louis XII in 1495 and the title was merged into the crown once more. In 1519, the dukedom was once again created by King Francis I for his second son Henri de Valois-Angoulême. However, Henri later renounced his title when he became

Dauphin of France Dauphin of France (, also ; french: Dauphin de France ), originally Dauphin of Viennois (''Dauphin de Viennois''), was the title given to the heir apparent to the throne of France from 1350 to 1791, and from 1824 to 1830. The word ''dauphin' ...

(heir to the throne) in 1536. He was then succeeded by his son Charles de Valois-Angoulême who reigned as duke until he died of the flu in 1545. In 1549, the dukedom was again created for the one year old Prince Louis de Valois-Angoulême, who died just a few months into his tenure. He was succeeded by his older brother Charles, who became King Charles IX in 1560 and renounced his dukedom. Charles was succeeded by Henri de Valois-Angoulême, but dropped his title in 1566 in exchange for the Dukedom of Anjou. In February 1566, the title was transferred to Queen Consort Chatherine de' Medici as Duchess of Orléans. She died in 1589 and the dukedome was once again merged into the crown. In 1626,

Louis XIII Louis XIII (; sometimes called the Just; 27 September 1601 – 14 May 1643) was King of France from 1610 until his death in 1643 and King of Navarre (as Louis II) from 1610 to 1620, when the crown of Navarre was merged with the French crow ...

re-created the Dukedom of Orléans for his younger brother Gaston, Duke of Anjou who reigned as duke until 1660 when he died of natural causes. One again the title merged into the crown for the last time. Finally in 1661 the Dukedom of Orléans was created for the final time by King

Louis XIV Louis XIV (Louis Dieudonné; 5 September 16381 September 1715), also known as Louis the Great () or the Sun King (), was List of French monarchs, King of France from 14 May 1643 until his death in 1715. His reign of 72 years and 110 days is the Li ...

for his brother Prince Philip, Duke of Anjou. He was succeeded by his son, then his grandson, great-grandson, and finally great-great grandson Louis Philippe II. In 1793, he was executed for treason during the Reign of Terror and succeeded by his son Louis Philippe III (later King Louis Philippe). The title then transferred for the last time to Prince Ferdinand Philippe de Orléans who died in an accident in 1842 and the title was dissolved as the Kingdom of France itself was dissolved in 1830.

Province

The Province of Orléanais roughly corresponds to the old Duchy of Orléanais and was created on 7 April 1498 when Louis II became King Louis XII. The new province incorporated local counties, including the

Orléans Orléans (;"Orleans"
(US) and Blois, Vendôme, Chartrès, and

Étampes Étampes () is a commune in the metropolitan area of Paris, France. It is located south-southwest from the center of Paris (as the crow flies). Étampes is a sub-prefecture of the Essonne department. Étampes, together with the neighboring c ...

. With the duchy absorbed into the royal domain, it was transformed into a province (really a military district instead of the equivalent of an English county or American state).de Lavergne, p. 161–162Masson, p. 33 In 1558, the province was elevated into a Generality (''Géneralité'') or General Government (''Gouvernment Général'') and a permanent governor was installed in the region. During this period, the Duke of Orléans was de jure owner of the land, but the Governor was de facto overseer of the province. In 1776, as part of a reorganisation of the military general governments (provinces), the governments were divided into three categories. The highest or "most important" were the First Category including notably Rennes,

Lyon Lyon,, ; Occitan: ''Lion'', hist. ''Lionés'' also spelled in English as Lyons, is the third-largest city and second-largest metropolitan area of France. It is located at the confluence of the rivers Rhône and Saône, to the northwest of ...

Aix Aix or AIX may refer to: Computing * AIX, a line of IBM computer operating systems *An Alternate Index, for a Virtual Storage Access Method Key Sequenced Data Set * Athens Internet Exchange, a European Internet exchange point Places Belgiu ...

Strasbourg Strasbourg (, , ; german: Straßburg ; gsw, label= Bas Rhin Alsatian, Strossburi , gsw, label= Haut Rhin Alsatian, Strossburig ) is the prefecture and largest city of the Grand Est region of eastern France and the official seat of the ...

, and

Metz Metz ( , , lat, Divodurum Mediomatricorum, then ) is a city in northeast France located at the confluence of the Moselle and the Seille rivers. Metz is the prefecture of the Moselle department and the seat of the parliament of the Grand ...

; the Second Category included Orléanais,

La Rochelle La Rochelle (, , ; Poitevin-Saintongeais: ''La Rochéle''; oc, La Rochèla ) is a city on the west coast of France and a seaport on the Bay of Biscay, a part of the Atlantic Ocean. It is the capital of the Charente-Maritime department. Wi ...

, Angoulême,

Nevers Nevers ( , ; la, Noviodunum, later ''Nevirnum'' and ''Nebirnum'') is the prefecture of the Nièvre Departments of France, department in the Bourgogne-Franche-Comté Regions of France, region in central France. It was the principal city of the ...

; and the Special Category including

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. Si ...

and

Monaco Monaco (; ), officially the Principality of Monaco (french: Principauté de Monaco; Ligurian: ; oc, Principat de Mónegue), is a sovereign city-state and microstate on the French Riviera a few kilometres west of the Italian region of Lig ...

. The first category's military governor was to be a

Marshal of France Marshal of France (french: Maréchal de France, plural ') is a French military distinction, rather than a military rank, that is awarded to generals for exceptional achievements. The title has been awarded since 1185, though briefly abolished ( ...

, the second class were reserved for

Lieutenant Generals A lieutenant ( , ; abbreviated Lt., Lt, LT, Lieut and similar) is a commissioned officer rank in the armed forces of many nations. The meaning of lieutenant differs in different militaries (see comparative military ranks), but it is often sub ...

, and the special regions were assigned by the King. In 1791, under the auspicious of 'unity of France', the provinces were dissolved and succeeded by smaller ''départments''. The former province was split between several new ''départments'':

Loiret Loiret (; ) is a department in the Centre-Val de Loire region of north-central France. It takes its name from the river Loiret, which is contained wholly within the department. In 2019, Loiret had a population of 680,434.< ...

, Loir-et-Cher,

Eure-et-Loir Eure-et-Loir (, locally: ) is a French department, named after the Eure and Loir rivers. It is located in the region of Centre-Val de Loire. In 2019, Eure-et-Loir had a population of 431,575.Seine-et-Oise, and Yonne. Some communes joined other ''départments'', including: * Cher ( Brinon-sur-Sauldre) *

Essonne Essonne () is a department of France in the southern Île-de-France region. It is named after the river Essonne. In 2019, it had a population of 1,301,659 across 194 communes.Abbéville-la-Rivière, Angerville,

Authon-la-Plaine Authon-la-Plaine () is a commune in the Essonne department in Île-de-France in northern France. Inhabitants are known as ''Authonais'' in French. See also *Communes of the Essonne department The following is a list of the 194 communes of t ...

Auvers-Saint-Georges Auvers-Saint-Georges () is a commune in the Essonne department in Île-de-France in northern France. Inhabitants are known as ''Auversois''. Geography The village lies on the right bank of the Juine, which forms all of the commune's north-wes ...

, Blandy,

Boigneville Boigneville () is a commune in the Essonne department in Île-de-France in northern France. Inhabitants of Boigneville are known as ''Boignevillois''. Geography Climate Boigneville has a oceanic climate ( Köppen climate classification ''Cfb' ...

, Bois-Herpin,

Boissy-la-Rivière Boissy-la-Rivière () is a commune in the Essonne department in Île-de-France in northern France. Geography The village lies on the right bank of the Juine The Juine () is a French river, long. It is a left tributary of the river Essonne. ...

, Boissy-le-Cutté, Bouville, Brouy, Cerny, Chalo-Saint-Mars, Chalou-Moulineux, Chatignonville, Champmotteux, Chauffour-lès-Étréchy, Courdimanche-sur-Essonne, D'Huison-Longueville, Estouches,

, Étréchy, Fontaine-la-Rivière, La Forêt-Sainte-Croix, Gironville-sur-Essonne, Guillerval, Maisse, Marolles-en-Beauce, Méréville, Mérobert, Mespuits, Monnerville,

Morigny-Champigny Morigny-Champigny () is a commune in the Essonne department in Île-de-France in northern France. Inhabitants of Morigny-Champigny are known as ''Morignacois''. Geography The village lies on the right bank of the Juine, which flows northward t ...

, Ormoy-la-Rivière, Orveau, Plessis-Saint-Benoist, Prunay-sur-Essonne, Puiselet-le-Marais, Pussay, Richarville, Roinvilliers,

Saclas Saclas () is a commune in the Essonne department in Île-de-France in northern France. Inhabitants of Saclas are known as ''Saclasiens''. Geography The Juine The Juine () is a French river, long. It is a left tributary of the river Essonn ...

Saint-Cyr-la-Rivière Saint-Cyr-la-Rivière () is a commune in the Essonne department in Île-de-France in northern France. Inhabitants of Saint-Cyr-la-Rivière are known as ''Saint-Cyriens''. Geography The village lies on the left bank of the Éclimont, which form ...

, Saint-Escobille, Congerville-Thionville, Valpuiseaux, Vayres-sur-Essonne, and Villeneuve-sur-Auvers) *

Indre-et-Loire Indre-et-Loire () is a department in west-central France named after the Indre River and Loire River. In 2019, it had a population of 610,079.Chemillé-sur-Dême, Épeigné-sur-Dême, La Ferrière, Les Hermites, and Monthodon) * Sarthe ( La Chapelle-Huon, Marolles-lès-Saint-Calais, Poncé-sur-le-Loir, Ruillé-sur-Loir, Saint-Calais, and Saint-Gervais-de-Vic) * Seine-et-Marne ( Boulancourt and Buthiers) * Yvelines ( Ablis, Allainville, Boinville-le-Gaillard, Orsonville, Paray-Douaville, Prunay-en-Yvelines, and Saint-Martin-de-Bréthencourt)

Administration

Governors

A governor of a province in France before the revolution was initially the representative of the King in the area and held no real power. Until the transformations under

, the governorship of a province was more of a ''de jure'' appointment, and had no status in decision making. However, after Louis XIV's reforms, the governorship of a province transformed into a military-held appointment. From then, the governor was not just the King's representative, but also military commander of the area. In addition to his military duties, the governor was ''de-facto'' leader of the province while the titular holder (ex: Duke of Orléans) was ''de jure'' owner of the province. Below is a list of the Governors of Orléanais:

Assemblies

In 1558, most provinces in France were separated further into tax districts or ''Élections''. Orléanais included the following: Beauce, Blésois,

Vendômois The Vendômois () is a traditional area of France equivalent to the arrondissement of Vendôme, to the north of Loir-et-Cher Loir-et-Cher (, ) is a department in the Centre-Val de Loire region of France. Its name is originated from two rivers w ...

, Bas-Vendômois, Chartrès, Dunois, and Gâtinais (only part).de Lavergne, p. 172 The ''Généralite'' of Orléanis had a 52 member assembly in Orléans who worked alongside the Duke of Orléans to run the province. Among the notable presidents was Anne-Charles-Sigismond de Montmorency-Luxembourg, Duke of Montmorency-Luxembourg.

Footnotes

References

* * * * *

External links

* French language Former provinces of France History of Île-de-France History of Centre-Val de Loire History of Pays de la Loire History of Bourgogne-Franche-Comté History of Cher (department) History of Essonne History of Eure-et-Loir History of Indre-et-Loire History of Loir-et-Cher History of Orléans History of Sarthe History of Seine-et-Marne History of Yonne History of Yvelines {{centre-geo-stub 1498 establishments in Europe 1791 disestablishments in France