The Saboulin Bollena family (or Sebolin, or Sabolin) is one of the oldest French aristocratic families, from the old feudal nobility of

Provence Provence is a geographical region and historical province of southeastern France, which stretches from the left bank of the lower Rhône to the west to the France–Italy border, Italian border to the east; it is bordered by the Mediterrane ...

History

They lived until 1620 in Var in the cities of

Brignoles Brignoles (; ) is a commune in the Var department in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region of Southeastern France. Alongside Draguignan, it is one of two subprefectures in Var. It was the summer residence of the counts of Provence; their ...

and Signes where several generations served as Captain General. Furthermore, Francois de Saboulin Bollena, lord of

La Motte-du-Caire La Motte-du-Caire (; , before 1988: ''La Motte'')Décret du 2 ...

, first Consul of the city of

Hyères Hyères (), Provençal dialect, Provençal Occitan language, Occitan: ''Ieras'' in classical norm, or ''Iero'' in Mistralian norm) is a Communes of France, commune in the Var (département), Var Departments of France, department in the Provence-Al ...

, was a deputy sent from the States of

to the Estates-General of the kingdom held at Paris in 1614. The oldest branch of the family next settled in

Marseille Marseille (; ; see #Name, below) is a city in southern France, the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Departments of France, department of Bouches-du-Rhône and of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur Regions of France, region. Situated in the ...

. In 1668 they were maintained in there nobility by the commissioner appointed by the King in Provence. Pierre de Saboulin Bollena was

ealdorman Ealdorman ( , )"ealdorman"
''Collins English Dictionary''. was an office in the Government ...

and distinguished himself by the help he gave to the charities for the

Holy Land The term "Holy Land" is used to collectively denote areas of the Southern Levant that hold great significance in the Abrahamic religions, primarily because of their association with people and events featured in the Bible. It is traditionall ...

and for the restoration of the

Holy Sepulchre Church The Church of the Holy Sepulchre, also known as the Church of the Resurrection, is a fourth-century church in the Christian Quarter of the Old City of Jerusalem. The church is the seat of the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Jerusalem. Some c ...

Jerusalem Jerusalem is a city in the Southern Levant, on a plateau in the Judaean Mountains between the Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean and the Dead Sea. It is one of the List of oldest continuously inhabited cities, oldest cities in the world, and ...

, and Francois de Saboulin Bollena, first ealdorman and

Mayor In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a Municipal corporation, municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilitie ...

, secretary to the King, House and Crown of France. They intermarried with the families of Beausset, d'Ortigues, Glandevès, d'Amalric, Pontevès-Maubousquet, Valavoire, Clapiers-Collongues, Robineau de Beaulieu, d'Adaoust, Tressemanes-Simiane, Félix de La Ferratière, Guerrier de Dumast. They participated in the growth of the shipping industry in

through trade with the ports of the

Levant The Levant ( ) is the subregion that borders the Eastern Mediterranean, Eastern Mediterranean sea to the west, and forms the core of West Asia and the political term, Middle East, ''Middle East''. In its narrowest sense, which is in use toda ...

Chios Chios (; , traditionally known as Scio in English) is the fifth largest Greece, Greek list of islands of Greece, island, situated in the northern Aegean Sea, and the List of islands in the Mediterranean#By area, tenth largest island in the Medi ...

Constantinople Constantinople (#Names of Constantinople, see other names) was a historical city located on the Bosporus that served as the capital of the Roman Empire, Roman, Byzantine Empire, Byzantine, Latin Empire, Latin, and Ottoman Empire, Ottoman empire ...

Sidon Sidon ( ) or better known as Saida ( ; ) is the third-largest city in Lebanon. It is located on the Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean coast in the South Governorate, Lebanon, South Governorate, of which it is the capital. Tyre, Lebanon, Tyre, t ...

- but also with Tetouan,

Morocco Morocco, officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It has coastlines on the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria to Algeria–Morocc ...

. They were the first shipowners to organize maritime trade between Marseilles and the

West Indies The West Indies is an island subregion of the Americas, surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean and the Caribbean Sea, which comprises 13 independent island country, island countries and 19 dependent territory, dependencies in thr ...

. The present-day Museum of the Old Marseille one of the oldest houses in the city called the "Maison Diamantée" was the mansion-house of the Saboulin Bollena. Armand de Saboulin Bollena served in the French Navy and was injured during the

American Revolutionary War The American Revolutionary War (April 19, 1775 – September 3, 1783), also known as the Revolutionary War or American War of Independence, was the armed conflict that comprised the final eight years of the broader American Revolution, in which Am ...

. A branch of the Saboulin family remained in

Bayonne Bayonne () is a city in southwestern France near the France–Spain border, Spanish border. It is a communes of France, commune and one of two subprefectures in France, subprefectures in the Pyrénées-Atlantiques departments of France, departm ...

, during the 17th and 18th centuries, from which came several generations of corsairs, one of them Michel de Saboulin migrated to

Martinique Martinique ( ; or ; Kalinago language, Kalinago: or ) is an island in the Lesser Antilles of the West Indies, in the eastern Caribbean Sea. It was previously known as Iguanacaera which translates to iguana island in Carib language, Kariʼn ...

at the end of the 18th century. Jean de Saboulin was a deputy representing the nobility at the General Assembly of the State of the Basque Country in 1789. Since the second part of the 18th century the family was settled in Nice and

Aix-en-Provence Aix-en-Provence, or simply Aix, is a List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, city and Communes of France, commune in southern France, about north of Marseille. A former capital of Provence, it is the Subprefectures in France, s ...

, where the oldest branch lived in the castle of Lanfant near Luynes. Other branches lived in Barjac,

Lozère Lozère (; ) is a landlocked Departments of France, department in the Regions of France, region of Occitania (administrative region), Occitanie in Southern France, located near the Massif Central, bounded to the northeast by Haute-Loire, to the ...

at the castle of La Vigne, and in

Vannes Vannes (; , , ) is a Communes of France, commune in the Departments of France, French department of Morbihan, Brittany (administrative region), Brittany, northwestern mainland France. It was founded over 2,000 years ago. History Celtic ...

Brittany Brittany ( ) is a peninsula, historical country and cultural area in the north-west of modern France, covering the western part of what was known as Armorica in Roman Gaul. It became an Kingdom of Brittany, independent kingdom and then a Duch ...

References

{{Reflist Provence Lists of French nobility French families French noble families