The County of La Marche (; ) was a

medieval In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the 5th to the late 15th centuries, similarly to the post-classical period of World history (field), global history. It began with the fall of the West ...

French county, approximately corresponding to the modern ''

département In the administrative divisions of France, the department (, ) is one of the three levels of government under the national level (" territorial collectivities"), between the administrative regions and the communes. There are a total of 101 ...

'' of

Creuse Creuse (; 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 east, Cor ...

and the northern half of

Haute Vienne Haute-Vienne (; , ; Upper Vienne) is a département in the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region in southwest-central France. Named after the Vienne River, it is one of the twelve départements that together constitute Nouvelle-Aquitaine. The prefecture and l ...

. La Marche first appeared as a separate fief about the middle of the 10th century, when William III, Duke of Aquitaine, 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 France, French origin, which at various times ruled several principalities in Europe and the Levant, including the kingdoms of Kingdom of Jerusalem, Jerusalem, Kingdom of Cyprus, Cyprus, and Kingd ...

. 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 (; ) is a former administrative region of southwest-central France. Named after the old province of Limousin, the administrative region was founded in 1960. It comprised three departments: Corrèze, Creuse, and Haute-Vienne. On 1 Jan ...

. The county owes its name to its position, it having been in the 10th century a

march March is the third month of the year in both the Julian and Gregorian calendars. Its length is 31 days. In the Northern Hemisphere, the meteorological beginning of spring occurs on the first day of March. The March equinox on the 20 or 2 ...

or border district between the duchy of Aquitaine and the domains of the

Frankish Frankish may refer to: * Franks, a Germanic tribe and their culture ** Frankish language or its modern descendants, Franconian languages, a group of Low Germanic languages also commonly referred to as "Frankish" varieties * Francia, a post-Roman ...

kings in central France. Originally it was a small district cut partly from Limousin and partly from

Poitou Poitou ( , , ; ; Poitevin: ''Poetou'') was a province of west-central France whose capital city was Poitiers. Both Poitou and Poitiers are named after the Pictones Gallic tribe. Geography The main historical cities are Poitiers (historical ...

. Its area was increased during the 13th century, after which, however, it remained unaltered until the time of the French Revolution. 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 (), was King of France from 1285 to 1314. Jure uxoris, By virtue of his marriage with Joan I of Navarre, he was also King of Navarre and Count of Champagne as Philip&n ...

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

appanage An appanage, or apanage (; ), is the grant of an estate, title, office or other thing of value to a younger child of a monarch, who would otherwise have no inheritance under the system of primogeniture (where only the eldest inherits). It was ...

'' 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 dynasty that originated in the Kingdom of France as a branch of the Capetian dynasty, the royal House of France. Bourbon kings first ruled France and Kingdom of Navarre, Navarre in the 16th century. A br ...

. The family of

Armagnac Armagnac (, ) is a distinctive kind of brandy produced in the Armagnac (region), 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 ...

held it from 1435 to 1477, when it reverted to the Bourbons. In 1527 La Marche was seized by Francis I 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 The ''Parlement'' of Paris () was the oldest ''parlement'' in the Kingdom of France, formed in the 14th century. Parlements were judicial, rather than legislative, bodies and were composed of magistrates. Though not representative bodies in the p ...

Counts of La Marche

La Marche dynasty

*Boso I le Vieux (the Old), count of La Marche and

count of Périgord Count of Périgord (French language, Fr.: ''comte de Périgord'') is a noble title in the peerage of France, peerage of France. Originally known as "The sovereign house of the Counts of Périgord, princes by the grace of God". The first recorded so ...

(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 ...

, 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 Roger the Poitevin or Roger de Poitou (mid-1060s – before 1140) was an Anglo-Norman aristocrat possessing large holdings both in England and through his marriage in France during the early 12th century. He was the third son of Roger of Montg ...

, 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 famed for her marriages. She and her third husband, Ramon Berenguer I, Count of Barcelona, with whom she committed double bigamy in 1053, were excommunicated by the Pope. Life ...

(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

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 the last king of the direct line of the House of Capet, King of France and King of Navarre (as Charles I) from ...

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 Joan may refer to: People and fictional characters *Joan (given name), including a list of women, men and fictional characters ** Joan of Arc (c. 1412–1431), patron saint of France * Joan (surname) Art and media * ''Joan'' (Alexander McQuee ...

Armagnac dynasty

Bernard Bernard ('' Bernhard'') is a French and West Germanic masculine given name. It has West Germanic origin and is also a surname. The name is attested from at least the 9th century. West Germanic ''Bernhard'' is composed from the two elements ''be ...

, 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 was the name of a number of women of royalty and nobility in western Europe during the High Middle Ages">Provençal dialect ...

, ''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" (), 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 revolt known as the ...

Capetian-Bourbon dynasty

* Peter II of Bourbon (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 B ...

, Beaujeu, Marche, and Forez;

duke of Bourbon Duke of 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 Bourbon. In 1416, wi ...

(1505–1525)

Orleanist pretenders to Count of La Marche

The title was granted to Thibaut, a younger son of Henri, the

Orléanist Orléanist () 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 France in the long nineteenth ...

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 (department) 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