Dukedom of Berry
Arms of Berry after 1376
Creation dateOctober 1360
Created byJohn II of France
PeeragePeerage of France
First holderJohn of Berry
Last holderCharles Ferdinand of Artois
StatusExtinct
Extinction date14 February 1820

Duke of Berry (French: Duc de Berry) or Duchess of Berry (French: Duchesse de Berry) was a title in the Peerage of France. The Duchy of Berry, centred on Bourges, was originally created as an appanage for junior members of the French royal family and was frequently granted to female royals. The style Duke of Berry was later granted by several Bourbon monarchs to their grandsons. The last official Duke of Berry was Charles Ferdinand of Artois, son of Charles X. The title Duke of Berry is currently being claimed through its usage as a courtesy title by Prince Alphonse de Bourbon, son of Prince Louis, Duke of Anjou, the Legitimist claimant to the French Throne.

House of Valois (1360-1505)

On October 1360, King John II created the peerage-duchy of Berry as an appanage for his third-born son, John of Poitiers, perhaps on the occasion of his marriage with Joan of Armagnac.[1] Upon his death in 1416, John of Poitiers was succeeded as Duke of Berry by his grandnephew John, Dauphin of France (having been predeceased in 1397 by his only son who survived into adulthood, John, Count of Montpensier).[2] After Dauphin John's death in 1417, the appanage passed to his younger brother the Dauphin Charles. The Dauphin subsequently moved his court to Berry's capital of Bourges to escape the advancing English during the Hundred Years’ War.[3] When the Dauphin ascended to the throne as Charles VII, Berry returned to the royal domain.

In 1461, Louis XI granted Berry to his younger brother, Charles. Charles maintained a rivalry with his brother and joined the League of the Public Weal, an anti-royal alliance of French magantes led by the Count of Charolais. After a short war against Louis XI which was concluded with the Treaty of Conflans in 1465, Charles gained the Duchy of Normandy (which he then exchanged for the Duchy of Guyenne in 1469). Charles died without legitimate issue in 1472 due to syphilis, although some believed he was a victim of poisoning.[4] With no male heir, the title reverted to the Crown once again.

In 1498, Louis XII granted Berry to his former wife Joan of France, daughter of Louis XI, as compensation for their marriage's annulment.[5] She was the first suo jure Duchess, and after her death without issue Berry returned to the Crown.

Duke Birth Tenure Death Marriage(s)
Issue

John of France
Other titles
30 November 1340
Château de Vincennes
Son of John II of France
and Bonne of Luxembourg
October 1360

15 June 1416
15 June 1416
Paris
Died by natural causes
(aged 75)
(1) Joan of Armagnac
(m. 1360; d. 1387)
5 children
(2) Joan II of Auvergne
(m. 1389; wid. 1416)
Childless

John of France
Other titles

31 August 1398
Paris
Son of Charles VI of France
and Isabeau of Bavaria
1416

5 April 1417
5 April 1417
Compiègne
Died by natural causes
(aged 18)
Jacqueline of Hainaut
(m. 1415; wid. 1417)
Childless

Charles of France
Other titles

22 February 1403
Paris
Son of Charles VI of France
and Isabeau of Bavaria
1417

1422 (merged with Crown)
22 July 1461
Mehun-sur-Yèvre
Died by natural causes
(aged 58)
Marie of Anjou
(m. 1422; wid. 1461)
14 children

Charles of France
Other titles
26 December 1446
Château de Tours
Son of Charles VII of France
and Marie of Anjou
November 1461

24 May 1472
24 May 1472
Bordeaux
Died by syphilis
(aged 25)
Never married

Joan of France
23 April 1464
Nogent-le-Roi
Daughter of Louis XI of France
and Charlotte of Savoy
7 April 1498

4 February 1505
4 February 1505
Bourges, Berry
Died by natural causes
(aged 40)
Louis II, Duke of Orléans
(then Louis XII)

(m. 1476; ann. 1498)
Childless

House of Valois-Angoulême (1527-1601)

In 1527, King Francis I granted his sister Marguerite the duchy of Berry, probably on the occasion of her marriage to Henry II of Navarre.[6] After her death without male issue in 1549, Berry reverted to the Crown.

In 1550, King Henry II granted Berry to his sister Margaret of Valois for life.[7] After the death of Margaret of Valois in 1574, her nephew King Henry III granted Berry and the County of La Marche to his sister-in-law and Queen dowager of France Elisabeth of Austria.[8] However, in 1577, as a consequence of the Peace of Monsieur, Elisabeth of Austria was forced by King Henry III to exchange Berry and La Marche (which then became part of the expanded appanage of his brother Francis, Duke of Anjou) for the duchies of Auvergne and Bourbon.[9] After Francis, Duke of Anjou's death in 1584, Berry and his other appanages again returned to the Crown.

In 1589, King Henry IV granted Berry to King Henry III's widow Louise of Lorraine for her lifetime.

Duke Birth Tenure Death Marriage(s)
Issue

Margaret of Navarre
Other titles
11 April 1492
Château d'Angoulême
Daughter of Charles of Orléans
and Louise of Savoy
24 January 1527

21 December 1549
21 December 1549
Odos, Navarre
Died by natural causes
(aged 57)
(1) Charles IV of Alençon
(m. 1509; d. 1525)
Childless
(2) Henry II of Navarre
(m. 1527; wid. 1549)
1 child

Margaret of France
Other titles
5 June 1523
Saint-Germain-en-Laye
Daughter of Francis I
and Claude of Brittany
29 April 1550

15 September 1574
15 September 1574
Turin, Savoy
Died by natural causes
(aged 51)
Emmanuel Philibert of Savoy
(m. 1559; wid. 1574)
1 child

Elisabeth of Austria
Other titles
5 July 1554
Vienna, Austria
Daughter of Emperor Maximilian II
and Mary of Austria
21 November 1575

25 September 1577
(Title forfeited)
22 January 1592
Vienna, Austria
Died by pleurisy
(aged 37)
Charles IX of France
(m. 1570; d. 1574)
1 child

Francis of France
Other titles
18 March 1555
Château de Fontainebleau
Son of Henry II
and Catherine de' Medici
25 September 1577

10 June 1584
10 June 1584
Château-Thierry
Died by malaria
(aged 29)
Never married

Louise of Lorraine
30 April 1553
Nomeny, Barrois
Daughter of Nicolas, Duke of Mercœur
and Margaret of Egmont
August 1589

29 January 1601
29 January 1601
Moulins, Bourbonnais
Died by natural causes
(aged 47)
Henry III of France
(m. 1575; d. 1589)
Childless

House of Bourbon (1686-1820)

In 1686, King Louis XIV granted the style Duke of Berry to his third grandson Charles who continued to use it as his primary title until his death in 1714, despite never gaining the appanage of Berry.[10] In 1754, King Louis XV styled his newborn grandson Louis-Auguste as Duke of Berry until his ascension as Dauphin of France in 1765, after his father's death.

In 1778, King Louis XVI re-established the Duchy of Berry as an appanage for his newborn nephew, Charles Ferdinand of Artois, who was killed in 1820 by Louis Pierre Louvel, a Bonapartist.

Duke Birth Tenure Death Marriage(s)
Issue

Charles of France
Other titles
31 July 1686
Versailles
Son of Louis, Dauphin of France
and Maria Anna of Bavaria
31 July 1686

5 May 1714
5 May 1714
Versailles
Died in hunting accident
(aged 27)
Louise Élisabeth d'Orléans
(m. 1710; wid. 1714)
Childless

Louis-Auguste of France
(then Louis XVI)
23 August 1754
Versailles
Son of Louis, Dauphin of France
and Maria Josepha of Saxony
23 August 1754

20 December 1765
(Became Dauphin)
21 January 1793
Place de la Révolution, Paris
Executed for treason
(aged 38)
Marie Antoinette of Austria
(m. 1770; wid. 1793)
4 children

Charles Ferdinand of Artois
24 January 1778
Versailles
Son of Charles of Artois
and Maria Theresa of Savoy
24 January 1778

14 February 1820
14 February 1820
Outside Paris Opera
Murdered by Louis Pierre Louvel
(aged 42)
Marie-Caroline of Sicily
(m. 1816; wid. 1820)
2 children

See also

References

  1. Plumley, Yolanda (2003). Cambridge University Press (ed.). Ars subtilior and the Patronage of French Princes. pp. 145–146. {{cite book}}: |work= ignored (help)
  2. Autrand, Françoise (2000). Fayard (ed.). Jean de Berry: L'art et le pouvoir. p. 263.
  3. Richard Vaughan, John the Fearless: The Growth of Burgundian Power, Vol. 2, (Boydell Press, 2005), 263.
  4. Moisand, Constant (1847). Imprimerie de Moisand (ed.). Histoire du siége de Beauvais en 1472.
  5. "St. Joan of Valois". Catholic.org. Retrieved: 26 October 2014.
  6. Michaud-Fréjaville, Françoise (27 June 2006). "L'œuvre et la vie de Marguerite de Navarre, un plaidoyer pour la tolérance". m2navarre.net (in French).
  7. Marshall, Rosalind K. (2003). Scottish Queens, 1034-1714. Tuckwell Press. p. 10o.
  8. Nadaud, Joseph (1878). Société historique et archéologique du Limousin (ed.). Nobiliaire du diocèse et de la généralité de Limoges. Vol. III. p. 182.
  9. Knecht, Robert J. (2002). Osprey Publishing (ed.). The French Religious Wars 1562-98. p. 53.
  10. See the Letters patent: Louis, par la grâce de Dieu, roy de France et de Navarre, à tous présens et à venir, SALUT. (…) Notre très-cher et très-amé petit-fils Charles, fils de France, a dignement répondu à nos espérance (…) Pour ces causes et autres à ce Nous mouvans, de l’avis de notre conseil, Nous avons donné, octroyé et délaissé, et par ces présentes signées de notre main, donnons, octroyons et delaissons à notredit petit-fils Charles, fils de France, et à ses enfans mâles descendans de lui en loyal mariage, pour leur appanage et entretenement, selon la nature des appanages de la Maison de France et les lois de notre royaume, les duchés d’Alençon et d’Angoulême, le comté de Ponthieu et les châtellenies de Coignac et de Merpins, réunis à notre couronne par le décès de notre cousine Elisabeth d’Orléans, duchesse de Guise, ensemble les terres et seigneuries de Noyelles, Hiermont, Coutteville et le Mesnil, par Nous acquises par contrat passé entre les commissaires par Nous nommez, et Marie d’Orléans, duchesse de Nemours, le 16 Decembre 1706, en échange de la baronie, terre et seigneuries de Parthenay (…).
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