Duke of Mercœur

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Mercoeur, Seigneurs and Dukes of. The estate of Mercoeur in Auvergne, France, gave its name to a line of powerful lords, which became extinct in the 14th century, and passed by inheritance to the dauphins of Auvergne, counts of Clermont. In 1426 it passed to the Bourbons by the marriage, of Jeanne de Clermont, dauphine of Auvergne, with Louis, count of Montpensier. It formed part of the confiscated estates of the Constable de Bourbon, and was given by Francis I and Louise of Savoy to Antoine, Duke of Lorraine, and his wife, Renée de Bourbon, sister of the Constable. Nicholas of Lorraine, son of Duke Antoine, was created Duke of Mercoeur and a peer of France in 1569. His son Philippe Emmanuel left a daughter, who married the duc de Vendôme in 1609.

[edit] Dukes of Mercoeur (House of Lorraine)

• Nicholas 1569–1577
• Philippe Emmanuel 1577–1602

[edit] House of Bourbon-Vendôme

• Françoise 1602–1649, with her husband César de Bourbon, duc de Vendôme 1608–1649
• Louis 1649–1669
• Louis Joseph 1669–1712

The title became extinct in 1712. It was re-created in 1723 for Louis François I de Bourbon, prince de Conti, who sold it back to the crown in 1770. In 1773, it was re-created for Charles, comte d'Artois, but was exchanged in 1778 for Poitou.

[edit] References

• Pre-1789 French Peerage
• This article incorporates text from the Encyclopædia Britannica Eleventh Edition, a publication now in the public domain.

• St François de Sales, Oraison funèbre de Philippe-Emmanuel de Lorraine, duc de Mercoeur et de Penthièvre. Introduction de Pierre-Olivier Combelles. Editions Saint-Rémi (Cadillac). 93 p., ill.