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Duchy of BouillonDuché de Bouillon
1456 – 1794
Flag Coat of arms
The Duchy of Bouillon as at 1560, shown within the Lower Rhenish–Westphalian Circle
Status	State of the Holy Roman Empire Fief of early modern France
Capital	Bouillon
Common languages	Walloon
Government	Dukedom
Historical era	Middle Ages
• Ardennes lords of Bouillon	by the 11th century
• La Marck châtelains	from 1415 the 15th century
• First style of Duke	1456
• Treaties of Nijmegen	1678
• Abolition of manorial     and feudal rights	26 May 1790
• Ducal constitution	23 March or 1 May 1792
• Proclamation of the     Republic	24 April 1794
• Annexed to France	26 October 1795 (4 Brumaire, Year IV)
Preceded by Succeeded by Lower Lorraine Republic of Bouillon
Today part of	Belgium

The Duchy of Bouillon (French: Duché de Bouillon) was a duchy comprising Bouillon and adjacent towns and villages in present-day Belgium.

The state originated in the 10th century as property of the Lords of Bouillon, owners of Bouillon Castle. Crusader Godfrey of Bouillon, later the first King of Jerusalem, sold Bouillon to the Prince-Bishopric of Liège, in 1095. The Prince-Bishops of Liège consequently became lords of Bouillon and eventually adopted the title of duke. The duchy was later claimed by members of the Houses of La Marck and La Tour d'Auvergne. From 1678, it was a sovereign duchy under French protection and ruled by La Tour. It was annexed by France in 1795.

Geography

The Duchy of Bouillon was a sovereign duchy until 1795. In 1789, it had a population of 2,500. The largest town was Bouillon, situated on the Semois. It also consisted of the surrounding villages: Sugny, Corbion, Alle, Rochehaut, Ucimont, Botassart, Sensenruth, Noirefontaine, Gros-Fays, Fays-les-Veneurs, Bertrix, Carlsbourg, Paliseul, Jehonville, Opont, Anloy, Porcheresse, Gembes, Gedinne, Sart-Custinne, and Tellin.

Bouillon is located in a Walloon-speaking region.

History

History of the Low Countries
Frisii			Belgae
	Cana– nefates	Chamavi, Tubantes		Gallia Belgica (55 BC–c. 5th AD) Germania Inferior (83–c. 5th)
		Salian Franks		Batavi
unpopulated (4th–c. 5th)		Saxons	Salian Franks (4th–c. 5th)
Frisian Kingdom (c. 6th–734)			Frankish Kingdom (481–843)—Carolingian Empire (800–843)
		Austrasia (511–687)
Middle Francia (843–855)					West Francia (843–)
Kingdom of Lotharingia (855– 959) Duchy of Lower Lorraine (959–)
Frisia
Frisian Freedom (11–16th century)	County of Holland (880–1432)	Bishopric of Utrecht (695–1456)	Duchy of Brabant (1183–1430) Duchy of Guelders (1046–1543)		County of Flanders (862–1384)	County of Hainaut (1071–1432) County of Namur (981–1421)	P.-Bish. of Liège (980–1794)	Duchy of Luxem- bourg (1059–1443)
	Burgundian Netherlands (1384–1482)
	Habsburg Netherlands (1482–1795) (Seventeen Provinces after 1543)
Dutch Republic (1581–1795)				Spanish Netherlands (1556–1714)
				Austrian Netherlands (1714–1795)
				United States of Belgium (1790)			R. Liège (1789–'91)
Batavian Republic (1795–1806) Kingdom of Holland (1806–1810)				associated with French First Republic (1795–1804) part of First French Empire (1804–1815)
Princip. of the Netherlands (1813–1815)
Kingdom of the Netherlands (1815–1830)								Gr D. L. (1815–)
Kingdom of the Netherlands (1839–)				Kingdom of Belgium (1830–)
								Gr D. of Luxem- bourg (1890–)

The Duchy of Bouillon's origins are unclear. The first reference to Bouillon Castle comes in 988 and by the 11th century, Bouillon was a freehold held by the House of Ardennes, who styled themselves Lords of Bouillon. On the death of Godfrey III, Duke of Lower Lorraine in 1069, Bouillon passed to his nephew, Godfrey of Bouillon. In 1095, Godfrey of Bouillon sold Bouillon to Otbert, the Prince-Bishop of Liège, in order to finance his participation in the First Crusade. Godfrey later became first ruler of the Kingdom of Jerusalem.

The Prince-Bishop of Liège granted the châtellenie of Bouillon to the House of La Marck in 1415. In 1456, Louis de Bourbon, Bishop of Liège became the first individual to style himself "Duke of Bouillon". In 1482, the then Châtelain of Bouillon, William de La Marck, ordered the assassination of Louis in a plot to install his son, Jean de la Marck, as Prince-Bishop. This plot proved unsuccessful: John of Hornes was elected as successor of Louis de Bourbon as Prince-Bishop of Liège. John then fought a war with William that ended with the Treaty of Tongeren, signed May 21, 1484, with the de la Marck family relinquishing its claim on Liège, though they retained Bouillon Castle as a pledge for a loan of 30,000 livres and for their support for the Prince-Bishop against the emperor Maximilian I. In 1492 Robert II de la Marck began calling himself "Duke of Bouillon", but in 1521, Érard de La Marck, Prince-Bishop of Liège (and Robert's brother), with the backing of the troops of Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor, managed to regain Bouillon for the Prince-Bishopric.

On becoming chatelain in 1536 Robert Fleuranges III de La Marck also styled himself "Duke of Bouillon" and his successor Robert IV maintained the right to this title. During the Italian War of 1551–1559, Bouillon was occupied by the forces of Henry II of France to keep them free from Habsburg influence, but Henry confirmed Robert IV as Duke of Bouillon.

From 1560 to 1642, the Dukes of Bouillon were also the rulers of the independent Principality of Sedan.

With the death of Charlotte de La Marck in 1594, the duchy and the title passed to her husband Henri de La Tour d'Auvergne and thereafter became the possession of the House of La Tour d'Auvergne. France again invaded Bouillon in 1676 during the Franco-Dutch War, but Godefroy Maurice de La Tour d'Auvergne retained the title. From this point on, although the Duchy of Bouillon was officially still a part of the Holy Roman Empire, it was in actuality a French protectorate. This state of affairs was confirmed by the 1678 Treaties of Nijmegen.

In the wake of the French Revolution, the French Revolutionary Army invaded the Duchy of Bouillon in 1794, creating the short-lived Republic of Bouillon. In 1795, Bouillon was annexed to France. The last duke, Jacques Léopold de La Tour d'Auvergne, died in 1802 without any children (which was the extinction of the La Tour d'Auvergne family).

In 1815 the Congress of Vienna established an arbitral commission to determine the "Duke of Bouillon" and decided in favor of Charles Alain Gabriel de Rohan (the last duke's closest relative on his paternal side) over Philippe d'Auvergne (a postulated relative, who had been adopted and declared an heir by Jacques' father, Godefroy de La Tour d'Auvergne, when he was the duke). Meanwhile the Duchy of Bouillon was annexed to the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, then in personal union with the Kingdom of the Netherlands (later becoming part of the Kingdom of the Belgians in 1830). The title, territory and the debt of Bouillon remained a bone of contention between the bishopric and the noble houses before and after the French annexation of Bouillon in 1795. Court rulings about claimants were not resolved until 1825.

List of dukes of Bouillon

Prince bishops of Liege 1456–?

Picture	Name	Father	Birth	Marriage	Became duke	Death	Spouse
	Louis de Bourbon	Charles I, Duke of Bourbon	1438	unmarried	1456 claimed title on accession to bishopric	30 August 1482	none
	John of Hornes	James of Hornes	around 1450	unmarried	1484 (accession) maintained ownership of Bouillon	1505	none
	Érard de La Marck	Robert I de la Marck	31 May 1472	unmarried	1505 (accession) maintained ownership of Bouillon	1538	none

House of La Marck, ?–1588

Picture	Name	Father	Birth	Marriage	Became duke	Death	Spouse
	Robert I de La Marck	Jean de La Marck	1430	15 June 1446	appointed chatelaine of Bouillon	February 1487	Jeanne de Marley
	Robert II de la Marck	Robert I	1465	25 December 1490	claimed title of Duke, 1492	March 1536	Catherine de Croÿ
	Robert Fleuranges de La Marck	Robert II	1491	1 April 1510	claimed title of Duke, 1536	21 December 1537	Guillemette of Saarbrücken, Countess of Braine
	Robert IV de La Marck	Robert Fleuranges	5 January 1512	1 March 1539	confirmed in title by Henry II of France	15 February 1556	Françoise de Brézé, Countess of Maulevrier
	Henri Robert de La Marck	Robert IV	7 February 1540	7 Feb 1558	15 February 1556 father's death	2 December 1574	Françoise de Bourbon
	Charlotte de La Marck suo jure	Henri Robert	5 November 1574	19 May 1594	2 December 1574 father's death	15 May 1594	Henri de La Tour d'Auvergne
Picture	Name	Father	Birth	Marriage	Became duke	Death	Spouse

House of La Tour d'Auvergne, 1588–1802

Picture	Name	Father	Birth	Marriage	Became duke	Ceased to be duke	Death	Spouse
	Henri de La Tour d'Auvergne	François de La Tour d'Auvergne	28 September 1555	19 November 1591	15 May 1594 first wife's death	25 March 1623		Charlotte de La Marck
				15 April 1595				Elisabeth of Nassau
	Frédéric Maurice de La Tour d'Auvergne	Henri	22 October 1605	2 January 1634	25 March 1623 father's death	9 August 1652		Eleonora Catharina Febronis van den Bergh
	Godefroy Maurice de La Tour d'Auvergne	Frédéric Maurice	21 June 1636	19 April 1662	9 August 1652 father's death	26 July 1721		Marie Anne Mancini
	Emmanuel Théodose de La Tour d'Auvergne	Godefroy Maurice	1668	1 February 1696	26 July 1721 father's death	17 April 1730		Marie Armande Victoire de La Trémoille
				4 January 1718				Louise Françoise Angélique Le Tellier
				21 March 1725				Louise Henriette Françoise de Lorraine
	Charles Godefroy de La Tour d'Auvergne	Emmanuel Théodose	16 July 1706	2 April 1724	17 April 1730 father's death	24 October 1771		Maria Karolina Sobieska
	Godefroy de La Tour d'Auvergne	Charles Godefroy	26 January 1728	27 November 1743	24 October 1771 father's death	3 December 1792		Louise de Lorraine
				14 May 1789				Marie Françoise Henriette de Banastre
	Jacques Léopold de La Tour d'Auvergne	Godefroy	15 January 1746	17 July 1766	3 December 1792 father's death	1794 Bouillon absorbed into the French First Republic	7 February 1802	Hedwig of Hesse-Rotenburg
Picture	Name	Father	Birth	Marriage	Became duke	Ceased to be duke	Death	Spouse

House of Rohan, 1816–1975

In 1816, the Congress of Vienna restored the title of "Duke of Bouillon", giving it to Charles Alain Gabriel de Rohan, grandson of Marie Louise de La Tour d'Auvergne, who was the daughter of the former duke Charles Godefroy de La Tour d'Auvergne. In 1918 Austria became a republic so the ducal titles ceased to exist.

Picture	Name	Father	Birth	Marriage	Became duke	Death	Wife
	Charles Alain Gabriel	Henri Louis, Prince of Guéméné (Rohan)	18 January 1764	29 May 1781	1816 accession	24 April 1836	Louise Aglae de Conflans d'Armentieres
	Louis Victor Mériadec	Henri Louis, Prince of Guéméné (Rohan)	1766		24 April 1836 accession	1841	Berthe de Rohan
	Camille Philippe Joseph Idesbald	Charles-Louis-Gaspard de Rohan-Rochefort Adopted by Louis Victor Mériadec	19 December 1801	28 May 1826	1846 accession	13 September 1892	Adelheid zu Löwenstein-Wertheim-Rosenberg
	Alain Benjamin Arthur	Arthur de Rohan (1826–1885), son of Camille Philippe	8 January 1853	10 October 1885	13 September 1892 accession	24 February 1914	Johanna of Auersperg
	Alain Anton Joseph Adolf Ignaz Maria	Alain Benjamin Arthur	26 Jul 1893	29 September 1921	24 February 1914	17 March 1975	Margarethe von Schönburg-Hartenstein
Picture	Name	Father	Birth	Marriage	Became duke	Death	Wife

Bibliography

• Jacques Marsollier (1647-1724): Histoire du maréchal duc de Bouillon; où l'on trouve ce qui s'est passé de plus remarquable sous les regnes de François II, Charles IX, Henry III, Henry IV, la minorité & les premières années du regne de Louis XIII
  • Vol I (1726), online
  • Vol II (1726), online
  • Vol III (1726), online

See also

• Duchess of Bouillon
• Prince of Sedan

Notes

1. ^ Also Prince of Rohan.
2. ^ Also Prince of Guéméné.
3. ^ Also Duke of Montbazon.
4. Also Count of Saint-Pol
5. ^ Also Prince of Rochefort.
6. ^ Also Prince of Montaubon.

• Dukes of Bouillon
• House of La Marck
• La Tour d'Auvergne
• House of Rohan
• People from Bouillon
• Duchies of the Holy Roman Empire
• History of Luxembourg (Belgium)
• Bouillon
• Southern Netherlands
• Former states in the Low Countries