La Marche | |
|---|---|
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 Interactive map of La Marche | |
| Country | France |
| Time zone | CET |
TheCounty of La Marche (French pronunciation:[maʁʃ]ⓘ;Occitan:la Marcha) was amedieval French county, approximately corresponding to the moderndépartement ofCreuse and the northern half ofHaute Vienne.[1]
La Marche first appeared as a separate fief about the middle of the 10th century, whenWilliam 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 theHouse of Lusignan. They also were sometimescounts of Angoulême and counts ofLimousin.[2]
The county owes its name to its position, it having been in the 10th century amarch or border district between the duchy of Aquitaine and the domains of theFrankish kings in central France. Originally it was a small district cut partly from Limousin and partly fromPoitou. Its area was increased during the 13th century, after which, however, it remained unaltered until the time of theFrench Revolution.[2]
With the death of the childless Count Guy in 1308, his possessions in La Marche were seized byPhilip IV of France.[3] In 1314, the king made La Marche anappanage for his youngest son the Prince, afterwardsCharles IV.[4] Several years later in 1327, La Marche passed into the hands of theHouse of Bourbon.[5] The family ofArmagnac held it from 1435 to 1477, when it reverted to the Bourbons.[2]
In 1527 La Marche was seized byFrancis I and became part of the domains of the French crown. It was divided intoHaute Marche andBasse Marche, the estates of the former continuing until the 17th century. From 1470 until the Revolution, the province was under the jurisdiction of theparlement of Paris.[6][2]
The title was granted to Thibaut, a younger son ofHenri, theOrléanist claimant to the throne of France.
One or more of the preceding sentences incorporates text from a publication now in thepublic domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Marche".Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 17 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. pp. 689–690.
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