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| Dukedom of Aubigny | |
|---|---|
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| Creation date | 1684 |
| Created by | Louis XIV of France |
| Peerage | Peerage of France |
| First holder | Louise de Kérouaille, Duchess of Portsmouth |
| Present holder | Charles Gordon-Lennox, 11th Duke of Richmond |
| Heir apparent | Charles Gordon-Lennox, Earl of March and Kinrara |
| Seat | Goodwood House in England |
| Former seat | Château d'Aubigny in France |
Duke of Aubigny (French:Duc d'Aubigny) is a title that was created in thePeerage of France in 1684. It was granted by KingLouis XIV of France toLouise de Kérouaille, the last mistress of KingCharles II of England, and to descend to Charles's illegitimate issue by her, namely to the descendants ofCharles Lennox, 1st Duke of Richmond, 1st Duke of Lennox (1672–1723) ofGoodwood House in Sussex. Louis XIV also granted her theChâteau de la Verrerie, a former secondary seat of the Stewart Seigneurs d'Aubigny, Franco-Scottish cousins of the Stewart monarchs, seated from 1422 to 1672 at theChâteau d'Aubigny in the parish andmanor ofAubigny-sur-Nère in the ancientprovince ofBerry in France.
The ducal title, with accompanying grant of arms and of lands, were an attempt by Charles II to place his youngest illegitimate son into the persona of his much beloved and recently extinct Franco-Scottish cousins, the Stewart Seigneurs d'Aubigny, the last in the male line of whom wasCharles Stewart, 3rd Duke of Richmond, 6th Duke of Lennox (1639–1672) ofCobham Hall in Kent and ofRichmond House in London.
During theAuld Alliance between theKingdom of Scotland and theAncien Régime of France, the Château d'Aubigny had been granted in 1422 by KingCharles VII of France to SirJohn Stewart of Darnley, 1stComte d'Évreux, 1st Seigneur de Concressault, 1st Seigneur d'Aubigny (c. 1380–1429), a famous military commander who served as Constable of the Scottish Army in France, supporting the French against the English during theHundred Years War. and a fourth cousin[1] of KingJames I of Scotland (reigned 1406 to 1437), the third monarch of theHouse of Stewart. The Stewarts ofDarnley were a junior branch of Stewart of Bonkyll, ofBonkyll Castle in Scotland, descended fromAlexander Stewart, 4th High Steward of Scotland (died 1283), whose senior great-grandson was KingRobert II of Scotland (1371–1390), the first monarch of theHouse of Stewart.
KingJames VI & I of Scotland and England united the senior royal line of Stewart (represented by his motherMary, Queen of Scots) with the junior branch of Stewart of Darnley, as his father (Henry Stewart, Lord Darnley) was that family's senior representative, being the son andheir apparent ofMatthew Stewart, 4th Earl of Lennox (1516–1571). King James VI & I inherited the title ofEarl of Lennox, as nominal 5th Earl, when that title merged into the crown, as had done theEarldom of Richmond in 1485 on the accession to the throne of Henry Tudor, Earl of Richmond, as KingHenry VII of England. These titles were re-granted by the Stewart monarchs to their beloved Franco-Scottish cousins, the Stewarts of Aubigny.
Thelord of the manor ofAubigny-sur-Nère, a substantial walled town, was known in France as theSeigneur d'Aubigny ("lord of Aubigny"). It was a territorial title rather than apeerage title, and thus was able to be given by a Seigneur to a younger son, where for example the elder son already had a great estate and titles.
The first ducal holder was Louise de Kérouaille, the French-born last mistress of King Charles II of England and Scotland. In 1684, at the request of Charles II, the French King Louis XIV created her "Duchess of Aubigny" in thePeerage of France. However, theletters patent creating the Duchy were not registered by theParlement of Paris, so the dukedom became extinct at the Duchess' death in 1734. In 1777, KingLouis XV issuedlettres de suranation, which restored the 1684 peerage to her heirs.Charles Lennox, 1st Duke of Richmond and 1st Duke of Lennox (1672–1723), her son by King Charles II, had predeceased her, but her grandsonCharles Lennox, 2nd Duke of Richmond, had already received abrevet de duc (i.e., a ducal patent), which gave him the honours of a duke at the French royal court. The French dukedom was confiscated during theRevolutionary andNapoleonic Wars (1792–1803 and 1806–1814), but it was finally returned toCharles Lennox, 4th Duke of Richmond, the nephew and heir of the 3rd Duke of Richmond, who also succeeded to the dukedom of Aubigny according to ancientSalic law.
The English coat of arms of the Lennox Dukes of Richmond display aninescutcheon ofgules, three buckles or, which are their French arms as Dukes of Aubigny. These arms were created as adifference from the French arms granted in 1428 by King Charles VII of France toJohn Stewart of Darnley, 1st Seigneur d'Aubigny, 1st Seigneur de Concressault, 1st Comte d'Évreux, and Constable of the Scottish Army in France, the outstanding warrior who commanded the Scottish army in France that was instrumental in saving the throne ofCharles VII from the English invasion forces under KingHenry V of England. In 1428, John Stewart of Darnley was awarded by King Charles VII of France "the glorious privilege of quartering the royal arms of France with his paternal arms".[2] This was in the form of the royal French arms differenced bya bordure gules charged with buckles or, specified to appear in the 1st and 4th quarters of greatest honour.
Thebordure gules charged with buckles or is a reference to the arms of Stewart of Bonkyll, who bore Stewart differenced bya bordure gules charged with buckles or (an example ofcanting arms: buckles for Bonkyl).
Thechâteau and appurtenances are no longer the family's, as they were sold off to maintain their other legacies or assets. Aubigny is the chief tourist attraction in France which attests to theAuld Alliance. The honour is still recognized in France as are all legitimate titles granted before 1870 by a French monarch.
| Peerage family tree of: Aboyne, Aubigny, Enzie, Gordon, Huntly, Inverness, Kinrara, Lennox, March, Meldrum, Richmond, Settrington, and Strathaven, Balmore, Auchindoun, Garthie and Kincardine | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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