Duke of Nemours was a title in thePeerage of France. The name refers toNemours in theÎle-de-France region of north-centralFrance.
In the 12th and 13th centuries, theLordship of Nemours, in theGatinais,France, was a possession of the house ofVillebéon, a member of which,Gautier, wasmarshal of France in the middle of the 13th century. The lordship was sold to KingPhilip III of France in 1274 and 1276 byJean andPhilippe de Nemours. It was then made acounty and given in 1364 toJean III de Grailly, captal de Buch.
In 1404,Charles VI of France gave it toCharles III of Navarre and elevated it into aduchy in the peerage of France, in exchange to his ancestralcounty of Évreux in Normandy.
After being confiscated and restored several times, the duchy reverted to the French crown in 1504, after the extinction of the house of Armagnac-Pardiac. In 1507, it was given byLouis XII of France to his nephew,Gaston de Foix, who was killed at theBattle of Ravenna in 1512.
The duchy then returned to theroyal domain and was detached from it successively forGiuliano de Medici and his wifePhiliberta of Savoy in 1515, forLouise of Savoy in 1524, and forPhilip of Savoy, Count of Genevois, in 1528. The descendants of Philip of Savoy held the duchy until its sale toLouis XIV of France.
In 1672, Louis XIV gave it to his brotherPhilippe de France, Duke of Orléans, whose descendants held it until theFrench Revolution. It was one of the many subsidiary titles held by theHouse of Orléans. The title of Duke of Nemours was afterwards given toLouis Charles d'Orléans, the second son of KingLouis Philippe of the French.[1]
Aveline married Walter of Villebéon, lord ofBeaumont-du-Gâtinais, in 1150 and shared the lordship with him. They left it to their son in 1174.
The lordship was sold to the king in 1274.
After the death of Charles III in 1425, the Duchy was claimed by the descendants of both his younger daughter,Beatrice, and his elder daughter and heiress,Blanche I of Navarre.Louis XI settled the claim onJacques d'Armagnac, grandson of Beatrice, in 1462, though Blanche's descendants, theKings of Navarre, claimed the title until 1571.
She received the duchy of Nemours in 1524 with theduchy of Anjou. It was later transferred to her half-brother in 1528 and she received theduchy of Touraine in exchange.[2][3] She also received later theDuchy of Auvergne.
In 1909, members of theHouse of Orléans and theHouse of Orléans-Braganza signed the Pact of Brussels (also known as the Declaration of Brussels), theDuke of Orléans being present. The dynastic pact created the title ofPrince of Orléans-Braganza for theCount d'Eu and his descendants, thus maintaining the princely status of his house, although this is considered a house distinct from the Royal House of France, and the Count d'Eu did not in fact recover his former position in the line of Orleans succession to the French throne.[4]
Under the Pact of Brussels the Count d'Eu and his sons equally undertook in his name and the name of his descendants not to contest in any way to the branch of theDuke d'Alençon the possession of the title of Duke of Nemours.[5][6]
Nevertheless,Charles Philippe d'Orléans, the last Duke of Nemours and only descendant of the Alençon, died without heirs. His death opened the theoretical possibility for the Head of the House of Orléans-Braganza to claim said title without violating the family pact.
This is a list of duchesses of Nemours and their original houses.
| Picture | Name | Father | Birth | Marriage | Became Duchess | Ceased to be Duchess | Death | Spouse |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
.svg) | Eleanor of Castile | Henry II of Castile (Trastamara) | circa 1363 | 1375 | 27 February 1416 | Charles III of Navarre | ||
 | Louise d'Anjou | Charles, Count of Maine (Anjou) | 1445 | 1462 | 1477 | Jacques, Duke of Nemours | ||
.svg) | Yolande de La Haye | (La Haye) | unknown | 24 April 1492 | 1500 | 1517 | Jean, Duke of Nemours | |
| Picture | Name | Father | Birth | Marriage | Became Duchess | Ceased to be Duchess | Death | Spouse |
| Picture | Name | Father | Birth | Marriage | Became Duchess | Ceased to be Duchess | Death | Spouse |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 | Philiberta of Savoy | Philip II, Duke of Savoy (Savoy) | 1498 | 25 January 1515 | 4 April 1524 | Giuliano de' Medici | ||
| Picture | Name | Father | Birth | Marriage | Became Duchess | Ceased to be Duchess | Death | Spouse |
| Picture | Name | Father | Birth | Marriage | Became Duchess | Ceased to be Duchess | Death | Spouse |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 | Charlotte d'Orléans | Louis, Duke of Longueville (Orléans) | 1 November 1512 | 8 September 1549 | 25 November 1533 | 8 September 1549 | Philippe | |
 | Anna d'Este | Ercole II, Duke of Ferrara (Este) | 16 November 1531 | 29 April 1566 | 15 June 1585 | 15 May 1607 | Jacques | |
 | Anne of Lorraine | Charles, Duke of Aumale (Lorraine) | 1600 | 18 April 1618 | 10 July 1632 | 10 February 1638 | Henri I | |
%2c_Dowager_Duchess_of_Nemours.jpg) | Élisabeth de Bourbon | César, Duke of Vendôme (Bourbon) | August 1614 | 11 July 1643 | 30 July 1652 | 19 May 1664 | Charles Amadeus | |
.jpg) | Marie d'Orléans | Henri II, Duke of Longueville (Orléans) | 5 March 1625 | 22 May 1657 | 14 January 1659 | 16 June 1707 | Henri II | |
| Picture | Name | Father | Birth | Marriage | Became Duchess | Ceased to be Duchess | Death | Spouse |
One or more of the preceding sentences incorporates text from a publication now in thepublic domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Nemours, Lords and Dukes of".Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 19 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. pp. 369–370._Portrait_de_Liselotte_de_Palatinat_-_Pierre_Mignard_-_Mus%25C3%25A9e_des_Beaux-Arts_de_Narbonne.jpg)
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