County of Blois
| County of Blois | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| County ofKingdom of France | |||||||||
| c. 500–1660 | |||||||||
 Coat of arms
| |||||||||
 | |||||||||
| History | |||||||||
• Established | c. 500 | ||||||||
• Disestablished | 1660 | ||||||||
| |||||||||
TheCounty of Bloiswas afeudalprincipalitycentred onBlois,south of Paris,France.It was created just after kingClovis IconqueredRoman GaularoundAD500.Between the 8th and the 13th centuries, it was amongst the most powerful vassal counties within theKingdom of France,after having succeeded in surrounding theCapetian dynasty'slands of Francesince Blois annexed theChampagne.
Since its creation up to1498,the county was directed by counts, often with various more or less prestigious titles of nobility, or sometimes delegating their task toviscounts.The county existed until its definitive attachment to the Kingdom's lands in1660,whenGaston, Duke of Orléansand last count of Blois, died.
History
[edit]Ancient times
[edit]From the 1st to the 5th centuries,Bloisiandepended on theCarnutesoppidumofAutrium[1](corresponding to current city ofChartres), in theRomanprovince ofGallia Lugdunensis Senonia.At that time, Blois was actually a little growing city around a fortress built by the Romans, namedCastrumBlesense,[2]and administrated by aRoman consul.[3]Therefore, the surrounding region was calledpagusBlesensi.[4]
In 410, aBretonchieftain named Ivomadus would have conqueredBloisas well asChartres[5]by overthrowing the consul in place, a man named Odo who was likelyFrankish.The cheftain would have established an independent State, the Kingdom of Blois,[6]within theRoman Empireitself, when EmperorFlavius Honoriuswas already weakened because of repetitive raids conducted by Barbarians. This entity is not well known to historians, but it seems to have resisted the invasion of theVisigothic KingdomofToulouse,but it did not resist to those by theFranksbetween481and491.[7]
A county of the Frankish kingdom
[edit]The Franks established there a first county namedComitatui blesensi,[8]whose capital city was already in Blois, on the right bank of theLoire river.[9]The counts' names of that time are not known.
When KingChlothar Idied, the county was administratively attached to the Kingdom of Orleans then offered to his elder sonGuntram[10]until592,whereas the neighboring cities ofChartresandTourswere gifted to the second son,Charibert I,yet King of Paris.
At the spiritual level, the diocese of Blois would still depend on the bishopric of Chartres, since the first Frankish Kings would have taken this decision in order to keep the clergy of Chartres away from politics and management of the Blois area.
At these times, Blois was governed by one of the 7mayors of the palacewhose mission was to select a Frankish nobleman to raise him as a count.[11]The name of the chosen count did not come down to us, but a civil war did break out in the region. Along with theCarnutes,the Bloisians fought against people fromOrléansandChâteaudun.[12]
However, the county seems to be governed directly by theCounts of Orléans,of which the oldest known,Adrian(died before 821), would have come from theGeroldingfamily. They were by the way close to theCapetianssince KingCharlemagnemarried by771Hildegard,the Adrian's sister and daughter of CountGerold of Anglachgau.
Hence, the title would have formally created in832when KingLouis the Piousby making Adrian's second son, called William.[13]Then, William gathered with KingPepin I of Aquitaineto help him retake its Kingdom, that King Louis gave to KingCharles II.The first-ever known Count of Blois died in834during a battle in this war.[14]Because he did not have any child, the county would have been transmitted to his supposed nephew,Robert the Strong,[15]who would later become Count of Orléans,Anjou,Auxerre and Nevers, but alsoMargraveofNeustriaafter861.
KingRobert the Strongdied in866,and bequeathed his titles to his former foe,Count Hugh of Paris, calledthe Abbot,who then raised Robert's sons. Both would also become Kings of the Franks, Margraves of Neustria, Counts of Paris: firstOdo,thenRobert I.
In the meantime, the county was several times looted and burned down by thevikingchieftainHastein:in851,[16]854,and somewhen between856and857.[17]He came again in882and conqueredChartresbefore becoming a vassal to KingLouis III.The new county of Chartres was hence created right at the North of Blois.
Creation of a Robertian viscounty
[edit]Before900,Count Robert decided to delegate the administration of a more autonomousBloisianto aviscount.He would have chosen to replace him a man called Garnegaud (before 886 - after 906). After Garnegaud's death, Robert as count of Blois gave the viscounty to the viscount of ToursTheobald the Elder(before923).[18]Robert's sonHugh the Greatsucceeded his father. Blois remained in theRobertiandomain until940,when King Hugh is said to have offered the county toTheobald I, Count of Blois,son of the previous viscount.[19]
The Thibaldian county
[edit]
Like his father,Theobald the Tricksterwas politically close to theRobertiansand, therefore, to DukeHugh.Theobald was not only promoted count of Blois by the latter,[20]but also count ofTours,ChartresandChâteaudun.
In958,during the infancy of the Hugh's son,Hugh Capet,Theobald gathered withCount Fulk II of Anjou,who he is allied with sincethe last King of Brittanyperished in952.Both went so far as to present themselves as "governors and administrators of the kingdom of Neustria" and "counts by the grace of God".[21]From960onwards, Theobald got more strongly associated with Carolingian KingLothair,in peculiar during his war against Normandy.[22]However, he did not succeed in getting the agreement of the new Duke Hugh Capet, his direct lordship.
By1019,his grandsonOdo IIcontinuedthe Trickster's conquests by adding to the family domain the county ofMeauxas well as that ofTroyesin1023.When he died in1037,the domains he administered were divided, until they were reunited in1063by CountTheobald III,Odo II's son. Meanwhile, the county ofTourswas definitively lost in1044after the Battle of Nouy against theHouse of Anjou.The counties of Blois andChampagneare united again until1152,[23]date on whichTheobald IVbequeaths Champagne to his elderHenry Iand Blois to his younger brotherTheobald V.
In1171,Blois was one of the first cities in Europe to accuse itsJewsof ritual crimes following the unexplained disappearance of a Christian child. On the orders of CountTheobald V,30 to 35 Jews (out of a community of about 130 people) were burned alive on May 26 near the pitchforks.[24]
The county remained in the Thibaldian family, but in the younger branch of Avesnes from1230to1241with CountessMary,then in that of Blois-Châtillon until1397.The latter lost influence, which was felt in the control of the territories included in the county. When CountGuy IIgave up his domain to DukeLouis I of Orléans,for lack of direct male descendants and in the middle of theHundred Years' War,the county was limited to the area between the manors ofVendôme,BeaugencyandValençay.
Incorporation to the Royal domain
[edit]The Duke established theBlois Castleas his official residence, since there was no castle inOrléans,even though he usually sat at the King's court in theLouvre CastleinParis.
Despite its proximity to the Atlantic front, the county was relatively spared from theHundred Years' War.At the end of April 1429,Joan of Arcstayed in the Blois Castle before liberating Orléans, then occupied by the English.
Although they were handed down as anapanagewithin thehouse of Valois,the counties of Blois and Orléans did not formally enter the Crown's domain until1498when Count Louis II of Orléans was crowned King of France asLouis XII,and naturally established his court in Blois that year. He was thus thelast hereditary count of Blois.[25]
Continuity
[edit]In1498,the county was integrated into the royal domain with the formercounty of Orléans,thus creating theOrléanais province.By setting up his court in Blois, King Louis XII not only invited his court's nobles to the banks of the Loire but also madeBloisianthe cradle of theFrench Renaissance.The county became considerably richer, and a new castle was built in Blois. Thetreaty of Bloiswas signed there in1504.By1516,newly KingFrançois Iordered the conception of an ideal city, a "new Rome" -today known asRomorantin-, but it was aborted after theLeonardo da Vinci's death in1519.[26]Then began the construction of a huge annex castle dedicated to hunting in the forest ofChambord,in place of the old fortress built under the counts in the 10th century.[27][28]This lasted for almost 25 years, until1544.Later, another sovereign took the same type of decision by converting a hunting lodge into a sumptuous palace: KingLouis XIV.Nevertheless, if theSun Kingwished to leave the capital, KingFrançois Ileft Bloisian from1526to install his court inParis.Since then, this move as well as the loss of the title of count relegated Blois to a simple provincial town.
In1626,Duke Gaston of Anjou,third son of KingHenry IV,married -not without regret- the richduchess of Montpensier, Marie de Bourbon,imposed on him byRichelieu.He thus received the duchies of Orleans and Chartres as an apanage, as well as Blois, which was again raised to an independent county. His reign was marked by his motivation to renovate multiple castles withinSologne.Afterthe Fronde,Duke Gaston d'Orléans, as he was called from then on, was assigned to that of Blois from1652and died in1660in his newly built residence inBlois-Vienne.In accordance with the appanagist tradition, his titles were transferred toDuke Philippe,KingLouis XIV's younger brother, but His Majesty decided not to grant him Blois as a county. The county was thus attached once again to the royal domain.
Since that time, Bloisian no longer depends directly on theDuchy of Orléans,but remains administratively attached to theOrléanais province.
Right after theFrench Revolution,the department ofLoir-et-Cherwas created in1790,more or less following the last borders of the county, including the cantons ofVendômeandRomorantin.
References
[edit]- ^Michel-Jean-François Ozeray,Histoire générale, civile et religieuse de la cité des Carnutes et du pays Chartrain, vulgairement appelé la Beauce, depuis la première migration des Gaulois jusqu'à l'année de Jésus-Christ 1697, époque de la dernière scission de notre territoire par l'établissement du diocèse de Blois(in French) Volume 2, Chartres, Garnier fils, imprimeur-libraire, place des Halles, 17 - 1836.
- ^Hofmann J. Lexicon universale (1698)."BLESENSE Castrum et Pagus Blesensis in Celtica Blesensum".EN Academic(in Latin).
- ^Yannick Pelletier (1991).Une histoire de la Bretagne(in French). Editions Jean-paul Gisserot. p. 15.ISBN9782877470742..
- ^Georges Touchard-Lafosse (1846).Histoire de Blois et de son territoire depuis les temps les plus reculés jusqu'à nos jours(in French). Lyon.ISBN978-2-87802-091-5– via Éditions de la Tour GILE.
- ^Yannick Pelletier (1991).ibid(in French). Editions Jean-paul Gisserot. p. 15.ISBN9782877470742.
- ^Jacques Soyer (1902)."Les Bretons à Blois à la fin du Ve siècle".Mémoires de la Société des sciences et lettres de Loir-et-Cher(in French).
- ^Léon Fleuriot (1980).Les origines de la Bretagne(in French). p. 355..
- ^Jean Limnaeus (1655).Notitia regni franciae, Volume 1(in French)..
- ^Michel-Jean-François Ozeray,Ibid(in French), p.47, 1836.
- ^Michel-Jean-François Ozeray,Ibid(in French), p.70, 1836.
- ^Michel-Jean-François Ozeray,Ibid(in French), p.84, 1836.
- ^Michel-Jean-Francois Ozeray,Ibid(in French), p.102, 1836.
- ^René Merlet (1900).Les Comtes de Chartres, de Blois et de Châteaudun aux IXe et Xe siècles(in French)..
- ^Michel-Jean-Francois Ozeray,Ibid(in French), p.107, 1836.
- ^Michel-Jean-Francois Ozeray,Ibid(in French), p.114, 1836.
- ^Michel Dillange (1995).Les comtes de Poitou, ducs d'Aquitaine: 778-1204(in French). Geste éditions.ISBN2-910919-09-9..
- ^Michel-Jean-Francois Ozeray,Ibid(in French), p.108, 1836.
- ^Goujet, Jean (2004).Les comtes de Blois et de Champagne et leur descendance agnatique - Généalogie et histoire d'une dynastie féodale Xe-XVIIe siècle.Publication: Saint-Sébastien-de-Morsent. p. 22.
- ^Sassier, Yves (2004).Structures du pouvoir, royauté et res publica (France, IXe-XIIe s.).Presses universitaire de Rouen. p. 60.
- ^Raphaël Bijard."Les Thibaldiens: origines, premières alliances et ascension politique".Academia.
- ^Morice, Dom Hyacinthe (1742).Mémoires pour servir de preuves à l'Histoire ecclésiastique et civile de Bretagne.Charles Osmont. pp. t. 1, col. 346.
- ^The Annals of Flodoard of Reims; 916–966,ed. & trans. Steven Fanning and Bernard S. Bachrach (University of Toronto Press, 2011)
- ^Jean Limnaeus (1655)."Notitia regni franciae, Volume 1"(in Latin).
- ^Yves Denis (1988).Histoire de Blois et de sa région(in French). Privat.ISBN2-7089-8258-3.
- ^"Château de Blois".Châteaux de France(in French). 2022.
- ^Sylvie Gueunoun (2016).Léonard de Vinci et le dernier projet: roman(in French). Sylvie Gueunoun.ISBN978-2-36315-617-4.
- ^Simon Bryant; Jean-Sylvain Caillou; Dominic Hofbauer; Patrick Ponsot (2007).Le château de Chambord (Loir-et-Cher) – Un monument trop (peu) regardé(PDF)(in French). Sylvie Gueunoun.ISBN978-2-36315-617-4.Archived fromthe original(PDF)on 2022-04-07.Retrieved2022-03-12.
- ^Jean-Jacques Bouchet (1980).Chambord(in French).ISBN978-7-6300-0345-8.