Category Archives: France

In ancient times there was a road, the Via Domitia, built by the Romans to bring soldiers and trade across the Alps from Italy into southern Gaul, then south to Spain. Cities and towns along this route that hugged the Mediterranean prospered, and fortified positions held by noblemen kept trade safe, and of course providedContinue reading “Dukes of Castries: the Wealth of the Mediterranean comes to Versailles”

One of my favourite scenes in the movie Marie-Antoinette (2006) is the one in which the new Dauphine of France wakes up in the morning and is totally bewildered by the extremely complicated routine at Versailles, explained to her by the Comtesse de Noailles (whom she dubs ‘Madame Etiquette’), played by the wonderfully frosty JudyContinue reading “Noailles—a major court family at Versailles, and patrons of the arts in the 20th century”

In June 1790, Revolutionary France abolished the use of titles of nobility. While France was still a kingdom—for now—its Second Order no longer had a hereditary place at the top of society. Legally, there were no more dukes or princes in France. A decade later, in May 1804, First Consul Bonaparte was proclaimed Emperor ofContinue reading “Marshals in France, dukedoms in Italy: Napoleon’s dukes and princes—the one-offs”

One of the most powerful positions a woman could hold at any royal court, but particularly that of France, was the ‘recognised’ royal mistress, the open secret that everyone at court knew about. It was one of the only pathways for a woman to get a dukedom on her own in the ancien regime, asContinue reading “Royal Mistresses’ Kin: Dukes of La Vallière and Antin”

One of the most prominent characters in the recent television drama about Marie-Antoinette is her loyal friend and the superintendent of her household, the Princess of Lamballe. There was no actual principality of Lamballe, but the bearer of the name was indeed a princess, by virtue of her birth into the royal house of Savoy,Continue reading “Lamballe and Penthièvre: Riches upon Riches”