The House of Rochechouart (; ) is the oldest noble family in France. This powerful dynasty of the Carolingian era dates back to Foucher, supporter of Charles the Bald, who became viscount (vicomte) of Limoges in 876. His descendants—Limoges, Rochechouart, Mortemart and Brosse—ruled over the area for several centuries, providing many different French regimes with politicians, soldiers, functionaries and other notable figures. The family is named after the town of Rochechouart.
Origins Foucher de Limoges, the founder of the House of Limoges-Rochechouart, was the second son of Raymond I, Count of Toulouse, and of Berteys, daughter of Rémi. The viscounts of Limoges and of Rochechouart were thus descended from the Counts of Rouergue and probably from the Counts of Autun and from Théodoric, who founded the Autun dynasty c. 730.
Viscounts of Limoges
The first viscounts
Foucher, supporter of Charles the Bald, was rewarded for his services in the king's wars by being granted the viscountcy of Limoges, which extended into Limousin and Berry. Foucher was crowned as viscount in 876 in Limoges and started minting his own coinage. The promulgation of the Capitulary of Quierzy the following year simultaneously freed the lords up from royal authority and made their titles and charges hereditary, thus giving birth to the French feudal system. Like other lordships, the viscounty of Limoges became an autonomous territory, administered by viscount Foucher. On his death in 886, his son Hildebert became lord of Limoges, followed by Hildebert's son Hildegaire, then Hildebert's grandson Géraud, establishing in a lasting way the dynasty of viscounts in their fiefdom of Limoges.Robert de Lasteyrie, Etude sur les comtes et vicomte de Limoges antéieurs à l'An Mil, 1874
Around 1000 At the end of the first millennium, the lords of Limoges reinforced their authority over the city, which had considerably enlarged itself under the privileges of the cult of Saint Martial. The three great centres of power – the castle, the bishopric, and the abbey – were held onto by Foucher's descendants, and it was under their aegis that the hagiography of the city's patron saint was written. Thus arose the miracle du mal des ardents – in 994, a terrible epidemic transmitted through the rye fell upon the city. The relics of the saint were exposed across the city and the evil ceased. The power of the viscounts, allied as it was to the religious authorities, ended up reinforced. However, at the end of the 11th century, viscount Adémar II (in exchange for a large sum) gave the abbey of Saint-Martial to the Cluniac order despite opposition from its monks, who were driven out. This event marked the beginning of a rivalry between the castle and the town which broke out most markedly in the 1105 fire of Limoges, commanded by viscount Adémar III. Despite everything, the bishop's cause was boosted as a result of the fire, and the viscount was condemned to rebuilding the city.
The viscounts of Limoges after Adémar III On his death in 1139, Adémar III had a daughter, Brunissende, but no more male heirs. Therefore, the viscountcy of Limoges passed to Guy de Comborn, Adémar's son-in-law, though Foucher's line continued via the viscounts of Rochechouart. Until 1290, the viscountcy of Limoges was held by the house of Comborn, then passed to the House of Dreux-Bretagne (1290–1384), to the House of Blois-Châtillon (1384–1481), and finally to the House of Albret (1484–1572). On the death of Jeanne d'Albret, viscountess of Limoges, in 1572, the title descended upon Henri III of Navarre, the future Henry IV. In 1607, the viscountcy was once and for all reassigned to the Crown. Nevertheless, in 1661, Louis XIV authorised count François de Rochechouart to take the arms and title of the counts of Limoges, as a descendant in the direct and male line from Foucher of Limoges. Since that date, the title of count of Limoges has fallen upon the 'chef d'armes' (inheritor) of the House of Rochechouart.
The House of Rochechouart
First viscounts and the Crusades
In 980, Aimery de Limoges, fourth son of viscount Géraud, married Eve, daughter of Guillaume II, count of Angoulême. Her dowry included the lands of Rochechouart and so Aimery became Aimery I, viscount of Rochechouart. He ruled for more than half a century over this fiefdom and his son, Aimery II, succeeded him on his death in 1036, only to be assassinated in 1049 by an enemy in unclear circumstances.Docteur Adrien Grézillier, Histoire de Rochechouart, des origines à la Révolution, 1975 Aimery II was succeeded by his son Aimery III, then by his grandson Aimery IV. Aimery IV participated in the First Crusade and at the capture of Jerusalem in 1099 beside Godfrey of Bouillon. His son Aimery V imitated him, accompanying King Louis VII on the Second Crusade.
The legend of Alix and the lion Aimery VI succeeded his father around 1170. He fortified the city of Rochechouart and founded a castle there, of which the keep survives today. His son, Aimery VII, who succeeded him in 1230, was (with his wife Alix) the protagonist in an adventure known as "Alix and the lion", reported by abbot Duléry.Abbé Duléry, Rochechouart, histoire, légendes, archéologie, 1855 Alix was an exceptionally beautiful and virtuous wife and, when the castle's intendant conceived a violent passion for her, she rebuffed his advances. To avenge himself, he pretended to swap roles with the viscount and, enraged at this, Aimery shut Alix in prison with a lion. A few days later, he went to check on her and found Alix alive and the lion sleeping by her side. Aimery needed no more convincing of his wife's innocence and so shut up the intendant with the starving lion instead, who instantly devoured the attendant.
A democracy ahead of its time At the end of the 13th century, Aimery XI renounced a large part of his privileges in promulgating a charter of enfranchisement which transformed Rochechouart into a democratic city, and turned its inhabitants from serfs into citizens. The city was from then on governed by four consuls who chose their own successors, without their lord's intervention. At the same time the viscount suppressed all direct taxes such as the taille and the quête and abolished duties of service to the feudal lord. He also accorded the inhabitants of Rochechouart the essential conditions for total liberty — they could dispose of their goods, buy or sell, import and export whatever they wanted, build, move about freely within the viscountcy, all without intervention from their lord. The Charter of Aimery XI was very advanced for its times, and — despite pressure from the other lords in the region, who considered Aimery a dangerous revolutionary — it remained in force until 1789.
The Hundred Years' War
The repudiation of Eleanor of Aquitaine by Louis VII, and her remarriage in 1153 to Henry II of England began a period of three centuries of Anglo-French wars in south-west France, during which the Rochechouarts paid a heavy price. Despite continual threats from English troops, the viscounts of Rochechouart remained loyal to the king of France. Aimery VI paid homage in 1226 to the young Louis IX on his accession to the throne. Aimery IX accompanied Philip III to the Ost de Foix in 1271 and on the Aragon expedition in 1283. Viscount Simon fought in 1304 on the side of Philip IV, playing a major part in the French victory in Flanders. His son Jean, who married a descendant of Louis IX, imitated Simon in 1328 on the expedition sent into Flanders by Philip VI.
The family's devotion to the French crown left Rochechouart itself dangerously exposed throughout the Hundred Years' War. Viscount Jean fought at the battle of Crécy in 1346, surviving its decimation of the French nobility. In the wake of this defeat, the English king's captain Henry of Lancaster used his troops to devastate Poitou and its environs. Rochechouart resisted him for several days before falling to him, and the city was sacked and occupied in 12 days, with 600 people killed. Ten years later, in 1356, Jean was killed in the carnage of the battle of Poitiers whilst interposing himself to save the life of John II. The following year the Treaty of Brétigny granted Poitou and Limousin to the crown of England. Rochechouart was thus delivered up to the English in 1362. Nevertheless, Jean's son Louis refused to submit to the troops of Edward III and the Black Prince and was imprisoned by the latter in 1364. When he was freed, he rushed to the court of Charles V to renew his allegiance and rejoin Bertrand du Guesclin's troops. Reprisals for this came swiftly, with English troops allied to local French lords unsuccessfully laying siege to Rochechouart, recaptured several times by the viscounts. The town and castle's fortifications remained unbroken, but the surrounding lands were pillaged and devastated. The French king himself sympathised and granted the viscount the châtellenie of Rochefort. Louis de Rochechouart, councillor and chamberlain of Charles V, and his lieutenant in Limousin, fought on Du Guesclin's side in the reconquest of Poitou in 1372–1373.
On the way to the throne
The conduct of viscounts Simon, Jean and Louis during the Hundred Years' War allowed the Rochechouart family to attain the highest reaches of the 15th-century French feudal hierarchy. Viscount Louis, who died in 1394, was involved in the campaigns that returned the French kings to the throne of France, and was called cousin by the king. The three viscounts who succeeded him — Jean II, Geoffroy and Foucaud — were councillors and chamberlain to Charles VI, Charles VII, and Louis XI. By their marriages, they expanded their territories, receiving the fiefdoms of Berry and Poitou. Jean II married Eléonore de Mathefelon, whose mother was of the sang royal. Within the king's armies, the viscounts were chevaliers bannerets, at the head of important troops of knights, horsemen and men at arms. Supporters of the crown of France during the civil war which marked the reign of Charles VI, they participated in the great battles of the Hundred Years' War during that century — Agincourt and the campaigns of Joan of Arc, to whom Geoffroi was a companion. Geoffroi's son Foucaud was named governor of La Rochelle and the Aunis region, a post of capital importance whilst the expulsion of the English continued in Guyenne. Made a knight of the Order of the Porcupine, a chivalric order of only 24 members instituted by Charles d'Orléans, he participated in 1453 at the capture of Bordeaux and the Battle of Castillon which marked the French monarchy's reconquest of south-western France and the definitive victory of France over England in the Hundred Years' War.Docteur Adrien Grézillier, Histoire de Rochechouart, des origines à la Révolution, 1975
The affair of the cut-off hand Foucaud only had one child by his marriage, his daughter Anne. Despite the viscount's reluctance, in 1470 she married Jean de Pontville, chamberlain of Charles de France, duke of Guyenne and brother of Louis XI. The marriage served the political interests of the king of France and his brother (who hated each other) and so they put strong pressure on Foucaud to accept the marriage. Thus, as the viscountcy of Limoges had done 300 years earlier, the viscountcy of Rochechouart left the line of Foucher of Limoges, although this was continued by the lords of Bourdet and lords of Le Chandenier, two branches via cousins.