The Viscounty of Turenne was a viscounty in France between the 10th century and 1738, when it was sold to the Crown. Its seat was the Château de Turenne in the lower Limousin.

Origins The earliest attestation of what would become the viscounty of Turenne is found in Odo of Cluny's biography of Gerald of Aurillac. One of Gerald's opponents was Godfrey, described as count of Turenne. He was descended from the , which county was annexed to the county of Toulouse in 852. As Odo was writing about half a century after the events he recounts, his terminology may be anachronistic.: .

The first explicit referred to as viscount of Turenne is Bernard.: . This is from the 984 donation. A document from the abbey of Tulle dated 947 or 948, shows him to have been an illegitimate son of Ademar I, also called viscount. In 984, the widowed viscountess Deda made a donation to Tulle in the name of her late husband and son, Bernard and Ademar II, both called viscounts. The succession to Turenne was disputed between Bernard's sons-in-law: Ramnulf Cabridel, the and husband of Aina, and Archambaud I, the and husband of Sulpicia.

Partition Viscount Raymond IV did homage for some fiefs to Count Raymond VII of Toulouse in 1236. In the act of homage, he declared that neither he nor his predecessors had ever done homage to any king of France. When he died in 1243, his heir was his daughter Alix, who was married to Hélie Rudel II, lord of Bergerac. Turenne was seized by her uncle, Raymond V. In June 1251, a compromise between the parties was reached under the auspices of the queen regent, Blanche of Castile.

As a result, the viscounty was partitioned between Alix and her cousin Raymond VI. Alix and Hélie Rudel received the castles of Ribérac, Epeluche, Montfort, , , Terrasson and Larche; the lordships of Souillac and of the castle of Salignac; the port of Creysse; the places of Jayac and La Cassagne and half of Martel; and the homages owed by the abbot of Sarlat and by the vassals of Carlux, Terrasson, Salignac and Larche. The right to mint money was confirmed to Raymond VI by Blanche and later by King Henry III of England as duke of Aquitaine (1263) and by King Philip III of France as sovereign (1280).

Territory and size The viscounts gradually expanded their holdings between the Vézère and the Dordogne rivers, acquiring a number of parishes from the counties of Limousin, Quercy and Périgord. The viscounty was partitioned in 1251 and part of it sold in 1350, but it reached its greatest extent in 1442. In 1645, its territory was roughly 30 leagues long and 12–13 leagues wide. In the follow decades it was gradually broken up and sold off. When acquired by the Crown in 1738, it measured approximately seven by eight leagues and encompassed seven towns and 1,200 villages or hamlets. Its population was 18,500 households.

Rights The viscounts acquired many privileges from the kings of France and of England. They owed no monetary dues nor military contributions to the Crown. They had the right to administer justice, to collect tolls, mint coint, issue safe conducts and to convoke their estates. They held these prerogatives down to 1738. Their subjects, on the other hand, had only the right to assemble as the estates when convoked and so assembled to vote on taxes and their apportionment. In the final century and a half of the viscounty's existence, when the viscount did not reside in Turenne, the total tax burden rose from 3,500 livres to 100,000.

Sale When Charles Godefroy, duc de Bouillon, acquired the viscounty of Turenne as part of his inheritance in 1730, he also took on six million francs in debt. On 8 May 1738, he sold the viscounty to King Louis XV for 4.2 million francs. The negotiations for the sale were conducted by Charles Godefroy's tutor, Claude Linotte, and the minister of finances, Philibert Orry. When Orry offered Linotte a bribe of 40,000 livres, Linottoe reported it to Charles Godefroy, who matched it by granting Linotte a life annuity of 2,000 livres and, by a contract signed on 22 April 1738, an annuity of 1,000 livres to Linotte, his wife and their heirs. This annuity obligation, the , still exists and is included in the French budget.

List of viscounts

Ademar I ... before 948 Bernard ... 947/8 Ademar II ... before 984

Succession disputed by Bernard's sons-in-law:

Aina Ramnulf Cabridel of Aubusson,

Sulpicia Archambaud I of Comborn,

House of Comborn

Eble ... 988/999 – after 1030 William ... after 1030 – before 1074 Boso I ... before 1074 – 1091 Raymond I ... 1091–1122 Boso II ... 1122–1143 Raymond II ... 1143–1191 Boso III ... 1191–1197/1200 Raymond III ... 1197/1200–1212? Raymond IV ... 1212?–1243 Raymond V ... 1243–1245 Raymond VI ... 1245–1285 Raymond VII ... 1285–1304 Margaret ... 1304–1335 Bernard VIII of Comminges ... 1304–1335,

House of Comminges

... 1335–1339 Cecilia ... 1339–1350

House of Roger de Beaufort

... 1350–1396 Raymond VIII de Beaufort ... 1395–1413 ... 1413–1416 Aliénor de Beaufort ... 1416–1420 Amanieu de Beaufort ... 1420 Pierre de Beaufort ... 1420–1444 Anne de Beaufort ... 1444 Agne IV de La Tour ... 1445–1490,

House of La Tour

François I de La Tour ... 1490–1494 Antoine de La Tour ... 1494–1528 François II de La Tour ... 1528–1532 François III de La Tour ... 1532–1557 Henri de La Tour ... 1557–1623

References

Sources