The Duchy of Joyeuse was created in 1581 by King Henry III of France for his favourite Anne de Joyeuse.

Origins

The lordship of Joyeuse, named for the town of Joyeuse, Ardèche, came, in the 13th century, into the possession of the house of Châteauneuf-Randon, and was made into a viscountship in 1432. Guillaume, viscount of Joyeuse, was bishop of Alet, but afterwards left the church, and became a Marshal of France; he died in 1592. Anne de Joyeuse was his eldest son.

House of Joyeuse

Henriette Catherine married twice: first to the vastly wealthy Henri de Bourbon, Duke of Montpensier; then to Charles de Lorraine, Duke of Guise. From her first marriage, she was the maternal grandmother of la Grande Mademoiselle. In 1647, Henriette Catherine gave the duchy to her son Louis de Lorraine.

House of Guise

Without any heirs, Marie ceded the duchy of Joyeuse to her third cousin once removed Charles François de Lorraine in 1688.

Branch of Elbeuf

House of Melun

References and notes