Duke of Luynes


The Duke of Luynes is a territorial name belonging to the noble French house d'Albert. Luynes is, today, a commune of the Indre-et-Loire département in France. The family of Albert, which sprang from Thomas Alberti, seigneur de Boussargues, bailli of Viviers and Valence, and viguier of Bagnols and Pont-Saint-Esprit in Languedoc, acquired the estate of Luynes in the 16th century.

History

The grandfather of the first Duke of Luynes was Léon d'Alberti, who changed the family name to Albert and married Jeanne de Ségur of Marseille in 1535. From the marriage he received a dowry of 10,000 livres and the fief of Luynes in today's département Bouches-du-Rhône in Provence. His son Honoré was born five years later. Léon d'Albert died in the Italian Wars.
Honoré d'Albert, seigneur de Luynes, was in the service of the three last Valois kings and of Henry IV of France, and became colonel of the French bands, commissary of artillery in Languedoc and governor of Beaucaire. Honoré d'Albert had three sons:
  • Charles, a favorite of Louis XIII, became the first Duke of Luynes in August 1619. He had recently purchased the Comté de Maillé on the Loire, about 10 miles west of Tours, and the king erected Maillé into the Duchy of Luynes, which included about 50 parishes and extended to the western wall of Tours and around it on three sides.
  • Honoré, first Duke of Chaulnes, was seigneur de Cadenet and married Charlotte Eugenie d'Ailly, countess of Chaulnes, in 1619, and was created Duke of Chaulnes in 1621. He was governor of Picardy and marshal of France, and defended his province successfully in 1625 and 1635. He is also responsible for the French translation of René Descartes's Meditations, from Latin, in 1647.
  • Léon, seigneur de Brantes, who became Duke of Luxembourg-Piney by his marriage in 1620 with Margaret Charlotte of Luxembourg.
After the death of the first Duke of Luynes in 1621, his widow, Marie de Rohan remarried to Claude of Lorraine, Duke of Chevreuse, from whom she acquired in 1655 the duchy of Chevreuse, which she gave to Louis Charles d'Albert, her son by her first husband, in 1663. From that point forward, the title of Duke of Chevreuse and Duke of Luynes was borne by the eldest sons of the family of Luynes, which also inherited the title of Duke of Chaulnes on the extinction of the descendants of Honoré d'Albert in 1698. The branch of the dukes of Luxemburg-Piney became extinct in 1697.

Other notable family members

Some other notable family members are:
Several members of the family of Albert were distinguished in letters and science, including Louis Charles d'Albert, 2nd Duke of Luynes, who was an ascetic writer and friend of the Jansenists, and Honoré Theodore d'Albert, 8th Duke of Luynes, who was a writer on archaeology. Others include:
List of dukes of Luynes since 1619:
NumberFromToDuke of LuynesRelationship to predecessor
116191621Charles d'Albert de Luynes 1st Duke of Luynes
216211690Louis Charles d'Albert de Luynes Son of the preceding
316901712Charles Honoré d'Albert de Luynes Son of the preceding
417121758Charles Philippe d'Albert de Luynes Grandson of the preceding
517581771Marie Charles d'Albert de Luynes Son of the preceding
617711807Louis Joseph Charles Amable d'Albert de Luynes Son of the preceding
718071839Charles Marie d'Albert de Luynes Son of the preceding
818391867Honoré Théodore Paul Joseph d'Albert Son of the preceding
918671870Charles Honoré Emmanuel d'Albert de Luynes Grandson of the preceding
1018701924Honoré Charles Marie Sosthène d'Albert de Luynes Son of the preceding
1119241993Philippe Anne Louis Marie Dieudonné Jean d'Albert Son of the preceding
1219932008Jean d'Albert de Luynes Son of the preceding
132008IncumbentPhilippe d'Albert, 13th duc de Luynes Son of the preceding