Duke of Aquitaine


The duke of Aquitaine was the ruler of the medieval region of Aquitaine under the supremacy of Frankish kings|Frankish], English monarchs|English], and later French kings.
As successor states of the Visigothic Kingdom, Aquitania and Languedoc inherited both Visigothic law and Roman Law, which together allowed women more rights than their contemporaries would enjoy until the 20th century. Particularly under the Liber Judiciorum as codified in 642/643 and expanded by the Code of Recceswinth in 653, women could inherit land and titles and manage their holdings independently from their husbands or male relations, dispose of their property in legal wills if they had no heirs, represent themselves and bear witness in court from the age of 14, and arrange for their own marriages after the age of 20. As a consequence, male-preference primogeniture was the practiced succession law for the nobility.

Coronation

The Merovingian kings and dukes of Aquitaine used Toulouse as their capital. The Carolingian kings used different capitals situated farther north. In 765, Pepin the Short bestowed the captured golden banner of the Aquitainian duke, Waiffre, on the Abbey of Saint Martial in Limoges. Pepin I of Aquitaine was buried in Poitiers. Charles the Child was crowned at Limoges and buried at Bourges. When Aquitaine briefly asserted its independence after the death of Charles the Fat, it was Ranulf II of Poitou who took the royal title. In the late tenth century, Louis the Indolent was crowned at Brioude.
The Aquitainian ducal coronation procedure is preserved in a late twelfth-century ordo from Saint-Étienne in Limoges, based on an earlier Romano-German ordo. In the early thirteenth century a commentary was added to this ordo, which emphasised Limoges as the capital of Aquitaine. The ordo indicated that the duke received a silk mantle, coronet, banner, sword, spurs, and the ring of Saint Valerie.

Visigothic dukes

  • Suatrius, captured by Clovis I during the ''First Franco-Visigothic War.''

Dukes of Aquitaine under Frankish kings

kings are in boldface.

Restored dukes of Aquitaine under Frankish kings

The Carolingian kings again appointed Dukes of Aquitaine, first in 852, and again since 866. Later, this duchy was also called Guyenne.

House of Auvergne

The following were also Count of Auvergne.
NamePortraitBirthDeathKing of the Franks
William I
the Pious

22 March 875Odo

Charles the Simple

Charles the Simple

Robert I

Rudolph
William II
the Younger

12 December 926Odo

Charles the Simple

Charles the Simple

Robert I

Rudolph
Acfred
927Odo

Charles the Simple

Charles the Simple

Robert I

Rudolph

House of Poitiers (Ramnulfids) restored (927–932)

House of Rouergue

House of Capet

House of Poitiers (Ramnulfids) restored (962–1152)

File:Hommage d Édouard Ier à Philippe le Bel.jpg|thumb|right|140px|Homage of Edward I of England to Philip IV of France, by Jean Fouquet. As Duke of Aquitaine, Edward was a vassal to the French king
From 1152, the Duchy of Aquitaine was held by the Plantagenets, who also ruled England as independent monarchs and held other territories in France by separate inheritance. The Plantagenets were often more powerful than the kings of France, and their reluctance to do homage to the kings of France for their lands in France was one of the major sources of conflict in medieval Western Europe.

House of Plantagenet

NamePortraitArmsBirthMarriageDeathKing of France
Henry I
Henry Curtmantle
18 May 1152

June 1172
'
5 March 1133
Le Mans
Son of Geoffrey Plantagenet of Anjou
and Matilda
Eleanor of Aquitaine
Bordeaux Cathedral
18 May 1152
8 children
6 July 1189
Chinon
Aged 56
Louis VII
Henry I
Henry Curtmantle
18 May 1152

June 1172
'
5 March 1133
Le Mans
Son of Geoffrey Plantagenet of Anjou
and Matilda
Eleanor of Aquitaine
Bordeaux Cathedral
18 May 1152
8 children
6 July 1189
Chinon
Aged 56
Philip II
Richard I
Richard the Lionheart
June 1172

6 April 1199
'

1198–1340
8 September 1157
Beaumont Palace
Son of Henry II
and Eleanor of Aquitaine
Berengaria of Navarre
Limassol
12 May 1191
No children
6 April 1199
Châlus
Shot by a quarrel aged 41
Philip II
John
John Lackland
27 May 1199

19 October 1216
'

1198–1340
24 December 1166
Beaumont Palace
Son of Henry II
and Eleanor of Aquitaine
Isabel of Gloucester
Marlborough Castle
29 August 1189
No children
Isabella of Angoulême
Bordeaux Cathedral
24 August 1200
5 children
19 October 1216
Newark-on-Trent
Aged 49
Philip II
Henry II
Henry III of England
28 October 1216

16 November 1272
'

1198–1340
1 October 1207
Winchester Castle
Son of John
and Isabella of Angoulême
Eleanor of Provence
Canterbury Cathedral
14 January 1236
5 children
16 November 1272
Westminster Palace
Aged 65
Philip II
Henry II
Henry III of England
28 October 1216

16 November 1272
'

1198–1340
1 October 1207
Winchester Castle
Son of John
and Isabella of Angoulême
Eleanor of Provence
Canterbury Cathedral
14 January 1236
5 children
16 November 1272
Westminster Palace
Aged 65
Louis VIII
Henry II
Henry III of England
28 October 1216

16 November 1272
'

1198–1340
1 October 1207
Winchester Castle
Son of John
and Isabella of Angoulême
Eleanor of Provence
Canterbury Cathedral
14 January 1236
5 children
16 November 1272
Westminster Palace
Aged 65
Louis IX
Henry II
Henry III of England
28 October 1216

16 November 1272
'

1198–1340
1 October 1207
Winchester Castle
Son of John
and Isabella of Angoulême
Eleanor of Provence
Canterbury Cathedral
14 January 1236
5 children
16 November 1272
Westminster Palace
Aged 65
Philip III "the Bold"
Edward I
Edward Longshanks
20 November 1272

7 July 1307
'

1198–1340
17 June 1239
Palace of Westminster
Son of Henry III
and Eleanor of Provence
Eleanor of Castile
Abbey of [Santa María la Real de Las Huelgas]
18 October 1254
16 children
Margaret of France
Canterbury Cathedral
10 September 1299
3 children
7 July 1307
Burgh by Sands
Aged 68
Philip III "the Bold"
Edward I
Edward Longshanks
20 November 1272

7 July 1307
'

1198–1340
17 June 1239
Palace of Westminster
Son of Henry III
and Eleanor of Provence
Eleanor of Castile
Abbey of [Santa María la Real de Las Huelgas]
18 October 1254
16 children
Margaret of France
Canterbury Cathedral
10 September 1299
3 children
7 July 1307
Burgh by Sands
Aged 68
Philip IV the Fair
Edward II
Edward of Caernarfon
8 July 1307

1325
'

1198–1340
25 April 1284
Caernarfon Castle
Son of Edward I
and Eleanor of Castile
Isabella of France
Boulogne Cathedral
24 January 1308
4 children
21 September 1327
Berkeley Castle
Murdered aged 43
Philip IV the Fair
Edward II
Edward of Caernarfon
8 July 1307

1325
'

1198–1340
25 April 1284
Caernarfon Castle
Son of Edward I
and Eleanor of Castile
Isabella of France
Boulogne Cathedral
24 January 1308
4 children
21 September 1327
Berkeley Castle
Murdered aged 43
Louis X "the Quarreller"
Edward II
Edward of Caernarfon
8 July 1307

1325
'

1198–1340
25 April 1284
Caernarfon Castle
Son of Edward I
and Eleanor of Castile
Isabella of France
Boulogne Cathedral
24 January 1308
4 children
21 September 1327
Berkeley Castle
Murdered aged 43
John I "the Posthumous"
Edward II
Edward of Caernarfon
8 July 1307

1325
'

1198–1340
25 April 1284
Caernarfon Castle
Son of Edward I
and Eleanor of Castile
Isabella of France
Boulogne Cathedral
24 January 1308
4 children
21 September 1327
Berkeley Castle
Murdered aged 43
Philip V "the Tall"
Edward II
Edward of Caernarfon
8 July 1307

1325
'

1198–1340
25 April 1284
Caernarfon Castle
Son of Edward I
and Eleanor of Castile
Isabella of France
Boulogne Cathedral
24 January 1308
4 children
21 September 1327
Berkeley Castle
Murdered aged 43
Charles IV "the Fair"
Edward III
Edward of Windsor
1325

24 October 1360
'

1198–1340
13 November 1312
Windsor Castle
Son of Edward II
and Isabella of France
Philippa of Hainault
York Minster
25 January 1328
14 children
21 June 1377
Sheen Palace
Aged 64
Charles IV "the Fair"
Edward III
Edward of Windsor
1325

24 October 1360
'

13 November 1312
Windsor Castle
Son of Edward II
and Isabella of France
Philippa of Hainault
York Minster
25 January 1328
14 children
21 June 1377
Sheen Palace
Aged 64
Philip VI "the Fortunate"
Edward III
Edward of Windsor
1325

24 October 1360
'

13 November 1312
Windsor Castle
Son of Edward II
and Isabella of France
Philippa of Hainault
York Minster
25 January 1328
14 children
21 June 1377
Sheen Palace
Aged 64
John II "the Good"

Plantagenet rulers of Aquitaine

In 1337, King Philip VI of France reclaimed the fief of Aquitaine from Edward III, King of England. Edward in turn claimed the title of King of France, by right of his descent from his maternal grandfather King Philip IV of France. This triggered the Hundred Years' War, in which both the Plantagenets and the House of Valois claimed supremacy over Aquitaine.

Lord of Aquitaine (1360–1369)

In 1360, both sides signed the Treaty of Brétigny, in which Edward renounced the French crown but remained sovereign Lord of Aquitaine. However, when the treaty was broken in 1369, both these English claims and the war resumed.

Prince of Aquitaine and Gascony (1362–1372)

In 1362, King Edward III, as Lord of Aquitaine, made his eldest son Edward, Prince of Wales, Prince of Aquitaine and Gascony.

Valois and Bourbon dukes of Aquitaine

The Valois kings of France, claiming supremacy over Aquitaine, granted the title of duke to their heirs, the Dauphins.
With the end of the Hundred Years' War, Aquitaine returned under direct rule of the king of France and remained in the possession of the king. Only occasionally was the duchy or the title of duke granted to another member of the dynasty.
The Infante Jaime, Duke of Segovia, son of Alfonso XIII of Spain, was one of the Legitimist pretenders to the French throne. In 1972, he conferred the hereditary title of Duke of Aquitaine on his son, Gonzalo, who died in 2000 without legitimate progeny.

Family tree

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Attribution

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