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

Merovingian kings are in boldface.

Chram
Desiderius
Bladast
Gundoald
Austrovald
Sereus
Chlothar II
Charibert II
Chilperic
Boggis
Felix
Lupus I
Odo the Great, his reign commenced perhaps as late as 692, 700, or 715, unclear parentage
Hunald I, son of Odo the Great, abdicated to a monastery
Waifer, son of Hunald I
Hunald II, probably son of Waifer
Lupo II, Duke of Gascony, opposed Charlemagne's rule and Hunald's relatives.

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.

Name	Portrait	Birth	Death	King of the Franks
William I the Pious		22 March 875		Odo Charles the Simple Charles the Simple Robert I Rudolph
William II the Younger			12 December 926	Odo Charles the Simple Charles the Simple Robert I Rudolph
Acfred			927	Odo Charles the Simple Charles the Simple Robert I Rudolph

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

Ebalus the Bastard ), illegitimate son of Ranulph II and distant cousin of Acfred, also Count of Poitiers and Auvergne.

House of Rouergue

House of Capet

Hugh the Great

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

William III Towhead, son of Ebalus, also Count of Poitiers and Auvergne.
William IV Iron Arm, son of William III, also Count of Poitiers.
William V the Great, son of William IV, also Count of Poitiers.
William VI the Fat, first son of William V, also Count of Poitiers.
Odo, second son of William V, also Count of Poitiers and Duke of Gascony.
William VII the Eagle, third son of William V, also Count of Poitiers.
William VIII, fourth son of William V, also Count of Poitiers and Duke of Gascony.
William IX the Troubadour, son of William VIII, also Count of Poitiers and Duke of Gascony.
William X the Saint, son of William IX, also Count of Poitiers and Duke of Gascony.
Eleanor of Aquitaine, daughter of William X, also Countess of Poitiers and Duchess of Gascony, married the kings of France and England in succession.
* Louis the Younger, also King of France, duke in right of his wife.

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

Name	Portrait	Arms	Birth	Marriage	Death	King 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.

John II, son of Philip VI of France, acceded in 1350 as King of France.
Charles, Dauphin of France, Duke of Guyenne, son of Charles VI of France, Dauphin.
Louis, son of Charles VI of France, Dauphin.

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.

Charles, Duc de Berry, son of Charles VII of France.
Xavier, second son of Louis, Dauphin of France.

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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