Duke of Otranto


Duke of Otranto is a hereditary title in the nobility of the First French Empire which was bestowed in 1809 by Emperor Napoleon I upon Joseph Fouché, a French politician and Minister of Police. Fouché had been made a Count of the French Empire previously.

Background

The dukedom was named after the town of Otranto on the east coast of the Salento peninsula in Italy and created – under the French name of Otrante – as a duché grand-fief in the satellite Kingdom of Naples.
The ducal house of Fouché d'Otrante is still extant in the Kingdom of Sweden, where the dukes have lived since the 19th century.
As of 2025, the title is held by Charles-Louis Armand Fouché d'Otrante, 8th Duc d'Otrante who succeeded his father in 1995. He is a cousin of the King of Denmark, Frederik X.

Genealogy

Joseph Fouché, 1st Duc d'Otrante was a son of Julien Joseph Fouché and wife Marie Françoise Croizet, paternal grandson of Julien Fouché and wife Marguerite Chiron and maternal grandson of Jean Croizet and wife Marie Chesneau.
By his marriage to Bonne Jeanne Coiquaud, daughter of Nicolas François Coiquaud and wife Marguerite Gautier, paternal granddaughter of Noël Coiquaud and wife Catherine Lahogue and maternal granddaughter of Pierre Gautier and wife Jacquette Boisgontier, the 1st Duc d'Otrante had the following issue who reached adulthood:
  • Joseph Liberté Fouché d'Otrante, 2nd Duc d'Otrante, married to Fortunée Collin de Sussy on 14 July 1824; they separated shortly after without issue.
  • Armand François Cyriac Fouché d'Otrante, 3rd Duc d'Otrante. Unmarried and without issue.
  • Paul Athanase Fouché d'Otrante, 4th Duc d'Otrante, chamberlain to Oscar I of Sweden. Married firstly at Finspång, 24 January 1824 Christina Baroness Palmstierna, without issue, secondly in Stockholm, 18 August 1836 Vilhelmina Amalia Baroness von Stedingk, daughter of Victor Friherre von Stedingk and wife Lovisa Löf, and thirdly at St. Germain-en-Laye, 9 June 1884 Fronika Marx ; he had issue, which remained in Sweden:
  • * Pauline Ernestine Fouché d'Otrante, married on 7 November 1861 Ture Greve Bielke, son of Nils Greve Bielke and wife Ebba friherrinna Sture, and had issue
  • * Gustave Armand Fouché d'Otrante, 5th Duc d'Otrante, married firstly in Stockholm, 2 May 1865 Augusta Baroness Bonde, daughter of Knut Philip Baron Bonde and wife Lady Augusta Fitzclarence, daughter of the 1st Earls of Munster, and secondly in London, 5 July 1873 Therese Baroness von Stedingk, heiress of Elghammar Castle in Gnesta, Sweden; daughter of Ludvig Baron von Stedingk and wife Lovisa von Haxthausen, and had issue, a daughter and a son:
  • ** Adelaide Augustine Fouché d'Otrante, married in Stockholm, 14 October 1893 Frederik Mauritz Peyron
  • ** Charles Louis Fouché d'Otrante, 6th Duc d'Otrante, married at Linköping, 8 June 1906 and divorced in 1931 Hedvig Ingeborg Madeleine Countess Douglas, daughter of Ludvig [Count Douglas] and wife Anna Countess Ehrensvärd, and had issue, two daughters and two sons:
  • *** Victoria Anne Therese Fouché d'Otrante, married firstly Elghammar, 18 August 1929 and divorced in 1937 Axel Hans Wilhelm Hjalmarsson Bennich, and had issue, and secondly at Elghammar, 29 August 1937 Eugen Frederik Christer Baron von Stedingk, and had female issue
  • *** Margareta Fouché d'Otrante, married at Björnlunda, 26 January 1934 H.S.H. Gustav Albrecht Alfred Franz Friedrich Otto Emil Ernst 5th Prince zu Sayn-Wittgenstein-Berleburg, and had issue
  • *** Gustaf Douglas Armand Fouché d'Otrante, 7th Duc d'Otrante, married at Vendel, 21 October 1967 Metta Christine Gunnel Beata Carolina Countess von Rosen, daughter of and his second wife who grew up at Örbyhus Castle, and had issue:
  • **** Marguerite Ebba Fouché d'Otrante, unmarried and without issue
  • **** Pauline Louise Fouché d'Otrante, married on 27 May 2000 Mattias Dymling
  • **** Josephine Madeleine Désirée Fouché d'Otrante
  • **** Charles-Louis Armand Fouché d'Otrante, 8th Duc d'Otrante
  • *** Louis Douglas Fouché d'Otrante, married in Stockholm, 20 June 1944 Birgitta Helena Christina Tham, and had female issue:
  • **** Josephine Ebba Madeleine Fouché d'Otrante, married in Stockholm, 26 September 1973 Hans Olof Dyhlen, and had issue
  • **** Agneta Hélène Marie Fouché d'Otrante, married in Stockholm, 3 October 1970 H.S.H. Philipp-Reinhard 7th Fürst zu Solms-Hohensolms-Lich, and had issue
  • * Paul Joseph Marie Fouché d'Otrante, married at Villiers-sur-Morin, 24 November 1892 Amélie Adrienne Berthe Ancellin, and had female issue:
  • ** Madeleine Paule Fouché d'Otrante, unmarried and without issue
  • ** Thérèse Berthe Fouché d'Otrante, married in Paris, 24 December 1946 Jean Arthur Plisson
  • Joséphine-Ludmille Fouché d'Otrante, married to Adolphe Comte de La Barthe de Thermes, and had issue.