History
_Duke_of_Luynes_and_Duke_of_Chevreuse_(Hyacinthe_Rigaud).jpg)
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.[5] Honoré d'Albert (1540–1592), 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.[1] Honoré d'Albert had three sons:
- Charles (1578–1621), 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.[6]
- Honoré (1581–1649), 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.[1] He was governor of Picardy and marshal of France (1619), and defended his province successfully in 1625 and 1635.[1] He is also responsible for the French translation of René Descartes's Meditations, from Latin, in 1647.
- Léon (1582–1630), seigneur de Brantes, who became Duke of Luxembourg-Piney by his marriage in 1620 with Margaret Charlotte of Luxembourg.[1]
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.[1][7]
Other notable family members
Some other notable family members are:
- Louis Auguste d'Albert d'Ailly (1676–1744), Duke of Chaulnes, became marshal of France (1741). He was a younger son of Charles Honoré d'Albert, 3rd Duke of Luynes.[1]
- Louis Joseph d'Albert de Luynes (1670–1750), 3rd Prince of Grimberghen: married to Magdeleine Marie de Berghes. He was in the service of the Emperor Charles VII, and became field-marshal and ambassador in France. He was a younger son of Louis Charles d'Albert, 2nd Duke of Luynes from the Duke's second marriage to Princess Anne de Rohan-Montbazon.[1]
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:[1]
- Paul d'Albert de Luynes (1703–1788), Cardinal and Archbishop of Sens; an astronomer.[8] He was a son of Honoré Charles d'Albert de Luynes, Duke of Montfort and Chevreuse, and younger brother of Charles Philippe d'Albert de Luynes, 4th Duke of Luynes.[9]
- Michel Ferdinand d'Albert d'Ailly (1714–1769), Duke of Chaulnes and Picquigny; a writer on mathematical instruments. He was a son of Louis Auguste d'Albert d'Ailly, 4th Duke of Chaulnes.[10]
- Louis Joseph d'Albert d'Ailly (1741–1793), Duke of Chaulnes and Picquigny; a chemist who was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society in London in 1764. He was a son of Michel Ferdinand d'Albert d'Ailly, Duke of Chaulnes and Picquigny.[11]
