Grand Master of France
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The Grand Master of France or Grand Maître de France was, during the Ancien Régime and Bourbon Restoration in France, one of the Great Officers of the Crown of France and head of the "Maison du Roi", the king's royal household.
The post was called Souverain Maître d'hôtel du Roi until 1380 and Grand Maître d'hôtel du Roi until 1463. The symbol of the "Grand maître" was his golden baton, given to him by the king, and his coat of arms featured two crossed batons behind the shield. The position was roughly equivalent to the positions of Lord Steward and Master of the Household in the United Kingdom.
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[edit] Duties
The position was a successor to the earlier positions of Mayor of the Palace and Seneschal of France. One of the highest posts in the French court, the "Grand maître" directed the Maison du Roi, appointed new officers to the "Maison" (who would swear an oath of service in his hands) and managed the budget of the "Maison". He was also responsible for policing the court and he managed the king's lands (which made him a sort of Minister of the Interior). In practice however, the military branch of the Maison du Roi was frequently run by the Constable of France or the Secretary of State for War.
He had numerous ceremonial duties. At the death of the king he would lead the funeral procession and, at the king's tomb, he would break his baton, throw it into the tomb and intone "Gentlemen, the King is dead; you are free from his service"; he would then take a new baton and intone "Gentlemen, the King lives, and gives you your posts."
In the Early Modern period, most of the real work of the Grand maître was accomplished by his secretaries, and not by himself personally. His role was thus generally symbolic, although he often took personal charge of his ceremonial duties. Furthermore, with the creation of the Secretary of State of the Maison du Roi in the 16th century, the Grand maître was forced to share some of his duties: in general the Secretary's oversight was purely formal, as the officers of the "Maison du Roi" were under the direct authority of the Grand Maître of France; yet, the "Secrétaire d'État à la Maison du Roi" was in charge of recruiting officers for the "Maison du Roi", and would receive prospective applications for posts and submit them to the king for his approval.
[edit] Officeholders
The position was frequently given to the highest of the nobility or to the king's close friends. François I conferred it upon his former teacher Artus Gouffier, then to his uncle René de Savoie, the "grand bâtard de Savoie", then to his friend Anne, duc de Montmorency.
In 1559, with the dismissal of Montmorency, the office fell into the hands of the Dukes of Guise, who used the position to increase their influence at court to such a point that Henri III forced Henry I, Duke of Guise to reduce his scope of authority. In 1594, the position passed into the control of the House of Bourbon and the Princes of Condé, who maintained control until the French Revolution (except for the period 1654–1656, when it was held by Thomas of Savoy-Carignano, who had replaced the Guises as foremost of the princes étranger)[1].
[edit] Grand Masters of France
- ca. 1300: Arnould de Wesemal
- 1310: Mathieu II de Trie
- 1321: Jean de Beaumont († ca. 1344)
- 1343: Gui de Ceriz († 1369)
- 1347: Robert III de Dreux (1288-1351)
- ca. 1350: Jean I de Châtillon († 1363)
- ca. 1350: Jean II de Melun († 1381)
- ca. 1350: Pierre I de Villiers († ca.1390)
- ca. 1350: Gui IV Damas (1288-1351)
- ca. 1380: Jean le Mercier
- 1388-1408: Jean de Montagu († 1409)
- 1408-1409: Louis VII, Duke of Bavaria (ca. 1368-1447)
- 1409-1413: Guichard II († 1415)
- 1413-1422: Louis, Count of Vendôme (1376-1446)
- 1422-1440: Tanguy du Chastel († 1449)
- 1440-1451: Charles de Culant († ca.1451)
- 1451-1453: Jacques de Chabannes († 1453)
- 1456-1461: Raoul de Gaucourt († 1461)
- 1463: Antoine I de Croÿ (1385-1475)
- 1465-1467: Charles Ier de Melun († 1468)
- 1467: Antoine de Chabannes (1411-1488)
- ca. 1483: François Guy XV, comte de Laval et Monfort (1435-1500)
- 1485-ca. 1496 : Philip II, Duke of Savoy (1438-1497)
- 1502-1511: Charles d'Amboise (1473-1511)
- 1511-1515: Jacques II de Chabannes-La Palice (ca.1470-1525)
- 1515-1519: Artus Gouffier, duc de Roannais († 1519)
- 1519-1525: René of Savoy, comte de Villars († 1525)
- 1526-1558: Anne de Montmorency (1492-1567)
- 1558-1559: François de Montmorency († 1579)
- 1559-1563: François of Lorraine, duc de Guise (1520-1563)
- 1563-1588: Henry I, Duke of Guise (1550-1588)
- 1588-1594: Charles, Duke of Guise (1571-1640)
- 1594-1612: Charles de Bourbon, comte de Soissons (1566-1612)
- 1612-1641: Louis de Bourbon, comte de Soissons (1604-1641)
- 1643-1646: Henry II de Bourbon, prince de Condé (1588-1646)
- 1647-1654(?): Louis II de Bourbon, prince de Condé, le Grand Condé (1621-1686)
- 1654-1656: Thomas of Savoy, prince de Carignan (1596-1656)
- 1656-1660: Armand de Bourbon, prince de Conti (1629-1666)
- 1660-1685: Henri Jules de Bourbon, prince de Condé (1643-1709)
- 1685-1710: Louis III, prince de Condé (1668-1710)
- 1710-1740: Louis Henri, duc de Bourbon, prince de Condé (1692-1740)
- 1740-1790 and 1814-1818: Louis Joseph de Bourbon, prince de Condé (1736-1818)
[edit] References
- This article is based on the equivalent article from the French Wikipedia, translated here on August 15, 2006.
- Bernard Barbiche, Les Institutions de la monarchie française à l’époque moderne, XVIIe–XVIIIe siècles, Presses universitaires de France, coll. « Premier cycle », 2001 (2nd edition). ISBN 2-13-051940-7
- Jean-François Solnon, La Cour de France, Livre de Poche, coll. « Références », 1996 (1st edition 1987). ISBN 2-253-90439-2
