Bauffremont

Bauffremont is a French family which derived its name from a village in the Vosges, outside of Orléans, now spelt Beaufremont. The family traces itself to Liébaud, sire de Bauffremont, in 1090. They are descended from the female line of the Courtenay.

In consequence of an alliance with the house of Vergy, the Bauffremonts established themselves in Burgundy and Franche-Comté. In 1448 Pierre de Bauffremont, lord of Charny, married Marie, a legitimized daughter of Philip the Good, duke of Burgundy. In 1527 the family acquired by marriage the properties of the Vienne-Listenois family.

Nicolas de Bauffremont, his son Claude, and his grandson Henri, all played important parts in the states-general of 1576, 1588 and 1614, and their speeches have been published.

On June 8, 1757 Louis de Bauffremont (1712–1769) was made a Prince of the Holy Roman Empire (inheritable by all male-line descendants); on August 21 and September 27 this title was recognised in France.

The last male member of the French Courtenays committed suicide in 1727. However his sister married Louis de Bauffremont, and their descendants assumed the dubious title of Prince de Courtenay, which they bear to this day.

Alexandre Emmanuel Louis de Bauffremont - Courtenay (1773–1833), son of Louis served under the Bourbons. He fled France during the French Revolution and settled in the United States. He later returned to France and was made a Count of the French Empire by Napoleon. Louis XVIII made him a peer of France in 1817, and duke in 1818.

The current head of the house, Prince Jacques de Bauffremont-Courtenay, 8th Duke of Bauffremont (born 1922), is the president of the Institut de la Maison de Bourbon, the organisation which supports the claims of Louis Alphonse, Duke of Anjou to the throne of France. His sister Princess Claude de Bauffremont-Courtenay was honorary superintendent of the houses of education of the Legion of Honour.

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