Comte d'Harcourt

When the Viking chieftain Rollo obtained via the Treaty of Saint-Clair-sur-Epte the territories which would later make up Normandy, he distributed them as estates among his main supporters. Among these lands were the seigneurie of Harcourt, near Brionne, and the county of Pont-Audemer, both of which Rollo granted to Bernard the Dane, ancestor of the lords (seigneurs) of Harcourt. The first to use Harcourt as a name, however, was Anquetil d'Harcourt at the start of the 11th century.

The barony of Harcourt was erected into the county of Harcourt, together with the seigneuries of Lillebonne, Troispierres, La Saussaye and Elbeuf, by letters patent of Philip VI in March 1338.

His only son, John VIII, was killed in battle in 1424. Upon the death of John VII in 1452, his inheritance was to be divided between his elder daughter, Marie, wife of Antoine, Count of Vaudémont, and his second daughter, Jeanne, wife of Jean III de Rieux. However, Marie and her son John of Vaudémont were able to control the entire inheritance until 1454, when the de Rieux gained control of the County of Aumale. However, litigation continued between the de Rieux and the Vaudémont-Lorraine through the late 15th century.

The de Rieux continued to maintain their claims on Harcourt. Jeanne (1399–1456), the daughter of John VII, had married Jean III de Rieux (1377–1431) in 1414. She was succeeded by her son François de Rieux (1418–1458), who married Jeanne de Rohan in 1442 and was succeeded by his son Jean IV de Rieux. He reached a settlement with the Duke of Lorraine in 1495, trading Aumale for Harcourt, and resumed the title.

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