House of Beauharnais
| House of Beauharnais Maison de Beauharnais "House of Leuchtenberg" |
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|---|---|
| Noble family | |
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| Country | France, Portugal, Germany, Russia |
| Estates |
Mariinsky Palace |
| Titles | |
| Style(s) | "Imperial Majesty" "Imperial Highness" "Serene Highness" |
| Founded | XIV century |
| Founder | Francis of Beauharnais |
| Final ruler | Hortense de Beauharnais |
| Current head | Nicolas de Leuchtenberg |
| Deposition | 1810 |
| Ethnicity | Breton (French) |
The House of Beauharnais (or House of Leuchtenberg) is a French noble house. It is now represented by the Duke of Leuchtenberg, descendant in male line of Eugène de Beauharnais.
Originating in Brittany, the Beauharnais (or Beauharnois) became established in the fourteenth century in Orléans. When that city was besieged in 1429, Jehan Beauharnais played a role in its defence and by doing so witnessed to the process of Joan of Arc's rehabilitation. The Beauharnais provided the kingdom with soldiers and magistrates, and contracted alliances in several spheres, including that of the university of law in Orléans. In the 16th century, there were Beauharnais in Orléans as magistrates, merchants, canons and other professions.
From the end of the 16th century to the end of the 17th, the offices of president and of lieutenant général to the bailliage and siège présidial of Orléans were handed down hereditarily through the Beauharnais family. The most eminent of these magistrates was Francis IV de Beauharnais, sieur of la Grillère (at Vouzon, Loir-et-Cher), born in Orléans in 1630, and dying there in 1681.
At the end of the 17th century, the office of lieutenant général du bailliage d'Orléans was ceded to an allied branch, the Curaults. The most eminent of the Beauharnais thus turned to careers in the navy and the colonial administration in the Americas. Another François de Beauharnais (1665–1746) became intendant of New France (i.e. Canada), where a seigneurie was granted to him in 1707. His nephew, Francis V de Beauharnais, was made chef d'escadre des armées royales, then governor of Martinique.
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Wikipedia