Beauvau family

The Beauvau family was a historic family originating in Anjou. The Beauvau du Rivau branch was rooted in Britanny and produced two bishops of Nantes, whilst the Beauvau-Craon branch was established in Lorraine.

As with the comtes d'Anjou, the Beauvaus served the kings of France right up to the 18th century. In 1454, the family allied itself to the royal house of France by the marriage of Isabeau de Beauvau with Jean VIII de Bourbon-Vendôme.

Of knightly extraction, has proofs of its nobility going back as far as 1265. The title of marquis de Beauvau was granted to the head of the family by Louis XIV in 1664. The family also had rights to the pretigious title of "cousin du Roi", reserved for a few familiies with an alliance with the royal house.

Marc de Beauvau-Craon (1679-1754) was entitled prince of the Holy Roman Empire in 1722, and it was under this title that the family was admitted to the "honneurs de la Cour" in 1775.

The Beauvau arms were "d'argent à 4 lionceaux de gueules armés, lampassés et couronnés d'or".

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*Equivalent|French