Duke of Estouteville

Duke of Estouteville (duc d'Estouteville) was a title in the French nobility that is claimed today by the Prince of Monaco.

It was created in 1537^[1] by King Francis I of France for Adrienne d'Estouteville (1512-1560) and her husband Francis de Bourbon, Count of St. Pol (1491-1545), son of Francis, Count of Vendôme and his wife Marie of Luxembourg, Countess of Vendôme. The title passed to their son Francis II (1536-1546), then their daughter Marie (1539-1601),^[2] who married successively her first cousin Jean de Bourbon, Count of Soissons (1528-1557); François de Cleves, Duke of Nevers (1539-1563); and Léonor d'Orléans, duc de Longueville (1540-1573). The dukedom passed to the descendants of Marie's third marriage, the dukes of Longueville,^[1] the last of whom died in 1694.^[3]

Estouteville was inherited by the last duke's sister, Marie d'Orleans-Longueville, Duchess de Nemours (1625-1707), and after her death by the family of Goyon de Matignon,^[1] who were descended from Eléonore, youngest daughter of Léonor de Longueville and Marie d'Estouteville.^[3] Her descendant Jacques François Léonor Goyon de Matignon (1689-1751), count of Thorigny and lord of the duchy of Estouteville, married in 1715 Louise Hippolyte, heiress-presumptive to the Principality of Monaco, and adopted the name Grimaldi.^[4]

The claim to Estouteville was inherited by their descendants, the Princes of Monaco, until it became extinct on the death of Prince Louis II in 1949.^[1] However, along with the other titles associated with the Monegasque crown, it was assumed by subsequent Princes of Monaco (descended from Louis II's legitimated daughter Charlotte) and is borne today by Albert II, Prince of Monaco.

References

1. ^ ^{a b c d} http://www.heraldica.org/topics/france/peerage2.htm#other
2. ^ http://www.genealogy.euweb.cz/capet/capet38.html
3. ^ ^{a b} http://www.genealogy.euweb.cz/capet/capet27.html
4. ^ http://www.genealogy.euweb.cz/grim/grimaldi1.html