Several counts and then royal dukes of Alençon have figured in French history. The title has been awarded to a younger brother of the French sovereign.

History

Two lines of Counts of Alençon became extinct before the title of Alençon was attached to the House of Valois that ruled France. Alençon was granted as an appanage to Pierre, son of Louis IX of France (1268) and then to Charles, count of Valois, brother of Philip IV (1293). A third house of Alençon counts descended from Charles, second son of the count of Valois, who was killed at the battle of Crécy in 1346.

The county of Alençon was raised to a dukedom in 1414. Jean, 1st Duke of Alençon, was killed at Agincourt, 1415, after having with his own hand slain the duke of York. His son, Jean II, duke of Alençon (who features in Shakespeare's Henry VI, was dispossessed of his duchy in the Battle of Verneuil , August 17, 1424: the Duke was defeated and taken prisoner by English forces led by John, Duke of Bedford. Jean reconquered his domaine in 1449.

In 1524 the dukedom of Alençon reverted to the crown, in consequence of the death of the childless Duke Charles IV, who was married to Marguerite, sister of Francis I. The title was given as a jointure to Catherine de' Medici in 1559, and as an appanage to her youngest son Francis in 1566.

This Francis, duke of Alençon and Anjou (1554 – 1584), although ill-favored, was considered by the French as a possible husband for Queen Elizabeth I of England, who permitted him to pay unsuccessful court on two occasions. During the French Wars of Religion Alençon opposed the ultra-Catholic policies of his mother and Mayenne, going so far as to conspire with moderate Catholics against the court party of his brother, Charles IX. In the peace of 1576, which was little more than an armed truce, Alençon was awarded the appanages of Anjou, Touraine, and Berry.

Alençon's military expedition into the rebellious Netherlands in 1578 led to William the Silent's offer of a Netherlandish crown; Alençon led a new invasion and was for a time the ruler of several provinces, but in 1583 he was forced to withdraw. His premature death opened the French succession to Henry of Navarre.

The title was pawned by Henry IV to the duke of Wūrttemberg, and subsequently it passed to Gaston, Duke of Orleans, by grant of Louis XIII; to Elizabeth of Orleans, duchess of Guise; to Charles, duke of Berry, grandson of Louis XIV (1710); and to Monsieur (later Louis XVIII), brother of Louis XVI.

The title of due d'Alencon was last given to Ferdinand of Orleans, son of the duc de Nemours, and grandson of Louis-Philippe.

Counts of Alençon

House of Bellême

• Roger of Montgomery, count of Alençon (died 1094)
• William Talvas , lord of Bellême (until 1113), Count of Ponthieu , Sées , and Alençon (died 1171)
• John I, count of Alençon
• John II, count of Alençon (died 1191)
• Robert I, count of Alençon (died c. 1217)

Capetian dynasty

• Peter I (died 1283), received the county of Alençon and part of the county of Perche in appanage from his father Louis IX of France

Valois dynasty

• Charles of Valois, brother of Philip IV of France, was given the county of Alençon in appanage in 1291
• Charles II (died August 26, 1346 at the Battle of Crecy)
• Charles III (1346-1375)
• Peter II (1375-1391)
• John I Valois (1391-1414)

Dukes of Alençon

• John I Valois (died October 25, 1415 at the Battle of Agincourt)
• John II Valois (1415-1424; 1449-1476)
• René (1476-1492)
• Charles IV (1492-1524)
• passes directly to France

External link

• Encyclopaedia Britannica 1911: Duke of Alençon