House of La Rochefoucauld

The House of La Rochefoucauld is one of France's ancient noble families, with origins dating back to the 10th century. The family's lineage begins with Foucauld I of La Roche [fr] (973–1047), the first Lord of La Roche, later known as La Rochefoucauld (Roche + Foucauld), and possibly the son of Adémar of La Roche [fr] (also known as Amaury or Esmerin; circa 952 – before 1037), Lord of La Roche. Over the centuries, the family rose in prominence, earning numerous titles and distinctions.
In April 1622, Louis XIII elevated the County (comté) of La Rochefoucauld to a Duchy and Peerage by Letters Patent [fr] issued at Niort (registered September 4, 1631). This act formally raised François V of La Rochefoucauld (1588–1650) from Count to the inaugural Duke of La Rochefoucauld, as well as to the status of Peer of France.
Earlier titles held by the family included Baron (13th century) and Count (1528), the latter granted to François I of La Rochefoucauld [fr] (1450–1541), godfather of King François I. François V of La Rochefoucauld (1588–1650) married Gabrielle du Plessis-Liancourt (1592–1672) (Wikidata – QID 108941990), daughter of Antoinette of Pons (1560–1632), and their son François VI (1613–1680) became a leading figure of La Fronde and is celebrated as the author of the Maxims.
During the 17th and 18th centuries, the family continued to ascend socially and politically. They were titled as Princes of Marcillac [fr] in the 16th century, while François VII, a close friend of Louis XIV, married Jeanne du Plessis-Liancourt (1644–1669). Their son, François VIII (1663–1728), became the Duke of La Roche-Guyon in 1679 and married Marie Madeleine Charlotte Le Tellier (1664–1735) (Wikidata – QID 108942002), the daughter of François Michel Le Tellier (1641–1691) of Louvois, prime minister to Louis XIV.
In the 18th century, the family acquired several additional titles, including Duke of Liancourt, Duke of Enville, and Duke of Estissac. François XII (1747–1827), an eminent philanthropist, is famously remembered for his statement to Louis XVI during the French Revolution: "Sir, it's not a revolt; it's a revolution." Over time, they also became the Prince of La Rochefoucauld-Montbel, Duke of Doudeauville, Duke of Estrées, and Duke of Bisaccia.
The La Rochefoucauld family held numerous other titles and roles, including Marquises of (i) Montendre (§ Marquises of Montendre), (ii) Barbezieux, (iii) Surgères (§ Marquis of Surgères), and (iv) Bayers (§ Marquis of Bayers); and Counts of (i) Duretal, (ii) Roye, and (iii) Roucy; and Baron of Verteuil. Family members were also prominent in the Catholic Church, producing cardinals and bishops; and two family members, Pierre-Louis of La Rochefoucauld-Bayers [fr; es; it; nl; pl] (1744–1792) and François-Joseph of La Rochefoucauld-Bayers [fr; es; it; nl; pl] (1736–1792), were massacred during the French Revolution and later beatified.
The family's legacy extends beyond nobility, with members serving as ambassadors, generals, ministers, and heroes, including (i) Robert de La Rochefoucauld (1923–2012), a WWII spy and third great-grandson of François of La Rochefoucauld (1765–1848), the 8th Duke of La Rochefoucauld (§ Dukes of Estissac) and (ii) a UK field marshal. They also held prestigious positions such as Grand Hospitaller of the Order of Malta and founded notable clubs like the Jockey Club de Paris. Many were elevated in the National Order of the Legion of Honour, and approximately 40 members have been, or still are, part of the Sovereign Military Order of Malta.
The family's ancestral seat, the La Rochefoucauld Castle [fr; es; nl; pt], has been in their possession since the 10th century. Additionally, the La Rochefoucauld-Montbel family owned the Lascaux Cave at the time of their discovery and maintain ties to the Pellevoisin sanctuary, a site of Marian apparitions (reported supernatural appearances of the Virgin Mary - recognition by nihil obstat in 2024) in France.
Authors have advanced, albeit with piecemeal evidence, that the first member of this family was Adémar, known as Amaury or Esmerin, by Viscounty of Limoges, or the son of the lord Hugh I of Lusignan. This latter hypothesis could be reinforced by the armorial bearings of the family. The late historian, André Debord [fr] (1926–1996), attributes the origins of the House of La Rochefoucauld to the House of Montbron in the 12th century, contrasting with theories that link their ancestry to Adémar (Amaury/Esmerin) or the Lusignan family. The seigniory (lordship) of La Roche was originally a barony in the 13th century. The descendants of Foucauld I of La Roche [fr] (c. 978–1046) and his wife, Jarsande of Châtellérault (c. 994–1026), united their name Foucauld (La Roche + Foucauld).
In April 1528, King Francis I gave his godfather, François I of La Rochefoucauld (son of Jean I of La Rochefoucauld), the title of Count of La Rochefoucauld (French: Comte de La Rochefoucauld).
On 22 April 1622, King Louis XIII raised the Count of La Rochefoucauld into a Duchy-peerage as the Duke of La Rochefoucauld (French: Duc de La Rochefoucauld).
This branch was founded by Charles de La Rochefoucauld (1560–1605) Lord of Roye, Count of Roucy, younger son of François III of La Rochefoucauld (1521–1572), Count of La Rochefoucauld, and Charlotte of Roye (1537–1572) (Wikidata – QID 60321119), Countess of Roucy, who sister married Condé. This branch through different unions are descendants of a sister of King Francis 1st, William the 1st of Orange-Nassau, the chancelor Séguier, the Maréchal of Aloigny and Madame de Sablé and parents of Turenne (descendants of two of his sisters).
Alexandre-François married Adélaïde Pyvart de Chastullé, cousin of Joséphine de Beauharnais, she was first lady of the empress and we can see in the coronation painting of Napoléon, holding the gown of Joséphine. Their daughter Adèle Marie Hortense Françoise of Rochefoucauld (1793–1877) (Wikidata – QID 109011231), married François Francesco Paolo Borghèse [fr] (1776–1839) – a brother-in-law of Pauline Marie Bonaparte (1780–1825). Pauline, a sister of Napoleon Bonaparte, became Princess Borghese through her marriage to Camillo Filippo Ludovico Borghese (1775–1832), Prince of Sulmona and Duke of Guastalla.
Alexandre-François served as the French Ambassador to Vienna (in Austria) (1805) and later to The Hague (fr) (in the Kingdom of Holland) (1808–1810), where he negotiated the union of the Kingdom of Holland with France. During the "Hundred Days", Napoleon appointed him as a peer of France, a prestigious title that granted him a seat in the Chamber of Peers, a legislative body composed of individuals chosen by the ruler (Napoleon) for their loyalty, influence, or status. He subsequently devoted himself to philanthropic work. In 1822, he became a deputy to the Chamber of Deputies and aligned himself with the constitutional royalists. He was again raised to the peerage in 1831.
Alexandre-François's descendants became Dukes of Estissac and Princes of La Rochefoucauld-Montbel. His other brother, the youngest of three siblings, Frédéric Gaëtan (1779–1863), became Marquis of La Rochefoucauld-Liancourt, and, in 1793, married to Marie-Françoise de Tott.
This branch comes from the younger branch of the Counts of Roye. Louis François Armand de la Rochefoucauld Count of Roye and of Roucy and of Blanzac, was created Duke with a patent (non-hereditary) in 1737, hereditary on 1758, and called Duke of Estissac. His grandson, Alexandre François de la Rochefoucauld (1761–1841), Count of the Empire, Ambassador for the Emperor, and brother of the Duke of La Rochefoucauld (of the Restoration) received the Duchy of Estissac from his elder brother in May 1839. His son, Alexandre Jules de La Rochefoucauld (1796–1856), was authorized by royal decree of 2 July 1840 to take the title of Duke of Estissac, however, this order was not followed by letters patent.
Bernard de La Rochefoucauld (1922–2017), co-founder of the La Boétie Institute [fr], former honorary president of the Institut Montaigne and former mayor of Ingrannes comes from this branch.
François VIII de La Rochefoucauld (1663–1728) was created Duke of La Roche-Guyon by letters of November 1679. The 1st Duchy-peerage of La Rochefoucauld and, the title of Duke of La Roche-Guyon, died out in 1762 with Alexandre, 5th Duke of La Rochefoucauld and 2nd Duke of La Roche-Guyon, who had only two daughters who married their cousins from the branch of the Counts of Roye and Roucy.
Alfred de La Rochefoucauld (1819–1883), a cadet branch from the cadet branch of Roye, took over motu proprio in the 19th century, without letters of confirmation, the title of Duke of La Roche-Guyon, which had extinguished in 1762. This courtesy title of "Duke of La Roche-Guyon" has been borne by his descendants ever since.
Count Bernard Gaston Mathieu Gilbert of La Rochefoucauld (1901–1944), the director Jean-Dominique Marie Henri of La Rochefoucauld-Guyon (1931–2011), along with daughters Sophie Nathalie Catherine Jeanne [fr] (born 1965) and Claire [fr] (born 1972) are descendants of this branch.
These branches were formed by Louis de La Rochefoucauld, Lord of Montendre, Montguyon, Roissac and des Salles, who was a younger son of François I de La Rochefoucauld (1450–1541), comte de La Rochefoucauld, by his second marriage to Barbe du Bois (a French name meaning "Barbara of the Woods"). He married Jacquette de Mortemer in 1534. His son was François de La Rochefoucauld (d. 1600), Lord of Montguyon, Baron of Montendre, who married Hélène de Goulard (only daughter and heiress of Egmond Goulard, Lord of Marsay). His son, Isaac de La Rochefoucauld (d. c. 1626), Lord of Montguyon, Baron of Montendre, married Hélène de Fonsèque (daughter of Charles de Fonsèque, Lord of Surgères) in 1600. Among others, they were the parents of Charles, progenitor of the Montendre branch and François, progenitor of the Surgères branch.
The title Duke of Doudeauville (Duc de Doudeauville) was created for Ambroise-Polycarpe, 6th Marquis of Surgères (premier Baron of the Boulonnais), in 1780 by King Louis XVI in the Peerage of France. It was also created in 1782 by Charles III in the Kingdom of Spain (through his wife as heir to the title of Duke of Doudeauville of the Le Tellier de Courtanvaux family), granting him the Rank of Grandee of Spain, 1st Class. The title was recognized by the peerage ordinance of 4 June 1814; a Hereditary peer of France on 19 August 1815, Hereditary Duke-Peer on 31 August 1817 by King Louis XVIII during his 2nd reign. The title became extinct in 1995 upon the death of the 7th Duke. The Duke of Bisaccia (Duca di Bisaccia) title was created for Sosthènes II on 16 May 1851 by King Ferdinand II in the peerage of the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies (second creation; through his grandmother's family, the Montmorency-Lavals). Inscription among the Bavarian nobility as Princes under the title Duke of Bisaccia (Herzog von Bisaccia), on 24 November 1855 by King Maximilian II. It also became extinct in 1995. The designation of the title of Duke of Doudeauville was changed to Duke of Estrées in Spain in 1893 by King Alfonso XIII when it was transferred to Sosthènes II's second son, Charles, but became extinct upon the Duke's death, without male issue, in 1907.
This branch was originated by Geoffroy de La Rochefoucauld, Lord of Verteuil (d. c. 1329) from whom descended Guillaume de La Rochefoucauld, Lord of Nouans (d. c. 1487). One of his sons, Guillaume de La Rochefoucauld (d. c. 1512) founded the branch by Bayers building the Château de Bayers becoming Lord of Bayers (Seigneur de Bayers). His descendant, Louis-Antoine de La Rochefoucauld-Bayers, obtained the title, Marquis of Bayers.
The male line of this branch became extinct in 1940 upon the death of Raoul-Gustave Marie de La Rochefoucauld, Marquis of Bayers (1845–1940), who died without issue from his marriage to Élisabeth of Griffon-Sénéjac (1865–1928). The female line ended with Victoria Françoise Anne Marie of La Rochefoucauld-Bayers (1880–1950), the daughter of a cousin of Raoul-Gustave, who died unmarried (and without issue).