Question: How long did the Bourbon barons rein?

Bourbon-Busset



The Bourbon-Busset family is an illegitimate branch of the House of Bourbon, being thus agnatic descendants of the Capetian dynasty. Historically, they have been regarded as non-dynastic since decisions rendered by Louis XI of France.
Possibly, however, the family may be canonically legitimate, in which case it is the most senior extant male-line branch of the Capetians, and senior to the Bourbons which reign today in Spain and Luxembourg and have in the past ruled France, Naples and Sicily, as well as to the House of Braganza, also Capetians by illegitimate descent.
The head of the family uses the title of Count of Busset, which derives its name from the marriage of Pierre de Bourbon, son of Louis de Bourbon, Bishop of Liège, with Marguerite de Tourzel, heiress of the barony of Busset. Their son Philippe married Louise Borgia, Duchess of Valentinois, only legitimate child of Cesare Borgia, Duke of Valentinois.
Origin
The House of Bourbon-Busset descends in male line from Pierre de Bourbon (1464–1529), the eldest son of Louis de Bourbon, Bishop of Liège (1438–1482), who was a son of Charles I, Duke of Bourbon. Louis, in male line a sixth cousin of King Charles VII of France, married, without royal licence, Catharine d'Egmond, a daughter of Arnold, Duke of Gelderland (probably illegitimate, as the ducal House of Egmont's chronicles never recognized her among princesses of Gelderland). From this marriage, three natural sons were born:[1]
Pierre de Bourbon (1464–1529), chamberlain of Louis XII of France;[2] married in 1498 Marguerite de Tourzel d'Alègre, heiress to the Barony of Busset; this alliance was the start of the House de Bourbon-Busset;
Louis de Bourbon (1465-1500);
Jacques de Bourbon (1466–1537), Jesuit priest.
Although the marriage between Louis and Catherine took place before Louis was consecrated as a priest, which would have made it canonically impossible for him to marry, it was kept secret, being against the interests of Louis XI of France. French alliances in the Low Countries were not compatible with those of the House of Egmont. The French king therefore never recognized any children of the marriage as legitimate. There was a de facto legitimization of the Bourbon-Bussets when they were allowed the treatment of a Cousin du Roi. For the rest of history, the Bourbon-Bussets never claimed anything more than what they had, and constantly remained faithful servants of the Bourbon kings.
Historical evolution
Members of the Bourbon-Busset family later acquired the titles of count of Châlus and count of Lignières.
When the Valois-Angoulême branch on the throne was nearing its end in the 16th century, Antoine de Bourbon, Duke of Vendôme, was recognized as the premier prince du sang of France, although he only descended from James I, Count of La Marche (1315–1362), the younger brother of Pierre I, Duke of Bourbon.
Were the Bourbon-Busset legitimate, the position of the premier prince would have belonged to the then Count of Busset, instead of to Duke Antoine. However, what is certain is that the Bourbon-Bussets, accepting their status as an illegitimate line, whether a matter of fact or law, never claimed the position, and played no significant role either at the French royal court or in the politics of the nation.
Similarly, upon the death of Henry III of France, were the Bourbon-Bussets a legitimate dynastic line, the crown should have passed to César de Bourbon-Busset (1565–1630), in male line the late king's 10th cousin. However, he never claimed the crown and was not proposed by any known partisans as an alternative choice when King Henry III of Navarre, his agnatic 7th cousin once removed, Antoine's son, became king of France and César's liege lord.
Modern era

Madeleine de Bourbon-Busset (1898–1984), daughter of the count of Lignières, is a great-great-granddaughter of Jacques, youngest son of the 8th Count of Busset (1722-1793), making her Jacques' (the 14th count) fourth cousin once removed. She got married in 1927 with a royal Bourbon relative, Xavier, titular duke of Parma and Carlist pretender to the throne of Spain. Although Madeleine brought as dowry the , at the time this marriage was not accepted as dynastic by the titular duke, Xavier's elder brother, obtaining dynastic recognition retroactively around the time of the engagement of Xavier's eldest son to the daughter of Queen Juliana of the Netherlands in 1964.
As the wife of Xavier, Madeleine was, however, proclaimed Queen consort of Spain by the remaining Carlists in 1952. Widowed in 1977, she remained a staunch adherent of her husband's Carlist principles. She excluded her elder son from the funeral of her husband as disloyal to his father's traditionalist Carlism, recognizing instead the claim to Carlist leadership and to Lignières of her younger son, Prince Sixtus Henry of Bourbon-Parma, (self-proclaimed) Duke of Aranjuez, who continued the rivalry with his brother as Carlist pretender.
A senior male-line descendant of the Bourbon-Bussets was the French writer Jacques de Bourbon-Busset (1912–2001), member of the French Academy. President Charles de Gaulle was once quoted telling him: Had it not been for the decision of King Louis XI, you might well be head of state of France today, instead of me.
Since 2001, the Head of the House of Bourbon-Busset is Charles de Bourbon, Count of Busset (born 1945), who is a civil engineer of the Ecole des Mines de Paris, and Mayor of Ballancourt-sur-Essonne (1998-2014). He is the son of Jacques de Bourbon-Busset.
Bourbon barons and counts of Busset

















































HOUSE OF
BOURBON1256-1317
Robert
Count of Clermont1279-1341
Louis I
Duke of Bourbon1310-1356
Pierre I
Duke of Bourbon1319-1362
Jacques I
Count of La Marche1337-1410
Louis II
Duke of Bourbon1344-1393
Jean I
Count of La Marche1380-1434
Jean I
Duke of Bourbon1376-1446
Louis
Count of Vendôme1401-1456
Charles I
Duke of Bourbon1425-1477
Jean VIII
Count of Vendôme1438-1482
Louis de Bourbon
Bishop of Liège1470-1495
François
Count of VendômeBOURBON-
BUSSET1464-1530
Pierre
Baron of Busset[3]1489-1537
Charles
Duke of Vendôme1499-1557
Philippe
Baron of Busset1515-1562
Antoine
King of Navarre1531-1588
Claude
Count of Busset1554-1610
Henri IV
King of France1565-1630
César
Count of Busset1601-1643
Louis XIII
King of FranceHOUSE OF
ORLÉANS1589-1641
Claude
Count of Busset1597-1667
Jean-Louis
Count of Busset1638-1715
Louis XIV
King of France1640-1701
Philippe I
Duke of Orléans1648-1677
Louis
Count of Busset1672-1724
Louis
Count of Busset1722-1793
François-Louis
Count of Busset1749-1829
Louis-François
Count of Busset1782-1856
François-Louis
Count of Busset1819-1897
Charles
Count of Busset1819-1871
Gaspard
Count of Châlus1848-1918
Robert
Count of Busset1875-1954
François
Count of Busset1912-2001
Jacques
Count of Busset1945-
Charles
Count of Busset1976-
Philippe de
Bourbon-Busset
Other illegitimate houses
Bourbon du Maine (extinct)
Bourbon-Vendôme (extinct)
Bourbon-Penthièvre (extinct)