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france arms of the cossé-brissac family château de brissac late middle ages duke of brissac
 house of cossé-brissac
duke of brissac

duke of brissac is a title of french nobility in the peerage of france , which was created in 1611 for charles ii de cossé .
this title is currently held by françois de cossé-brissac -lrb- fr -rrb- , who is the 13th duke of brissac .
the fief of brissac in anjou had been acquired at the end of the 15th century by a french family named cossé from the same province .
rené de cossé -lrb- 1460-1540 -rrb- married into the gouffier family , which was at that time very powerful at court .
he was awarded the title of `` premier panetier '' to king louis xii of france .
two sons of rené de cossé were prominent french military commanders and became marshals of france .
the fief of brissac was assigned the status of a county in 1560 and allotted to rené 's elder son , charles de cossé , count of brissac , who was grand master of artillery and governor of piedmont and picardy .
it was he who introduced the italian violin to the french court .
the second son of rené was artus de cossé -lrb- 1512-1582 -rrb- , who held the offices of grand panetier of france and superintendent of finance , and he distinguished himself in the french wars of religion .
the younger son of charles de cossé , count of brissac , was charles ii de cossé .
he fought for the catholic league and , as military governor of paris , opened the gates of that city to henry iv of france , who appointed him marshal of france in 1594 .
the county of brissac was raised in status to a duchy in the peerage of france in 1611 .
at that point , charles ii de cossé became the first duke of brissac .
notable dukes of brissac include jean paul timoléon de cossé brissac , who was the seventh duke of brissac and a grand panetier of france .
he was a french general during the reign of king louis xv and was noteworthy for leading the french vanguard at the battle of minden , after which he became a marshal of france .
the seventh duke of brissac was eventually succeeded by his second son , louis hercule timoléon de cossé-brissac , who was the commander of the constitutional guard of king louis xvi .
on september 9 , 1792 , he was killed during the september massacres at versailles for his devotion to the king , at which point his body was butchered and his head severed .
the head was wrapped in a cloth and transported by a peasant mob to the château de louveciennes and thrown into an open window , landing in the `` salon '' of his lover , madame du barry .
after the death of louis-hercule in 1792 without a living male-line descendant , the ducal title passed to timoléon de cossé-brissac -lrb- 1775-1848 -rrb- .
he was the eldest son of hyacinthe-hugues de cossé-brissac , duke of cossé -lrb- 1746-1813 -rrb- , whose father was rené-hugues de cossé-brissac , count of cossé -lrb- 1702-1754 -rrb- .
rené-hugues was the third son of artus de cossé-brissac , 5th duke of brissac -lrb- 1668-1709 -rrb- .
after timoléon de cossé-brissac died in 1848 , the title of duke of brissac was held by his successive descendants in the male line .
the current holder of the ducal title is françois de cossé-brissac -lrb- fr -rrb- , 13th duke of brissac -lrb- b. 1929 -rrb- .
the heir apparent to this title is his eldest son , charles-andré de cossé-brissac , marquis of brissac -lrb- b. 1962 -rrb- , who has one son and three daughters .
the ancestral home of the family is the château de brissac , which the family still owns .
