Count of Vendôme and, later, Duke of Vendôme were titles of French nobility. The first-known holder of the comital title was Bouchard Ratepilate. The county passed by marriage to various houses, coming in 1372 to a junior branch of the House of Bourbon. In 1514, Vendôme was made a duchy-peerage.
In 1589, the then Duke of Vendôme came to the throne as Henry IV of France, and the title passed into the royal domain. It was re-granted to his illegitimate son César in 1598, and held by his descendants until the extinction of the legitimate male line in 1727.
The title was later revived by Orléanist claimants to the throne of France as a courtesy title.
Counts of Vendôme
editBouchardides
edit- Bouchard Ratepilate (c. 930 – 956...967)
- Bouchard I (956...967–1005), also Count of Paris and Count of Corbeil by marriage
- Renaud (1005–1017), Bishop of Paris 991–1017
House of Nevers
edit- Bodon of Nevers (1017–1023), by marriage to Adèle de Vendôme-Anjou, daughter of Fulk III of Anjou and Elisabeth de Vendôme, daughter of Bouchard I
- Bouchard II (1023–1028)
- under the regency of Fulk III of Anjou (1023–1027)
- shared between Adèle de Vendôme-Anjou and Fulk de Vendôme (1028–1032)
- Geoffrey I (1032–1056), also Count of Anjou (succeeded Adèle by cession and drove out Fulk)
House of Nevers
edit- Fulk de Vendôme (1056–1066), reinstated by Henry I of France
- Bouchard III (1066–1085)
- under the regency of Guy of Nouastre (1066–1075)
House of Preuilly
edit- Geoffrey II (1085–1102), Lord of Preuilly, married Euphrosine, daughter of Fulk of Vendôme
- Geoffrey III (1102–1137)
- under the regency (1102–1105) of Euphrosine
- John I (1137–1180)
- Bouchard IV (1180–1202)
- John II (1202–1211)
- John III 1211–1217
- John IV (1217–1230), Lord of Montoire, grandson of Bouchard IV
- Peter I (1230–1249)
- Bouchard V (1249–1270)
- John V (1271–1315)
- Bouchard VI (1315–1354)
- John VI (1354–1364)
- Bouchard VII (1364–1371)
- Joanna (1371–1372)
- under the regency of her grandmother Joanna of Ponthieu (1371–1372)
- Catherine (1372–1403)
- with John I of Bourbon-La Marche (1372–1393)
- with Louis I of Bourbon-Vendôme (1393–1403)
- Louis I (1403–1446)
- John II (1446–1477)
- Francis I (1477–1495)
- under the regency of Louis of Joyeuse (1477–1484)
- Charles IV (1495–1514), title raised to Duke of Vendôme and entered the peerage in 1514
English Counts of Vendôme
edit- Robert Willoughby, 6th Baron Willoughby de Eresby (1424–1430), created Count of Vendôme by John, Duke of Bedford as regent for Henry VI of England as King of France
Dukes of Vendôme
editHouse of Bourbon
edit- Charles IV (1514–1537), previously Count of Vendôme
- Antoine I (1537–1562), son of, King of Navarre from 1555
- Henry I (1562–1607), son of, King of France from 1589; the duchy became part of the royal domain after the Edict of 1607
House of Bourbon-Vendôme
edit- César (1598–1665), illegitimate son of Henry IV of France by Gabrielle d'Estrées, born in 1594 and legitimized in 1596 (founder of the second house of Bourbon-Vendôme)
- Louis (1612–1669), son of
- Louis Joseph I (1669–1712), son of
- Philip (1712–1727), brother of, Grand Prior of the Order of Malta in France
The Vendôme name was annexed into the royal domain by Louis XIV of France in 1712, on the pretext that Philip's membership in the Order of Malta as grand prior of France prevented him from holding it, but he retained the title.
Courtesy title
editThe title was revived by Orléanist claimants to the throne of France as a courtesy title. However, it is invalid in French law.[citation needed]
- Emmanuel (I) (1872–1931)
- John (IX) (born 1965), became Count of Paris in 2019 after the death of his father Henri, Count of Paris