The family of Gramont came from the very south of France. Their duchy bordered modern-day Spain, including the kingdoms of Navarre and Aragon. As for the family, they had had control of this area since the 10th century. Over the centuries, they rose from the title of seigneur de Gramont, to Comte de Gramont and were finally rewarded with the elevation of their lands into a dukedom in 1643 by Louis XIV.
The family that would have been known to the courts of Louis XIV, XV and XVI was therefore headed by these Ducs de Gramont:
1) Antoine II de Gramont & (I) Louise de Roquelaure, (II) Claude de Montmorency
Antoine was held the title of Comte de Gramont as well as Viceroy of Navarre. He had married Louise de Roquelaure in 1601 but she died after just a few years of marriage. He was then remarried to Claude de Montmorency in 1608.
Antoine and Louise had two sons:
- Antoine III, Duc de Gramont
- Roger, Comte de Louvigny
- Henri, Comte de Toulongeon
- Philibert, Comte de Gramont
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| Antoine II |
2) Antoine III de Gramont & Françoise-Marguerite du Plessis
Antoine was a devoted follower of Cardinal Richelieu. As was expected of men of his status at the time, he entered the royal army during the Thirty Years' War; apparently, he was quite skilled as a commander and was awarded the title of Marèchal de France. At the death of his father, the patents of their dukedom had not yet been registered, so Antoine III found himself in the awkward situation of having to petition for it to be done. Nevertheless, he succeeded in his endeavour and was officially entered as a Duc in 1648. Likely due to his close relationship with Cardinal Richelieu and the fact that his family had remained loyal during the Fronde, Antoine was entrusted with several posts as ambassador. The most important of these was when he was sent to the court of Spain to officially request the hand of Marie-Thérèse for Louis XIV. He would die in 1678
Françoise-Marguerite was the niece of Cardinal Richelieu - it is likely that their marriage was brought about as a reward for Antoine's continued loyalty.
Their marriage - celebrated in 1634 - produced four children:
- Guy Armand, Comte de Guiche
- Catherine-Charlotte, Princesse de Monaco
- Antoine-Charles, Duc de Gramont
- Henriette-Catherine, Marquise de Raffetot
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| Antoine III |
3) Antoine IV de Gramont & (I) Marie-Charlotte de Castelnau, (II) Anne Baillet de La Cour
Like his father, Antoine IV turned out to be a skilled soldier. Besides distinguishing himself in the Franco-Dutch War of the 1670's and was also sent to Spain as ambassador. He was given the governorship of Bayonne for his services.
Marie-Charlotte de Castelnau would become a mistress to Louis XIV for a brief period, before he returned to Madame de Montespan.
Antoine would remarry after the death of Marie-Charlotte in 1710.
They had two children:
- Catherine-Charlotte, Duchesse de Boufflers
- Antoine V, Duc de Gramont
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| Antoine IV |
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| Marie-Charlotte |
4) Antoine V de Gramont & Marie-Christine de Noailles
The martial gene appears to have been strong in the family. Antoine was made a musketeer at the age of 13 and two years later was put in charge of his own regiment. He served in both the Nine Years' War, the War of the League of Augsburg and the War of the Spanish Succession - he was wounded in the last one. From then on, the military honours came in a steady succession: Colonel-General of Dragoons in 1702, Colonel-General of the French Guards in 1704 and Marèchal de France in 1724.
Over the years, Antoine appears to have retained the trust of Louis XIV. Besides the governorship of Bayonne, he was given those of Navarre and Béarn (a sign of favour, since his father had had the same posts but this was not a hereditary one); he would also serve as envoy to Spain. When Louis XIV died, he had placed Antoine as a member of the Regency Council for War.
Marie Christine was deeply involved in charity. At court, she took a special interest in those who had been disinherited as well as the hospital of Vichy. That city named a road after her in 1937: the Rue de Gramont.
The couple married in 1687 and had four children:
- Antoine VI, Duc de Gramont
- Louis, Duc de Gramont
- Marie Adélaide, Duchesse de Biron
- Catherine-Charlotte-Thérèse, Duchesse de Saint-Simon
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| Marie-Christine de Noailles |
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| Antoine V |
5) Antoine VI Louis-Armand de Gramont & Louise-Françoise d'Aumont
Surprisingly, not much is known about the fifth Duc de Gramont. It can reasonably be assumed that he also followed a military career and he did receive the captaincy of the French Guards.
Louise-Françoise was the daughter of the Duc d'Humières.
Antoine and Louise-Françoise had three children:
- Charles-Antoine, died in childhood
- Louis Marie, died in childhood
- Louise de Gramont, Princesse de Lambesc
- Marie-Louise-Victoire, Duchesse de Gramont
6) Louis de Gramont & Geneviève de Gontaut-Biron
Louis inherited the title of Duc de Gramont when his elder brother died without a male heir. While he did serve in the army, he did not possess the same military acumen as his forebears. During the Battle of Dettingen, he was at the head of 23.000 French soldiers who had managed to ensnare the combined forces of England and Austria-Hungary. His task was to hold his men in position so that the Anglo-Austrians could be completely defeated. However, Louis became impatient after waiting for six hours, and ordered his men to attack. This opened up an escape route through which the allied forces streamed through.
Louis' luck in battle would not turn. Two years later, he found himself on the battlefield of Fontenoy where he was killed.
Louis and Geneviève had four children:
- Marie Christine Chrétienne, Comtesse de Rupelmonde
- Antoine VII, Duc de Gramont
- Antoine-Adrien
- Marie Perpétue
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| Louis de Gramont |
7) Antoine VII de Gramont & (I) Marie-Louise-Victoire de Gramont, (II) Béatrix de Choiseul-Beaupré-Stanville
Antoine was passed over by Louis XV for the captaincy of the French Guards; instead, it was given to his uncle, the Duc de Biron, who had distinguished himself at Fontenoy. Unlike his ancestors, Antoine VII was no military man. He had no taste for either the battlefield or the court but preferred to spent time on his country estates. Here, he lived an extremely lavish life - so much so, that it was feared that he would spend the entire family fortune. For this reason, he was put under a sort of guardianship which would limit his access to the family money.
Antoine married Marie-Louise-Victoire who was the daughter of his own cousin. Upon his marriage, he was given the title of Duc de Lesparre besides that of Duc de Gramont. Their relationship was not good and they were formally separated. When she died, he remarried to Béatrix de Choiseul - but only after promising to behave more prudently in the future. However, he soon relapsed into his old ways and incurred the royal wrath by neglecting both his court duties and those attached to his governorships. It fell to Béatrix to intercede with Louis XV - twice. She would also request a separation from her husband which was granted in 1761.
Béatrix was the sister of the powerful minister Choiseul who orchestrated the marriage between Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette. She would guillotined in 1794. Antoine was also imprisoned where he showed himself truly incorrigible. He fell in love with a young woman and allegedly married her. It was only due to the death of Robespierre that he was not guillotined himself.
Interesting facts about the family
- Catherine-Charlotte, daughter of Antoine III, would become the mistress of Louis XIV. She also had an affair with her cousin, the Marquis de Puyguilleim, whom she had wanted to marry but was refused permission by her father. She would later be a lady-in-waiting to Madame de Montespan
- The house produced a dame d'atours to Marie Antoinette: Geneviève de Gramont, daughter of Antoine Adrien
- Following the revolution, a part of the family were guillotined. Those that escaped remained loyal to the Bourbons and even escorted Charles X (formerly Comte d'Artois) back to France
- The family had ties with England. The fourth son of Antoine II, Philibert, had married Elizabeth Hamilton. His brother-in-law would later write a memoir on his life
- An ancestress, Diane d'Andouins, had been the mistress of Henri III
- The eldest son, and initial heir, of Antoine III (Guy Armand) was one of the most infamous playboys of his age and notorious for leading the life of a libertine
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| Philibert, son of Antoine II and Claude de Montmorency |
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| Guy Armand de Gramont, Comte de Guiche - a great friend of Philippe d'Orléans |
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