Creations: Marquises (Louis XIV)

From the time he was officially declared of age - 1651 - Louis XIV would remain the sole arbiter of power in France. As such, the Sun King surrounded himself with his courtiers as a constant reminder of his position. In order to reward his faithful courtiers, he would occasionally bestow titles on them - including that of Marquis. Ranking just below a Duke and just above a Count, the title of Marquis was a rather high position - especially, since the dukedoms were a special class within the nobility.

Note that these marquisates are only the ones that were actively created by Louis XIV; there were others which had been in place prior to his birth and thus are not included in this post. Furthermore, it is widely recognized that a complete list cannot be compiled for certain as documents have been lost over time. This is further complicated by the existence of courtesy titles which were not always officially registered with the Parlements. Yet, we do have a sense of the amount of new titles created during the age of Versailles.

From 1651 until his death in 1715, Louis XIV bestowed the title on 198 men - and a few women. Amongst these were:

Madame de Maintenon - the last maitresse-en-titre to Louis XIV who received her marquisate of Maintenon in 1675. As such she would have her own title, in comparison to her predecessor, Madame de Montespan, who was still referred to by her husband's title: the Marquise de Montespan.

Louis Phélypeaux - a scion of the La Vrillière-family, he had served as Minister for Protestant Affairs for a staggering 52 years; that means that he was already in that office when Louis XIV was born. He was made Marquis de Tanlay in 1671 but already held the title of Marquis de Châteauneuf.

Louis Phélypeaux

Jean-Baptiste Colbert - the king's steady Minister of Finance from 1665-83, he ensured that the king had a steady income for his numerous wars and building projects. He also served as Minister of State and had taken over from Mazarin as the Prime Minister. He was made Marquis de Seignelay in 1668.

Henri de Guénégaud - having served as Minister of State (of the king's household), he was rewarded when his barony of Plancy was merged with the viscounty of Syé to create the new marquisate of Plancy in 1656. He was a legacy from Louis XIII's time and would later become Minister for Foreign Affairs.

Henri de Guénéguad

Charles-François de Vintimille du Luc - receiving the title of Marquis du Luc in 1688, Charles-François had served the king in almost every possible way. Serving as a musketeer, he lost an arm in the king's service before turning his attention to politics. He was then sent as ambassador extraordinary to Switzerland and other places. He actually held four other marquisates; those of des Arcs, de La Marthe, de Vins and de Savigny as well as the title of Comte du Luc.

François Quentin de La Vienne - possessing one of the most coveted positions at court from 1679 til 1710, François was the First Valet de Chambre of Louis XIV. As such, he had much close contact with the king and enjoyed a larger degree of trust than other servants in the king's household. He was awarded with the title of Marquis de Champcenetz in 1688.

François Quentin

Interestingly, there were only two years in which no new marquises were created: 1701 and 1706. In comparison, the year with the most new creations was 1653 - shortly after he was officially recognised as being of age. In this year, the young king created no fewer than eight new marquisates. 

Another interesting thing to note is that Louis XIV increasingly bestowed a marquisate of the men who were in charge of settling disputes within the nobility. These men were otherwise known as Lieutenants to the Marechaux de France. This alone shows the increasing emphasis placed by the king on controlling the very sphere in which his courtiers lived.

For a courtier wishing to acquire a marquisate, there were generally two ways to achieve this: by royal favour or by money. The king could easily bestow a marquisate on a favoured courtier but this required just that - favour. In the race to gain admittance to the king's inner circle, some would inevitably falter. But these could still hope to achieve their marquisate by striking a deal with a marquis in desperate need of cash.

Titles for money were nothing new, neither were the exchange of positions within the royal household for a corresponding amount. Madame (Elizabeth-Charlotte of the Palatinate) relates one such instance in her numerous correspondence which clearly shows the extremely steep prices one could claim for a marquisate. She refers to Marc de Beauvau, Prince of Craon. While both very wealthy and already possessing the title of Prince de Craon and having inherited the marquisate of Beauvau, he sought to further his position by buying another marquisate worth 800.000 livres. Apparently, he was successful as he was officially recognised as the Marquis de Craon in 1712. 

One way in which the king could elevate a courtier without depriving another of land was to combine land already in the possession of the intended marquis. For instance, if the courtier in question owned several seigneuries or even some counties, the king could combine them into a single entity and make that a marquisate. Thus, he did not have to go to the trouble of confiscating land or ordering several complicated legal maneuvers to achieve his goal.