House of Boufflers

The House of Boufflers were amongst those who were raised to the French peerage during the age of Versailles; unlike others amongst the peerage, the Duc de Boufflers' title came relatively late. Yet, they were by no means a newly ennobled family, having descended from a long line of lords hailing from Picardy. By the early 16th century, the house of Boufflers split into three somewhat distinct branches, all descending from the sons of Adrien I de Boufflers and Louise d'Oiron. These two had six children of which three of their sons would form their own lines: Adrien II, Adrien the Younger and Jean.

Branch of Duc de Boufflers

1. François II de Boufflers & Louise le Vergeur

François II was the grandson of Adrien II and thus the scion of the eldest branch. François held the title of Comte de Boufflers at court and the rank of Maréchal de Camp in the military. He also held the post of Bailiff of Beauvoisis. Louise married François in 1640 - she would quickly give him five children:

• François III
• Louis-François
• Marguerite-Françoise, Abbess of Avenay 
• Catherine, nun at Avenay
• Charlotte, nun at Avenay

2. Louis-François de Boufflers & Catherine Charlotte de Gramont 

Louis-François was born to François II de Boufflers and quickly followed his father's footsteps by entering the army. As it happens, the young Louis-François was a natural on the battlefield. Serving under Turenne, he would distinguish himself by his decided bravery and keen sense of strategy - these talents would be the making of him. His career brought him several distinctions including Knight of Saint-Esprit, Maréchal de France and finally Duc de Boufflers.

Catherine was the daughter of the Duc de Gramont and was married to Louis-François in 1693. At court, she would have her own distinct career, primarily as First Lady of Honour to Marie Leszczynska. It was largely due to her strict sense of morality that she was given the post which brought her into close contact with the queen on a daily basis. She would eventually retire after ten years, at the age of 65. 

The couple had eight children:

• Louis-François-Gombert (died at 6)
• Joseph Marie, Duc de Boufflers
• Louise-Antoinette-Charlotte, Marquise de Remiencourt
• Antoinette Hippolite, nun
• Charlotte-Julie, Abbess of Avenay 
• Catherine-Berthe, Princesse de Petterano (later Duchesse de Popoli)
• Marie-Josèphine, Duchesse d'Alincourt

Louis-François

Catherine Charlotte

3. Joseph Marie de Boufflers & Madeleine Angélique Neufville de Villeroy

Joseph Marie inherited his father's title, lands and held several posts, including governor of Flanders, Lieutenant General and knight of Saint-Esprit. He had also entered the army where he showed some promise. Unfortunately, his full potential would not be discovered before his death. In 1747 he was given command at Genoa where he contracted smallpox which quickly killed him.

Madeleine Angélique was the daughter of the Duc de Villeroy. She took the post of dame du Palais to Marie Leszczynska which she held for fifteen years, from 1734-1749. It was during her tenure that she became a widow before remarrying to the Maréchal de Luxembourg in 1750. After the death of both Joseph Marie and her second husband, she would found her own salon in which she entertained both aristocrats and philosophers. Amongst those to whom she offered patronage was Jean-Jacques Rousseau.

They had two children:

• Charles Joseph, Duc de Boufflers
• Josèphe Eulalie de Boufflers (died at 14)

Joseph Marie

Madeleine Angélique

4. Charles Joseph de Boufflers & Marie Anne Philippine Thérèse de Montmorency

Born in 1731, Charles Joseph was the sole son and heir of the Duc de Boufflers. He had inherited his father's estate and titles following his death. This meant that he was already Duc de Boufflers at the age of 16 - that same year, he was married off to Marie Anne Philippine Thérèse. Despite his young age, he was a hard pressed man. The family was deeply in debt and eventually had to sell off some of their belongings at a public auction in 1752. Sadly, at the age of just 20, Charles died. 

Marie Anne inherited her mother-in-law's post of dame du palais in 1747; she would continue in her post until Marie Leszczynska's death. Then, she was appointed as dame pour accompagner the new dauphine, Marie Antoinette. She would eventually retire in 1771 - after this, she appears to disappear from court. Her date of death is unknown but is estimated at around 1797.

The couple had two children:

• Unnamed daughter (1749-51)
• Marie-Amélie de Boufflers, Duchesse de Lauzun (later de Biron)

Upon the death of Charles Joseph, the ducal line of Boufflers had effectually died out, as females were prohibited from inheriting due to Salic law. 

Marie-Amélie was raised by her grandmother who would later marry her to Armand Louis de Gontaut-Biron in 1766, thus becoming Duchesse de Lauzun. She would serve as dame du palais to first Marie Leszczynska and then to Marie Antoinette. She would be guillotined in 1794, at the age of 43.

Madame de Boufflers (Madeleine
Angélique) and Marie-Amélie

Branch of the Marquis de Remiencourt

1. René de Boufflers & Louise de Gandechart

René held the title of Seigneur de Remiencourt when he married Louise de Gandechart. The couple had four children but very little is otherwise known of them:

• Charles
• René, monk
• Marie, nun
• Antoinette, nun

2. Charles de Boufflers & Marie du Bos

Born in 1654, Charles was a cornet in a royal regiment of dragoons before marrying Marie du Bos. They had six children:

• Charles-François
• Philippe-Aimé
• Marie-Charlotte
• Jeanne
• Marie, nun
• Marie-Renée, nun

3. Charles-François de Boufflers & Louise-Antoinette-Charlotte de Boufflers

It was with Charles-François that the fortunes of this branch rose. He was elevated to Marquis de Remiencourt and earned the rank of both Lieutenant-General and Maréchal de Camp. It would appear that he had inherited a good deal of the military strategist otherwise so dominant in the branch of the Duc de Boufflers as his military service was acclaimed by Louis XIV himself. The Sun King had even bestowed upon him the honour of being Commander of the Order of Saint-Louis.

He had married Louise-Antoinette-Charlotte, daughter of the Duc de Boufflers and thus his cousin. They had eight children:

• Louis-François
• Augustin-Maurice, died in infancy
• Charles-Louis-Honoré-Victoire, died at 12
• Vincent-Dominique-Régis, served as standard-bearer and was killed in battle aged 13
• Catherine-Charlotte, died at 5
• Marie-Joséphine, Marquise de Marmier
• Marie-Louise, Comtesse de Roquepine
• Marie-Cécile, Marquise de Villandry

4. Louis-François de Boufflers & Marie-Françoise-Catherine de Beauvau

Louis-François followed his father's excellent military career and was likewise made Maréchal de Camp. He appears to have been introduced at court by the Duc d'Orléans with whom he apparently had a connection. While he held a considerable military rank and a suitable courtly title, one cannot help but consider Marie-Françoise-Catherine as the better catch in their marriage.

She was the daughter of the Prince de Craon who happened to the governor a young François, Duc de Lorraine - he would later become Holy Roman Emperor and father of Marie Antoinette. Her mother had been lady-in-waiting and dame du palais to the Duchesse de Lorraine and would later hold the same position for Mesdames. 

Marie-Françoise-Catherine herself was apparently quite a woman. Considered beautiful, intelligent and charming, she became the mistress of King Stanislas of Poland and had other lovers during her time. She seems to have been remarkably talented when it came to the arts; she both drew and wrote her own verses.

The couple had four children:

• Charles-Marc-Jean
• Stanislas-Jean, known as the Chevalier de Boufflers
• Catherine-Stanislas, nun
• Louise-Julie, Marquise de Cucé

Marie-Françoise-Catherine

5. Charles-Marc-Jean de Boufflers

Having been raised at the court of the king of Poland, he had received his military education abroad. However, he was sent to France in 1752 upon which Louis XV appointed him ménin to dauphin Louis-Ferdinand. When his uncle, Charles Joseph, died without a male heir, he inherited the century-old position of Bailiff of Beauvoisis.

At the French court, he quickly made use of his military talents to further his career. He rose gradually through the ranks until finally becoming Maréchal de Camp. Charles never married and fathered no children which left his brother, Stanislas-Jean, as his heir. However, Stanislas-Jean also died childless which led to the extinction of this family in the male line.

His sisters were both caught up in the revolution. Louise-Julie had served as lady-in-waiting to Mesdames and was guillotined on 7 July 1794 at the age of 52; she does not appear to have had children. Her sister, Catherine-Stanislas, was also guillotined on the same day - the two sisters were likely executed together.

Branch of the Seigneur de Rouverel

1. François de Boufflers & Marthe de Monçeaux-d'Auxy

Not to be confused with his cousin of the same name, François was the grandson of Jean de Boufflers. He was a captain of a company of light horse as well as the seigneur de Rouverel - speaking in purely hierarchical terms, his rank is significantly lower than both his brothers'. 

He married Marthe de Monçeaux-d'Auxy on 5 November 1649. Marthe was his cousin, on his mother's side, as she was the daughter of Marie-Jeanne de Boufflers and her husband, another François. 

The couple had five children:

• François II, Seigneur de Rouverel
• René, Chevalier de Boufflers
• Françoise, nun
• Marie, nun
• Marthe, nun

2. François II de Boufflers & Marie-Anne de Biez

While his birth year is unknown, François II would inherit his father's title as Seigneur de Rouverel. When he was married to Marie-Anne de Biez, it would seem that he "married up". While he was the relative of a comte and a marquis, he himself was "just" a seigneur but had no courtly title. Marie-Anne - on the other hand - was the daughter of the Marquis de Savigny who served as Maréchal de Camp.

The couple had five children:

• Antoine-François-Oudart, Seigneur de Rouverel
• Adrienne-Élisabeth, nun
• Renée-Espérance 
• Anne
• Clothilde, Dame de Boisdeffre 

3. Antoine-François-Oudart de Boufflers & Anne-Françoise Wanehep

Born in 1671, Antoine-François-Oudart would rise to the rank of lieutenant in the French army before suddenly travelling south of the border and enlist for the king of Spain. The cause of this sudden move was a scandal which had taken place in Paris. The Seigneur de Rouverel had had a duel with the Sieur de Baquemare in which the latter had been killed; as punishment, Louis XIV confiscated his belongings and Antoine had to go abroad.  

Anne-Françoise was not a stranger to moving. She hailed from the Scottish aristocracy - quite a rarity in the French nobility at the time. The two had married in Madrid and had one child:

• Edouard de Boufflers

4. Edouard de Boufflers & Marie-Charlotte-Hippolite de Camp-de-Saujeon

As a result of his father's exile, Edouard was born in Spain in 1722. However, at the age of just 7 years old he was sent back to France where he was granted naturalisation and thus recognised as a Frenchman. Despite his less than fortunate start to life, Edouard would prove himself valuable to Louis XV. He entered the army where he distinguished himself to such a degree that he would be made Maréchal de Camp. Interestingly, he would eventually become the head of the Boufflers-family when the last Duc de Boufflers, Charles Marie, died without a male heir.

Marie-Charlotte-Hippolite served as dame de compagnie to the Duchesse de Chartres and as such was a frequent visitor at the Palais Royal. While here, she became the mistress to the Prince de Conti, the brother of the Duchesse de Chartres. For unknown reasons, Marie was obliged to leave the Palais-Royal and moved into a small hôtel where she started her own salon. She appears to have been prone to anglomania and gladly hosted a wide variety of philosophers, including Rousseau, and would later travel to England where she was feted by Walpole and Samuel Johnson.

As for Versailles, she never went there as she had not been officially presented. She apparently had hopes of remarrying after Edouard's death but her plans of becoming Princesse de Conti were crushed. When the revolution came, she was hauled before the tribunal but acquitted. Sadly, despite escaping with her life, the revolution left her almost bankrupt. 

They had one son:

• Louis-Édouard de Boufflers

Comtesse de Boufflers

5. Louis-Édouard de Boufflers & Amélie Constance des Alleurs

Louis was to benefit from his mother's connection to the Prince de Conti. He was given a post in the Conti Regiment which took his name after he became its Maitre de Camp in 1776 - from then on, it was known as the Boufflers Regiment. Right before the revolution, in 1788, he was made Maréchal de Camp.

Amélie Constance must have been considered to have a remarkably interesting background compared to many of her contemporaries. Having been born as far away as Constantinople, she was the daughter of the French ambassador to Poland and a Polish princess, Maria Lubomirska.

They had one child:

• Amédée Joseph

Their son never married and died childless. Thus, the house of Boufflers officially went extinct in the male line - in all three branches. 

Interesting facts/anecdotes:

• Louise-Antoinette-Charlotte became dame de Remincourt when she married her cousin, Charles Francois de Boufflers
• Marie-Amélie would be amongst the first to be inoculated against smallpox - she was highly praised by Rousseau when he met her at the age of 10
• Technically, there were two branches as François III had had a son, Henri. However, the descendants of Henri for some reason did not take the title of Comte de Boufflers
• There appears to have been an unusual number of women in this family who became nuns - while this was common practice in families with several daughters but few means, it is rather odd that six women became nuns rather than being married off 
• All three daughters of François II (Seigneur de Rouverel) and two of Charles de Boufflers (Seigneur de Remiencourt) were entered into the school of Saint-Cyr, founded by Madame de Maintenon. This indicates that these particular branches were not wealthy but rather struggling, as the school was solely for young ladies of pristine but impoverished backgrounds. This - in turn - might be the explanation for why so many of the family's daughters became nuns
• While Antoine-François-Oudarte had all his belongings confiscated by Louis XIV, they did not leave the family - the king bestowed them on his sister, Renée-Espérance
• Stanislas-Jean, son of Louis-François/Marie-Françoise-Catherine was originally supposed to have taken holy orders but dropped out of the priesthood to pursue a career in the army