House of Baux

French noble family

See also: Lords of Baux

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The House of Baux is a French noble family from the south of France. It was one of the richest and most powerful families of Medieval Provence, known as the 'Race d’Aiglon'. They were independent Lords as castellans of Les Baux and Arles and wielded very considerable authority at local level. They held important fiefs and vast lands, including the principality of Orange.[1]

In Old French: baux (and in Provençal-Occitan, li baou) is the word for 'cliffs, escarpment'. In its use as the family name, it refers to the natural fortress on which the family built their castle, the Château des Baux and the village that surrounded it. The escarpment provided a raised and protected mountain valley that protected their food supply; the natural ridge of the Alpilles allowed control of all the approaches to the citadel of Les Baux-de-Provence and the surrounding countryside, including the passage up and down the Rhone, and the approaches from the Mediterranean. Together, these natural advantages made the fortress impervious to the military technology of the time.

Les Baux-de-Provence seen from the side, showing the natural fortress created by the escarpment. Without gunpowder, it was impregnable.

The family of des Baux is still thriving today in Naples in the person of several noble families descended from younger sons who followed Charles of Anjou south.[2] In particular from Bertrand Lord of Baux and Prince of Orange derived three cadet branches of the house, which moved to southern Italy, giving rise to the Italianized branches of "Orsini del Balzo" Counts of Avellino, Dukes of Andria and Princes of Taranto.

After the death of Alix des Baux [fr], the last sovereign of Baux, the chateaux and town were seized by King Rene, who gave it to his 2nd wife, Queen Jeanne of Laval. When Provence was united with the crown, almost 150 yrs of royal governors followed, including the lords, later counts and princes de Manville. Les Baux became a centre for Protestantism. Its unsuccessful revolt against the crown led Cardinal Richelieu in 1632 to order that the castle and its walls should be demolished. This was accomplished with the aid of artillery.

## Lords of Baux[edit]

Original coat of arms of the House of Baux (Lords of Baux). Some authors, and local tradition, with a hagiographic aim, fancifully claimed that the family was descended from Balthazar, one of the three Magi (the 16-rayed star symbolizing the star of Bethlehem). Some, that they descended from the first kings of Armenia, the star signifying that they directly knew Jesus. The mottoes of the family were Au Hasard Baltasar; Jamais Vassal; and Latin: Semper Ardentius.

The earliest definite ancestor was Pons (Poncius Iuvenis, 'Pons the younger'). The name may indicate a trader from Greece,[why?] while his soubriquet, the younger, distinguished him from his father Pons the elder. Pons the younger was mentioned in three legal acts:[3]

* 1st in the act of donation of 14 May 971 donating Montmajour to Boson & his wife Folcoare,
* 2nd in 975 in the act of donation of land to St Etienne d'Arles, now called St. Trophime (Arch. du chap. d'Arles, liv. autent. f. 22)
* 3rd with his wife Profecte in an act of donation in 981

The family descent then is:

* Pons the Younger (born c. 950, fl. 971-1028), father of
* Hugh I (born c. 970 - after 1059), father of
* William Hugh of Baux [fr] French: Guillaume Hugues or "Guilhem Uc" (after 1030 - 1105), father of
* Raymond I (before 1095 - 1150), father of
* Hugh II (reigned 1150 - 1167; retired to Sardinia where he died in 1179)
* Betrand I (1167–1181), brother of Hugh II
* Hugh III (1181–1240), lord of Baux, viscount of Marseille, eldest son of Bertrand I
* Barral of Baux (Barral I, 1240–1268), father of
* Bertrand III (1268–1305), father of
* Raymond II (1305–1322), father of
* Hugh IV (1322–1351), father of
* Robert (1351–1353)
* Raymond III (1353–1372), brother of Robert, father of
* John I (1372–1375)
* Alice I (1372–1426), sister of John

This branch of the House of Baux was declared extinct in 1426. The domains were inherited by Counts of Provence.

## Lords of Berre, Meyragues, Puyricard and Marignane[edit]

* Bertrand II des Baux [fr], second oldest son of Bertrand I des Baux [fr], lord of Berre, Meyragues and Puyricard, and Marignane (1181–1201)
* ...

From this branch originated the family branches of the Seigneurs de Berre [fr], Lords of Meyrargues and Puyricard, who became extinct in 1349, and lords of Marignane, acquired by House of Valois-Anjou, as well as the Dukes of Andria.

## Princes of Orange[edit]

When a branch of the lords of Baux married the heiress of the princes of Orange, they quartered their arms with those of the princes of Orange.

See also: Prince of Orange

* Bertrand I des Baux (1171–1181)
* Raymond II of Baux, (1218–1282)
* William I, youngest son of Bertrand I des Baux, (1181–1218)
* William II, co-Prince (with brothers),1218-1239
* Bertrand II, (1281–1314)
* Raymond III (1314–1340)
* Raymond V (1340–1393)
* Mary of Baux-Orange (1393–1417), daughter, married John III of Châlon-Arlay

In 1417, the House of Ivrea or House of Châlon-Arlay succeeded as princes of Orange.

A brother of William I started the branch of the Lords of Courbezon (House of Baux-Courbezon), which became extinct in 1393. Another brother started the line of Lords of Suze, Solerieux and Barri (House of Baux-Suze-Solerieux-Barri), which became extinct and reverted afterwards to the counts of Orange.

## Family Genealogy[edit]

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### Ancestors of the Lords of Baux[edit]

The ancestors of the Lords of Baux:[4][5][full citation needed]

Leibulf de Provence (vers 750-835)
x Odda ?

| → Leibulf des Baux (middle of the 9th century).[6]
x ??

| →  Pons d’Arles (end of the 9th century)
x Blismodis de Mâcon

| → Humbert, Bishop of Vaison-la-Romaine (890-933)

| → Ison d’Arles (890-942),
x Princess ? of Benevento

| →  Lambert Ursus seigneurs de Reillanne
|     x Galburge de Bénévent
|     |
|     | →  Seigneurs de Reillanne

| →  Pons de Marseille (910-979),
x   Judith de Bretagne,[a] daughter d'Alain II de Bretagne

| → Honoratus de Marseille (930-978), Bishop of Marseille

| →  William of Marseille (935-1004)
|    x Bellilde, daughter d’Arlulf de Marseille
|    |
|    | →  Vicomtes de Marseille

x  Belletrude[b]

| →  (hyp) Pons de Fos (vers 945-1025)
x Profecta de Marignane

| →  Seigneurs de Fos

| →  (hyp) Hugues des Baux (981-1060)
x Inauris de Cavaillon (?)

| → Guillaume Hugues de Baux (1060–1095)
x Vierne

| → Raymond-Raimbaud des Baux (1095–1150)
x Étiennette de Gévaudan

| → Bertrand des Baux
x Thiburge II d'Orange

### Simplified Family Tree of the Lords of Baux[edit]

The family tree of the lords of Baux:[3][c]

| Pons the Younger
"Iuventus"
945-1025

|

| | | |
| Hugh
981-1060
Lord of Baux
| | Geoffrey I of Provence, 1013-1062, Count of Provence
| | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| | | |
| William Hugo
c. 1026 - c. 1105
Lord of Baux
| | William Bertrand
1051-1094
Count of Provence| | Gerberga
1094-1118
Countess of Provence| | Gilbert
Viscount of Gévaudan
Count of Arles
d.ca. 1110| |

| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| | | | | | |
| Raymond I
1095-1150
Lord of Baux
| | Stephanie
d. c. 1160
The younger daughter.
This marriage was
the start of the
Baussenque Wars over the
succession to Provence| | | | Dulcia
Countess of Provence
c. 1090–1127| | Ramon Berenguer III
"the Great"
Count of Barcelona
c. 1082–1131

| | |
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| | | | |
| Hugh II
1150-1170

Iudicarus of Arborea
Sardinia
Vcte. des Baux
to 1384| | Bertrand I
Lord of Baux
1130-1181
Count & from 1163
Prince of Orange
| | Tiburge d'Orange
died 1189
daughter & heiress of
Raimbaud II d'Orange
Count of Orange
| | Counts of
Provence

| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
Barrale
Viscountess of Marseille
died 1234
| | Hugh III
1173- 1240
Lord of Baux
Vcte of Marseille
| | | | | | | |  Bertrand II
died 1201
co-Prince of Orange
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | William I
?-1218
Prince of Orange

| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| | Barral I
1217-1270
Lord of Baux
Vcte of Marseille
| | | | | | | | | | Raymond II
d.1236
Vcte of Marseille
| | | | | | Bertrand III
Count of Andria, Montescaglioso, and Squillace| | | | Raymond I
1202-1282
co-Prince of Orange
| | | | | | | | | | William II
1218-1239
co-Prince of Orange

| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| | Bertrand II
1244-1305
Lord of Baux
Vcte of Marseille
1st Count d'Avellino
(Naples) 1278
| | Bertrand III
Sg Meyrargues
et Puyricard
+1266
Line of
Sg de Meyrargues
et de Puyricard
ended 1352 in
the male line.
| | Gilbert
Sg de Marignane
Line of
sg de Marignane
line continues to
present in Provence
| | William I[a]
Sg de Berre
+1265/1266
dukes d'Andria(Naples)
from whom "del Balzo"
dukes of Capriglianode
dukes of Presenzano
| | Raymond
Vcte of Berre
No descendants
| | Francis I
Duke of Andria, Count of Montescaglioso & Squillace| | Bertrand IV
died 1314
4th-Prince of Orange
| | Eléonore
de Genève
| | William IV
d. 1281
co-Prince of Orange
| | William III
died 1256/7
co-Prince of Orange
Sg Courthézon
| | Raymond II
died 1256/7
co-Prince of Orange
sg Courthézon
et Suze, Séguret
Sérignan, Camaret

| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| | Raymond I
1268-1321
Lord of Baux
Vcte of Marseille
Count d'Avellino (Naples)
Sénéchal de Provence 1315
Régent de Naples
in 1295
| | Hugh
assassinated
Milan 1302
Sg de Loriol
Sénéchal of Piémont
Vicaire Général Lombardy
no descendants
| | Barral II
1301-1331
Sg de Loreto
| | Agoult
d.1346/7
Sg. de Caromb, Brantes
Le Barroux, St Léger
Sénéchal Beaucaire
and Nimes 1340
Toulouse/Albi 1342
Cap. gén. en Languedoc
| | James
Prince of Taranta & Achaia
titular Latin emperor of Constantinople| | William II
Duke of Andria| | | | Raymond IV
died 1340
5th Prince of Orange
| | | | | | | | Bertrand III[b]
died 1305
co-Prince of Orange
Sg Courthézon
| | Raymond III[d]
d.ca.1339
co-Prince of Orange
2nd sg de Suze, & Bari

| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| | Hugh II
1311-1351
Lord of Baux
Vcte of Marseille
Count d'Avellino (Naples)
Sénéchal de Provence 1343
Grand Admiral of Naples
| | Bertrand
d. 1355
Seig of Caromb
| | Dragobert
1327/8-1340
sg de Villefranche
| | Raymond
1328-1381
Sg of Caromb
| | Amiel
d. 1375
Sg of Caromb
| | Francis II
Duke of Andria| | Raymond V
died 1393
6th Prince of Orange
| | Jeanne
de Genève[7]
| | Bertrand
d.1380
Sg. of Gigondas
Suze, Condorcet
| | Guiges
d.1390
| | Guillaume
d.1390
Sg of Camaret
Travaillan, Condorcet

| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| | Antoine
d. 1374
Sg of Aubagne
| | Robert
d.1354
Lord of Baux
Vcte of Marseille
Count d'Avellino
| | Raymond II
1331-1372
Lord of Baux
Vcte of Marseille
Count d'Avellino
| | Francis
d. 1390
Sg of Aubagne
| | | | | | Pirro
Duke of Andria,
Prince of Altamura| | | | Mary
died 1417
7th Princess of Orange
| | John III
of Châlon
lord of Arlay
died 1418
| | | | | | | | William
d. 1427
Sg. of St-Roman
de Malegarde

| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| | | | |
| | | | | | John
1372-1375
posthumous child| | Alix
[e][3] 1367-1426
last sovereign
of the indep.
state of Baux
Countess d'Avellino
| | | | | | Frederick
king of Naples| | Isabella del Balzo| | | | | | Châlon & Nassau
Princes of Orange

## See also[edit]

* Les Baux de Provence
* Les Baux de Provence AOC
* Baussenque Wars (1144–1162)
* Il signore di Baux
* fr:Alix des Baux

## Notes[edit]

1. ^ a b Line of the dukes d'Andria and Nardo, counts of Squillace, princes of Tarento (in Naples) and Achaïa (Greece). Elder branch ended in 1530 in the male line. A younger branch survives in Naples as the "del Balzo" in multiple branches, as dukes of Capriglianode, another as counts del Balzo (died out 1932) and another as the dukes of Presenzano.del Balzo di Presenzano, Gioacchino. "GENEALOGY Maison del Balzo/des Baux, with bibliography cited there". Retrieved 2012-08-28.
2. ^ a b Sg Courthézon, gave his rights to the principality to Raymond IV for this lordship. One male line died out c.1372, the other two lead to the counts d'Alessano, and counts d'Alessano, including the Orsini des Baux, died out by 1550.del Balzo di Presenzano, Gioacchino. "GENEALOGY Maison del Balzo/des Baux, with bibliography cited there". Retrieved 2012-08-28.
3. ^ (Per the references cited in the Simplified family tree footnote section below, rather than footnote each person, as they are from all these sources)
4. ^ Gave his rights to his brother. Male line died out c. 1409. del Balzo di Presenzano, Gioacchino. "GENEALOGY Maison del Balzo/des Baux". Retrieved 2012-08-28. del Balzo di Presenzano, Gioacchino. "GENEALOGY Maison del Balzo/des Baux, with bibliography cited there". Retrieved 2012-08-28.
5. ^ She was married to Odon de Villars and Conrad IV de Furstemberg. Her uncle, on her mother's side, Raymond de Turenne used the fortress of Baux to wage war on the counts of Provence. On her death, the lordship of Baux was seized by King Rene, the count of Provence and given to his wife, Jeanne of Laval, thus ending its independence.fr:Alix des Baux

## References[edit]

1. ^ Grew 1947, p. 5—16
2. ^ del Balzo, Gioacchino. "GENEALOGY Maison del Balzo/des Baux". Retrieved 21 April 2011.
3. ^ a b c Paulet, Ladislas (1986). Les Baux et Castillon: Histoire des communes des Baux, de Paradou, de Maussane, et de Mouries. Place de l'Eglise, 13200 Raphele-les-Arles: Editions Culture Provencale Méridionale de Marcel Petit. ISBN 978-2866730604.`{{cite book}}`: CS1 maint: location (link)
4. ^ Geary, Patrick J. (1994). Phantoms of remembrance: Memory and oblivion at the end of the first millennium. Princeton, N.J., United States: Princeton University Press. p. 76\. ISBN 9780691026039.
5. ^ d’Hauthuille, Olivier. Héraldique et généalogie. 89.I.160
6. ^ *Cook, Theodore Andrea, Sir, 1867-1928 (1905). Twenty-five great houses of France; the story of the noblest French chateaux. London: Offices of "Country Life" [etc.] p. 127\. "The first Count of Les Baux, whose name alone we know, was Leibulf, whose son Pons, or Poncius, owned large lands in Argence Old Provence"`{{cite book}}`: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
7. ^ Grew 1947, p. 16.

## Bibliography[edit]

* Grew, Marion Ethel (1947). The House of Orange. London: Methuen & Co. Ltd.

### Sources for the Vicomtes de Marseille[edit]

* Édouard Baratier, Ernest Hildesheimer et Georges Duby, Atlas historique...
* and the table of Henry de Gérin-Ricard, Actes concernant les vicomtes de Marseille et leurs descendants...

### Sources: Ancestors of the Lords of Baux section[edit]

#### Genealogy works[edit]

* Georges de Manteyer, La Provence du premier au douzième siècle, études d'histoire et de géographie... (1908),
* Juigné de Lassigny, Généalogie des vicomtes de Marseille...,
* Fernand Cortez, Les grands officiers royaux de Provence au moyen-âge listes chronologiques...,
* Papon, de Louis Moréri, du marquis de Forbin, Monographie de la terre et du château de Saint-Marcel, près Marseille: du Xe au XIXe siècle... ("Monograph of the land and the castle of Saint-Marcel, near Marseille, from the tenth to the nineteenth century ..."), Marseille, 1888
* J. Berge, Origines rectifiées des maisons féodales Comtes de Provence, Princes d'Orange ..., France-Riviera, 1952
* Poly, Jean-Pierre, La Provence et la société féodale (879-1166), Paris: Bordas, 1976,
* Jacques Saillot, Le Sang de Charlemagne...

### Sources: Simplified family tree section[edit]

* Grew 1947
* Rowen, Herbert H. (1988). The princes of Orange: the stadholders in the Dutch Republic. Cambridge University Press.
* de Pontbriant, A. (1891). Histoire de la principaute d'Orange: suivre de lettres inedites des princes d'Orange, des rois de France, du Cte de Grignan, etc. Avignon: Seguin freres.
* Schwennicke, Detlev (1989). Europäiche Stammtafeln, Stammtafeln der Europäichen Staaten, Neue Folge, Volume III, Part 4, Das feudale Frankreich und sein Einfluß auf die Welt des Mittelalters. Marburg: Verlag J.A. Stargardt. pp. 745, 748, 751, & 752.

#### Genealogy works[edit]

* Gioacchino del Balzo di Presenzano, http://www.delbalzo.net/genealogia2.htm GENEALOGY Maison del Balzo/des Baux extensive bibliography
* G.Noblemaire, Histoire de la Maison des Baux, Parigi: 1912 and 1975
* J.Dunbabin, Charles I of Anjou, London/New York: 1998
* E.Leonard,Les Angevins de Naples, Paris: 1954
* Almanach of Gotha, 1888-1943
* F. Mazel,La Noblesse et l’Eglise en ProvenceFin X – debut XIV siecle, L’Exemple des familles d’Agoult-Simiane, des Baux et de Marseilles, CTHS – Paris: 2002
* H.Aliquot et R.Merceron,Armorial d’Avignon et Du Comtat Venaissin, Avignon:1987
* Cambridge Medieval History, Volumes I – IX, Cambridge: 1911
* Cambridge Medieval History, Vol II, III, IV, Revised Edition 1996 -2003
* Cambridge Modern History, Volumes I-XII, Cambridge: 1962-63

## External links[edit]

* GENEALOGY Maison del Balzo/des Baux by Gioacchino del Balzo with extensive bibliography
* Grand Armorial du Comtat Venaissin by Jean Gallian
* History of Les Baux en Provence

*[c.]: circa
*[fl.]: floruit ('flourished' – known to have been active at a particular time or during a particular period)