Colbert family

Colbert family
CountryKingdom of France
French Empire
Place of originReims
TitlesMarquis of Chabanais
Marquis of Seignelay
Marquis of Villacerf
Marquis of Torcy
Marquis of Maulévrier
Marquis of Saint-Pouange
Baron of Colbert
DistinctionsArchbishop of Rouen
Archbishop of Toulouse
Bishops of Luçon, Auxerre, Mâcon, Montauban
Estate(s)
List

The Colbert family is a surviving family of the French nobility, originally from Reims, Marne. Descended from merchants and bankers established in Reims and Troyes in the 16th century, the family formed several branches which successively acceded to the nobility during the 17th century. The Troyes line, a cadet branch which is the only branch surviving today, was the first to be ennobled in 1603 by the purchase of a position as Counselor Secretary to the King.[1]

Following Jean-Baptiste Colbert, advisor to Cardinal Mazarin who, upon the death of the Cardinal, became minister to King Louis XIV, the Colbert family knew how to benefit from the social advancement of Louis XIV's minister and to give its members access to the highest offices and functions of the kingdom. In addition to the famous minister of Louis XIV, the Colbert family gave many dignitaries to the Kingdom of France, ministers, bishops, and general officers, from the second half of the 17th century to the end of the 18th century. From Louis XIV to the French Revolution, it belonged to the high nobility of the country.[2]

History

The first known Colbert, Jehan Colbert, was a masonry contractor in Reims, who married Marie Thuillier in 1492. They were the parents of:[3][4]

  • Gérard Colbert, Lord of Magneux and Crèvecoeur, bourgeois of Reims, married in c. 1519 to Jeanne Thierry:
    • Oudard/Édouard Colbert, bourgeois of Reims, haberdashery merchant, married in c. 1548 to Marie Coquebert:
      • Gérard Colbert (1550–1617), merchant in Amiens, then goldsmith in Paris, grandfather, through his son Nicolas Colbert d'Acy (1595–1649): of Elisabeth Colbert (d. 1691; prioress of Saint-Louis-de-la-Rougemare Priory [fr] in Rouen); of Marie Colbert, wife of Louis de Béchameil; and of Madeleine Colbert, who married (1) Étienne Le Camus, uncle of Etienne; (2) of Claude Pellot, 1st president of the Parliament of Normandy and brother-in-law of the first Etienne Le Camus.
      • Jehan Colbert (1557–1596), Lord of Acy and Terron, bourgeois of Reims, civil and criminal lieutenant at the presidial of Reims in 1580, general controller of the salt taxes of Burgundy and Picardy in 1595, married in 1582 to Marie Bachelier: grandparents of the Minister Colbert.
      • Oudard Colbert (1560–1640), bourgeois of Troyes, merchant and banker in Troyes, advisor-secretary to the king in 1612, married in 1585 to Marie Foret (d. c. 1618), Lady of Villacerf and daughter of the wealthy Trojan merchant Nicolas Foret de Villacerf, ancestors of the surviving branch of St-Pouange, Marquis of Chabanais.[5]

Prominent family members

Portrait of Jean-Baptiste Colbert, by Philippe de Champaigne, 1655

Jehan Colbert Line

Portrait of Jean-Baptiste Colbert de Torcy by François de Troy, c. 1701
Portrait of Charles Joachim Colbert by Jean Raoux

Oudard Colbert line

Portrait of Édouard Colbert, Marquis of Villacerf, by Pierre Mignard
Portrait of Auguste François-Marie de Colbert-Chabanais, by François Gérard, 1809

Châteaux and mansions

Armorial

Figure Blasonnement
Arms of the Colbert family
[10]

Or, with a waving snake in pale azure.
Crown:
of marquis.
Supporter:
two unicorns looking, natural.
Motto:
"Servat et Abstinet" (Keep and abstain).

Antoine Martin Colbert de Seignelay (1659–1689)
From Colbert, with a chief of gules charged with a cross of silver.
François Édouard Henri René Colbert (1727–1748), Marquis de Maulévrier, Second lieutenant of the English gendarmes

Quarterly: 1 and 4, azure, three silver fleurs-de-lis, a chief or ( d'Estaing); 2 and 3, argent, a saltire gules denched sable (de Froulay). Overall or, a serpent undulating in pale azure (Colbert).
Supporter:
two unicorns looking, natural.

Jean-Baptiste Joachim Colbert (1703–1777), son of Jean-Baptiste Colbert, Marquis of Torcy (1665–1746), Lieutenant-General of the King's Armies, governor of Crécy-en-Brie and Captain of the Guards of the King's Gate

See also

Citations

  1. ^ Courtalon-Delaistre, Jean Charles (1783). Topographie historique de la ville et du diocèse de Troyes (in French). Sobelet. p. 255. Retrieved 15 October 2024.
  2. ^ Arnaud, Anne-François (1837). Voyage Archéologique Et Pittoresque Dans Le Département de L'Aube Et Dans L'ancien Diocèse de Troyes. p. 109. Retrieved 15 October 2024.
  3. ^ Bourgeon, Jean-Louis (1986). Les Colbert avant Colbert: destin d'une famille marchande (2e éd ed.). Paris: Presses universitaires de France. ISBN 2130389066.
  4. ^ Courcelles, Jean-Baptiste-Pierre Jullien (1826). Histoire généalogique et héraldique des pairs de France: des grands dignitaires de la couronne, des principales familles nobles du royaume et des maisons princières de l'Europe, précédée de la généalogie de la maison de France (in French). L'auteur. pp. 362–382. Retrieved 15 October 2024.
  5. ^ a b c d Colbert, François de (2000). L'histoire des Colbert du XVe au XXe siècle (in French). F. de Colbert. pp. 1–665. Retrieved 15 October 2024.
  6. ^ Tellier, Luc-Normand (1987). Face Aux Colbert: Les le Tellier, Vauban, Turgot... et L'Avènement du Libéralisme (in French). Presses de l'Université du Québec. p. 174. ISBN 978-2-7605-2289-3. Retrieved 15 October 2024.
  7. ^ Revue de Champagne et de Brie : histoire, biographie, archéologie, documents inédits, bibliographie, beaux-arts / [secrétaire-gérant : Léon Frémont]. 1900. Retrieved 15 October 2024.
  8. ^ Gothaischer Hof Kalender zum Nutzen und Vergnügen (in German). Perthes. 1915. p. 340. Retrieved 19 June 2024.
  9. ^ Pattou, Etienne (2004). "Famille de Brûlart & Sillery, Genlis, etc". racineshistoire.free.fr. Retrieved 15 October 2024.
  10. ^ Morenas, Henri Jougla de (1975). Grand Armorial de France. Frankelve. pp. 15–16. Retrieved 15 October 2024.

References