to Sir
John Stewart of Darnley, 1st Seigneur d'Aubigny, 1st Seigneur de Concressault and 1st Comte d'Évreux, Constable of the Scottish Army in France. To quarter Stewart of Darnley:
Royal arms of France within a bordure gules charged with eight buckles or. The
lord of the manor of
Aubigny-sur-Nère, a substantial walled town, was known in France as the ''Seigneur d'Aubigny'' ("lord of Aubigny"). It was a territorial title rather than a
peerage title, and thus was able to be given by a Seigneur to a younger son, where for example the elder son already had a great estate and titles. The first ducal holder was Louise de Kérouaille, the French-born last mistress of King Charles II of England and Scotland. In 1684, at the request of Charles II, the French King Louis XIV created her "Duchess of Aubigny" in the
Peerage of France. However, the
letters patent creating the Duchy were not registered by the
Parlement of Paris, so the dukedom became extinct at the Duchess' death in 1734. In 1777, King
Louis XV issued
lettres de suranation, which restored the 1684 peerage to her heirs.
Charles Lennox, 1st Duke of Richmond and 1st Duke of Lennox (1672–1723), her son by King Charles II, had predeceased her, but her grandson
Charles Lennox, 2nd Duke of Richmond, had already received a
brevet de duc (i.e., a ducal patent), which gave him the honours of a duke at the French royal court. The French dukedom was confiscated during the
Revolutionary and
Napoleonic Wars (1792–1803 and 1806–1814), but it was finally returned to
Charles Lennox, 4th Duke of Richmond, the nephew and heir of the 3rd Duke of Richmond, who also succeeded to the dukedom of Aubigny according to ancient
Salic law. The English coat of arms of the Lennox Dukes of Richmond display an
inescutcheon of
gules, three buckles or, which are their French arms as Dukes of Aubigny. These arms were created as a
difference from the French arms granted in 1428 by King Charles VII of France to
John Stewart of Darnley, 1st Seigneur d'Aubigny, 1st Seigneur de Concressault, 1st Comte d'Évreux, and Constable of the Scottish Army in France, the outstanding warrior who commanded the Scottish army in France that was instrumental in saving the throne of
Charles VII from the English invasion forces under King
Henry V of England. In 1428, John Stewart of Darnley was awarded by King Charles VII of France "the glorious privilege of quartering the royal arms of France with his paternal arms". This was in the form of the royal French arms differenced by
a bordure gules charged with buckles or, specified to appear in the 1st and 4th quarters of greatest honour. The
bordure gules charged with buckles or is a reference to the arms of Stewart of Bonkyll, who bore Stewart differenced by
a bordure gules charged with buckles or (an example of
canting arms: buckles for Bonkyl). The
château and appurtenances are no longer the family's, as they were sold off to maintain their other legacies or assets. Aubigny is the chief tourist attraction in France which attests to the
Auld Alliance. The honour is still recognized in France as are all legitimate titles granted before 1870 by a French monarch. ==Stewart Seigneurs d'Aubigny==