In the tenth century the lands belonged to the forebears of the
Capetians; they passed by marriage to
Walter,
Count of the Vexin, then to
Richard I of Normandy. In 1017 the lands were given as
dowry to Richard's illegitimate daughter Matilda, who married
Odo II, Count of Blois. King
Robert II of France confiscated the lands of Dreux from Odo, and they formed part of the royal domain until
Louis the Fat granted the county of Dreux as an
appanage to his son
Robert. The descendants of Robert held the county of Dreux until 1355, when the heiress, Countess
Joan II of Dreux, married Simon de Thouars. Simon and Joan had three daughters and no sons; their daughters sold their interests in the county of Dreux to King
Charles VI. King Charles gave the county of Dreux as a dowry in the marriage of his kinswoman
Marguerite de Bourbon, daughter of
Peter,
Duke of Bourbon and of Isabella de Valois, daughter of
Charles of Valois, with
Arnaud-Amanieu d'Albret in 1382. The county returned to the crown in 1556, and thereafter formed part of the royal domain, then the lands of
François, Duke of Anjou, and after his death was sold to the
Duke of Nemours. It returned to the
royal domain in the reign of
Louis XV. == List of counts of Dreux ==