Originally, the city belonged to the
Abbey of Saint-Remi and was administered by its
advocati. One of them,
Manasses I, became the first
Count of Rethel and he was the first member of the
House of Rethel. In 1481 the county, with
Rethel as its seat, was elevated to the
Peerage of France and, finally, in 1581, it was elevated to a
duchy, the
Duchy of Rethel. In 1659, the last duke of the
House of Gonzaga-Nevers,
Charles of Gonzaga-Nevers, sold the duchy of Rethel to the
Cardinal Mazarin, prime-minister of king
Louis XIV and the country was, then, renamed as the
Duchy of Mazarin, and the title was the
Duke of Mazarin. The last duchess Mazarin,
Louise d'Aumont (1759-1826), married in 1771
Honoré IV Grimaldi,
Prince of Monaco. The
First French Republic abolished the duchy after the
French Revolution in 1789. ==See also==