with
Bouillon Castle in the background The Duchy of Bouillon's origins are unclear. The first reference to
Bouillon Castle comes in 988 and by the 11th century, Bouillon was a
freehold held by the
House of Ardennes, who styled themselves
Lords of Bouillon. On the death of
Godfrey III, Duke of Lower Lorraine in 1069, Bouillon passed to his nephew,
Godfrey of Bouillon. In 1095, Godfrey of Bouillon sold Bouillon to
Otbert, the
Prince-Bishop of Liège, in order to finance his participation in the
First Crusade. Godfrey later became first ruler of the
Kingdom of Jerusalem. The Prince-Bishop of Liège granted the
châtellenie of Bouillon to the
House of La Marck in 1415. In 1456,
Louis de Bourbon, Bishop of Liège became the first individual to style himself "Duke of Bouillon". In 1482, the then
Châtelain of Bouillon,
William de La Marck, ordered the assassination of Louis in a plot to install his son,
Jean de la Marck, as Prince-Bishop. This plot proved unsuccessful:
John of Hornes was elected as successor of Louis de Bourbon as Prince-Bishop of Liège. John then fought a war with William that ended with the Treaty of
Tongeren, signed May 21, 1484, with the de la Marck family relinquishing its claim on Liège, though they retained Bouillon Castle as a
pledge for a loan of 30,000
livres and for their support for the Prince-Bishop against the emperor
Maximilian I. In 1492
Robert II de la Marck began calling himself "Duke of Bouillon", but in 1521,
Érard de La Marck, Prince-Bishop of Liège (and Robert's brother), with the backing of the troops of
Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor, managed to regain Bouillon for the Prince-Bishopric. On becoming chatelain in 1536
Robert Fleuranges III de La Marck also styled himself "Duke of Bouillon" and his successor
Robert IV maintained the right to this title. During the
Italian War of 1551–1559, Bouillon was occupied by the forces of
Henry II of France to keep them free from Habsburg influence, but Henry confirmed Robert IV as Duke of Bouillon. From 1560 to 1642, the Dukes of Bouillon were also the rulers of the independent
Principality of Sedan. With the death of
Charlotte de La Marck in 1594, the duchy and the title passed to her husband
Henri de La Tour d'Auvergne and thereafter became the possession of the
House of La Tour d'Auvergne. France again invaded Bouillon in 1676 during the
Franco-Dutch War, but
Godefroy Maurice de La Tour d'Auvergne retained the title. From this point on, although the Duchy of Bouillon was officially still a part of the
Holy Roman Empire, it was in actuality a French
protectorate. This state of affairs was confirmed by the 1678
Treaties of Nijmegen. In the wake of the
French Revolution, the
French Revolutionary Army invaded the Duchy of Bouillon in 1794, creating the short-lived
Republic of Bouillon. In 1795, Bouillon was annexed to France. The last duke,
Jacques Léopold de La Tour d'Auvergne, died in 1802 without any children (which was the extinction of the
La Tour d'Auvergne family). In 1815 the
Congress of Vienna established an arbitral commission to determine the "Duke of Bouillon" and decided in favor of
Charles Alain Gabriel de Rohan (the last duke's closest relative on his paternal side) over
Philippe d'Auvergne (a postulated relative, who had been adopted and declared an heir by Jacques' father,
Godefroy de La Tour d'Auvergne, when he was the duke). Meanwhile the Duchy of Bouillon was annexed to the
Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, then in
personal union with the
Kingdom of the Netherlands (later becoming part of the
Kingdom of the Belgians in 1830). The title, territory and the debt of Bouillon
remained a bone of contention between the bishopric and the noble houses before and after the French annexation of Bouillon in 1795. Court rulings about claimants were not resolved until 1825. == List of dukes of Bouillon ==