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[[Image:Arms of Nicolas de Mercœur.svg|thumb|Arms of the Dukes of Mercœur of the [[House of Lorraine]]]]
The '''Seigneurs and Dukes of Mercœur''' were a line of powerful lords deriving their name from the estate of Mercœur in [[Auvergne (province)|Auvergne]], France. The line became extinct in the 14th century, and passed by inheritance to the [[Dauphin of Auvergne|dauphin]]s of Auvergne, counts of [[List of rulers of Auvergne|Clermont]]. In 1426 it passed to the [[Bourbons]] by the marriage, of [[Jeanne de Clermont]], dauphine of Auvergne, to [[Louis I, Count of Montpensier]]. It formed part of the confiscated estates of the [[Charles III, Duke of Bourbon|Constable de Bourbon]], and was given by [[Francis I of France|Francis I]] and [[Louise of Savoy]] to [[Antoine, Duke of Lorraine]], and his wife, [[Renée of Bourbon]], sister of the Constable. [[Nicolas, Duke of Mercœur|Nicholas of Lorraine]], son of Duke Antoine, was created Duke of Mercœur and a peer of France in 1569. His son [[Philippe Emmanuel, Duke of Mercœur|Philippe Emmanuel]] left a daughter, who married the [[César de Bourbon, duc de Vendôme|duc de Vendôme]] in 1609.<ref name="EB1911">{{EB1911|inline=1|wstitle=Mercœur, Seigneurs and Dukes of|volume=18|page=154}}</ref>

==Dukes of Mercœur==

===House of Lorraine===

*[[Nicolas, Duke of Mercœur|Nicholas]] 1569–1577
*[[Philippe Emmanuel, Duke of Mercœur|Philippe Emmanuel]] 1577–1602

===House of [[Bourbon-Vendôme]]===

*[[Françoise de Lorraine, Duchesse de Mercœur et de Penthièvre|Françoise]] 1602–1649, with her husband [[César de Bourbon, duc de Vendôme]] 1609–1649
*[[Louis II de Bourbon-Vendôme|Louis]] 1649–1669
*[[Louis Joseph de Bourbon, duc de Vendôme|Louis Joseph]] 1669–1712
The title became extinct in 1712.

===Other creations===

The title was re-created in 1723 for [[Louis François I de Bourbon, prince de Conti]], who sold it back to the crown in 1770.
In 1773, it was re-created for [[Charles X of France|Charles, Count of Artois]], but was exchanged in 1778 for [[Count of Poitou|Poitou]].

==Notes==
{{reflist}}

==References==
*[http://www.heraldica.org/topics/france/peerage2.htm Pre-1789 French Peerage]
* St François de Sales, Oraison funèbre de Philippe-Emmanuel de Lorraine, duc de Mercœur et de Penthièvre. Introduction de Pierre-Olivier Combelles. Editions Saint-Rémi (Cadillac). 93 p., ill.

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mercoeur, Duke of}}
[[Category:Dukes of Mercœur| ]]
[[Category:Noble titles created in 1569]]
[[Category:Noble titles created in 1723]]
[[Category:Noble titles created in 1773]]
[[Category:1569 establishments in France]]

{{France-hist-stub}}