House of Amboise

The House of Amboise was a French noble house, taking its name from Amboise, a town which it possessed as a seigneurie. The oldest of the house's family lines to be attested in the written sources comes from Touraine and dates to 1155. The text mentioning it traces the lives of the lords of Amboise and celebrates the virtues of each lord in turn

Originally the lords of Amboise were the vassals of the first counts of Anjou but after several controversies with them the lords became independent, obtaining sizeable fiefdoms such as the Viscountcy of Thouars and Principality of Talmont. This powerful knightly family was called "the family of Mars". Its eldest branch ran until the 15th century with Louis d'Amboise, lord of Amboise, viscount of Thouars. The line of the cadet branch, with a magnificent estate at Chaumont-sur-Loire, has continued uninterrupted to this day, via Pierre d'Amboise, governor of Touraine and advisor to the French kings Charles VII and Louis XI.