Status
Like knights-errant of chivalric folklore, whether in exile or in search of royal patronage, to win renown at arms, international influence, or a private fortune, foreign princelings often migrated to the French court, regarded as both the most magnificent and munificent in Europe in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. Some ruled small border realms (e.g., the principalities of Dombes, Orange, Neuchâtel, Sedan), etc., while others inherited or were granted large properties in France (e.g., Guise, Rohan, La Tour d'Auvergne). Still others came to France as relatively destitute refugees (e.g. ex-Queen Catherine of England, Prince Palatine Eduard). Most found that, with assiduity and patience, they were well received by France's kings as living adornments to his majesty and, if they remained in attendance at court, were often gifted with military commands, estates, governorships, embassies, church sinecures, titles and, sometimes, splendid dowries as the consorts of royal princesses.
But they were often also disruptive at court and occasionally proved threatening to the king. Their high birth not only attracted the king's attention, but sometimes drew the allegiance of French nobles, frustrated courtiers, soldiers-of-fortune and henchmen, ambitious bourgeoisie, scurrilous malcontents, and even provinces in search of an advocate or protector (e.g., the Neapolitan Republic)-- often against or in rivalry to the French Crown itself. Deeming themselves to belong to the same class as the King, they tended to be proud, and some schemed for ever-higher rank and power, or challenged the king's or parliament's authority. Sometimes they defied the royal will and barricaded themselves in their provincial castles (e.g., Philippe Emmanuel of Lorraine, duc de Mercœur), occasionally waging open war on the king (e.g., the La Tour d'Auvergne dukes of Bouillon), or intriguing against him with other French princes (e.g., the Frondes), or contracting alliances with foreign powers (Marie de Rohan-Montbazon, duchesse de Chevreuse).
Read more about this topic: Foreign Prince
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