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When the Viking chieftain Rollo obtained the territories via the Treaty of Saint-Clair-sur-Epte which would later make up Normandy, he distributed them as estates among his main supporters. Among these lands were the seigneurie of Harcourt, near Brionne, and the county of Pont-Audemer, both of which Rollo granted to Bernard the Dane, ancestor of the lords (seigneurs) of Harcourt. he first to use Harcourt as a name, however, was Anquetil d'Harcourt at the start of the 11th century.
The barony of Harcourt was erected into the county of Harcourt, together with the seigneuries of Lillebonne, Troispierres, La Saussaye and Elbeuf, by letters patent of Philip VI in March 1338.
His only son, John VIII, was killed in battle in 1424. Upon the death of John VII in 1452, his inheritance was to be divided between his elder daughter, Marie, wife of Antoine, Count of Vaudémont, and his second daughter, Jeanne, wife of Jean III de Rieux. However, Marie and her son John of Vaudémont were able to control the entire inheritance until 1454, when the de Rieux gained control of the County of Aumale. However, litigation continued between the de Rieux and the Vaudémont-Lorraine through the late 15th century.
The de Rieux continued to maintain their claims on Harcourt. Jeanne (1399–1456), the daughter of John VII, had married Jean III de Rieux (1377–1431) in 1414. She was succeeded by her son François de Rieux (1418–1458), who married Jeanne de Rohan in 1442 and was succeeded by his son Jean IV de Rieux. He reached a settlement with the Duke of Lorraine in 1495, trading Aumale for Harcourt, and resumed the title.
Upon the death of Henri, the county of Harcourt passed to his sister Louise, who had married René, Marquis of Elbeuf, head of a cadet branch of the House of Lorraine.
"Harcourt" has been given as a title to descendants of cadet branches of the family of Harcourt, without a territorial connection to the medieval county. Both branches descend from Philippe d'Harcourt (1353–1403), Lord of Bonnétable, son of John V of Harcourt.
The title of duc d'Harcourt was granted in 1700 by Louis XIV to Henry d'Harcourt (1654–1718), marshal of France, of the branch of Beuvron, upon the erection of the marquisate de La Mothe and de Thury to a duchy, with the name of Harcourt. The title was made a peerage in 1709, by letters patent.
The County of Aumale, later elevated to a duchy, was a medieval fief in Normandy, disputed between France and England during parts of the Hundred Years' War.
René II was Count of Vaudémont from 1470, Duke of Lorraine from 1473, and Duke of Bar from 1483 to 1508. He claimed the crown of the Kingdom of Naples and the County of Provence as the Duke of Calabria 1480–1493 and as King of Naples and Jerusalem 1493–1508. He succeeded his uncle John of Vaudémont as Count of Harcourt in 1473, exchanging it for the county of Aumale in 1495. He succeeded as Count of Guise in 1504.
The House of Rohan is a Breton family of viscounts, later dukes and princes in the French nobility, coming from the locality of Rohan in Brittany. Their line descends from the viscounts of Porhoët and is said to trace back to the legendary Conan Meriadoc. Through the Porhoët, the Rohan are related to the Dukes of Brittany, with whom the family intermingled again after its inception. During the Middle Ages, it was one of the most powerful families in the Duchy of Brittany. They developed ties with the French and English royal houses as well, and played an important role in French and European history.
René II de Lorraine, Marquis d'Elbeuf was a French noble, and soldier during the latter Italian Wars and early French Wars of Religion. The youngest son of Claude of Lorraine, Duke of Guise and Antoinette of Bourbon-Vendôme Elbeuf's career began at a young age. With the resumption of the Italian Wars in 1551, he joined Marshal Brissac in his siege of Chieri. In the following years he would be involved in the expedition that seized Corse, and a further campaign in Italy in 1557, before playing a key role in the capture of Calais in early 1558. Though only the sixth son of the late duke, an advantageous marriage was secured for him with the prominent heiress Louise de Rieux through which he gained much of the County of Harcourt. In tandem with this arrangement his barony was elevated to a marquisate.
The Seigneurie of Elbeuf, later a marquisate, dukedom, and peerage, was based on the territory of Elbeuf in the Vexin, possessed first by the Counts of Valois and then the Counts of Meulan before passing to the House of Harcourt. In 1265, it was erected into a seigneurie for them. Occupied by the English from 1419 to 1444, it passed by marriage to the Lorraine-Vaudémont, a cadet branch of the sovereign House of Lorraine, in 1452. When René of Vaudémont inherited Lorraine, he left the Harcourt inheritance, including Elbeuf, to his second son Claude, Duke of Guise. Elbeuf was raised to a marquisate in 1528. Claude, in turn, left Elbeuf to his youngest son René. It was elevated to a ducal peerage in 1581 for his son Charles, and the title became extinct in 1825.
Antoine of Vaudémont was Count of Vaudémont and Sieur de Joinville from 1418 to 1458. By marriage, he was also Count of Harcourt, Count of Aumale, and Baron of Elbeuf from 1452 to 1458.
Jean VII d'Harcourt was a French nobleman. He was Count of Harcourt, Count of Aumale, Viscount of Châtellerault, and Seigneur of Mézières, of Elbeuf, of Lillebone, of La Saussaye etc.
Marie of Harcourt was a ruling Countess of Aumale and Baroness of Elbeuf from 1452 to 1476.
The House of Harcourt is a Norman family, and named after its seigneurie of Harcourt in Normandy. Its mottos were "Gesta verbis praeveniant", "Gesta verbis praevenient", and "Le bon temps viendra ... de France".
Marie d'Alençon was a French noblewoman, a Princess of the Blood, and the wife of John VII of Harcourt, Count of Harcourt and of Aumale, Viscount of Châtellerault, Baron of Elbeuf, of Mézières, of Lillebone, of La Saussaye.
John VI of Harcourt was a count of Harcourt. He was son of John V of Harcourt and Blanche of Ponthieu who was the sister of Jeanne of Ponthieu.
Frederick (Ferry) II of Lorraine-Vaudémont was a French nobleman. He was Count of Vaudémont and Lord of Joinville from 1458 to 1470. He is sometimes numbered Frederick V by continuity with the Dukes of Lorraine.
John of Lorraine-Vaudémont was a younger son of Antoine of Lorraine, Count of Vaudémont and Marie of Harcourt. He was Count of Harcourt and Count of Aumale, as well as Baron of Elbeuf.
Charles I de Lorraine, duc d'Elbeuf was a French noble, military commander and governor during the French Wars of Religion. The son of the most minor cadet house of the children of Claude, Duke of Guise, Elbeuf initially lacked the prominence of his cousins, however his succession to the Rieux inheritance made him important. Over the following decades he would gradually consolidate more of it under his authority, until by his death in 1605, all of the county of Harcourt belonged to the Elbeufs. A young man in 1573, he travelled with the king's brother to assume his kingship of the Commonwealth. Upon the prince's return as Henri III of France in 1574 Elbeuf would receive the honour of assuming the position of grand chamberlain during the coronation. After the establishment of the Ordre du Saint-Esprit in 1579, Elbeuf would be elevated as a knight of this chivalric body. The following year he supported the king's brother Alençon in his negotiations with the Dutch States General to assume the role of king. In the wake of these successful, if fraught, negotiations, he was nominated by Alençon as lieutenant-general of his army. Elbeuf and Alençon would travel to the Spanish Netherlands where they would relieve the besieged town of Cambrai, to much acclaim from the citizenry. Shortly after this, relations soured between Elbeuf and the prince, and Elbeuf retired back to his estates with the excuse of an illness, being refused when he offered to return the following year. In September 1581, his marquisate of Elbeuf was elevated to a peerage duchy, greatly elevating Elbeuf's social standing.
Charles III was the third Duke of Elbeuf and member of the House of Lorraine. He succeeded his father Charles II, Duke of Elbeuf, to the Duchy-Peerage of Elbeuf. His mother was an illegitimate daughter of Henry IV of France and Gabrielle d'Estrées. He was also a Peer of France as well as titular Duke of Guise, Count of Harcourt, Lillebonne and Rieux.
François Marie de Lorraine was a French nobleman and member of the House of Lorraine. He was known as the prince de Lillebonne. He was also the Duke of Joyeuse.
François Louis de Lorraine was a member of the House of Lorraine. He was Count of Harcourt. He was also the Count of Rieux, Rochefort and Montlaur. He was also Marquis of Maubec as well as the Baron of Aubenas.
Alphonse Henri de Lorraine was a member of the House of Lorraine and Count of Harcourt.
The title Count of Vaudémont was granted to Gérard 1st of Vaudémont in 1070, after he supported the succession of his brother, Theodoric II, Duke of Lorraine to the Duchy of Lorraine. Counts of Vaudémont served as vassals of the Dukes of Lorraine. After 1473 the title was held by the Duke of Lorraine and was bestowed on younger sons of the Duke. It was later restyled "Prince of Vaudémont".
Marie Françoise de Brancas (1650-1715), Princess of Harcourt and Marquise of Maubec, was a French aristocrat and courtier during the reign of Louis XIV. She was a lady-in-waiting to Queen Marie Thérèse and later became an intimate friend of Madame de Maintenon, the King's morganatic second wife.