Seyssel family

de Seyssel
de Seyssel
Country	Duchy of Savoy France ; Italy ;
Founded	1235
Titles	Marquis d'Aix, and others
Motto	Franc et Léal; (Frank and loyal)
Estate(s)	Aix, Beyrin, Bourdeau, Buisson, Chambuet, Châtelard, Châtillon, Choisel, Le Clos, Fistillieu, La Martinière, Malet, les Plantées, Saint-Bois, Saint-Cassin, Sainte-Hélène-des-Millières, Villaret.
Dissolution	1660

Last updated September 16, 2023

Seyssel is an ancient French family which is first mentioned in Savoy in the thirteenth century and probably dates back some time earlier. The name derives from city of Seyssel, and the family's various branches held the titles of viscounts, earls, barons and marquises over the course of time. Its members were positioned in the first rank at the court of the Counts of Savoy and the bishops of Geneva. Today there are branches of the Seyssel in Italy, Bavaria, Austria and France.

History

Origins

In a history of the Seyssel family,^[1] Count Marc de Seyssel-Cressieu (1861-1922) considers it quite possible that the family is related to an early lord of Aix-les-Bains Gauthier d'Aix (Galterius de Aquis) who in 1097 was a witness to a donation made by Humbert II, Count of Savoy to the priory of Bourget. However other Savoy historians question this link maintaining that the Aix title was in the gift of the crown, a view supported by the authors of Histoire des communes savoyardes.^[2]

Some writers suggest that it may have been a cadet branch ^[3] of the House of Savoy.

The (probable) origin of this family goes back to Humbert (II) of Seyssel, a knight mentioned in 1246^[3] as Lord of Aix and Bourdeau, Count of Novalaise, who paid homage, in 1263, for the domain of Bourdeau. He is a witness to numerous deeds published between 1236 and 1274, notably when the contract of marriage of Amadeus IV was signed in 1244.^[4] His brother Gautier is linked in certain documents). It becomes more rigorous with another Humbert de Seyssel, lord of Aix, mentioned in 1330.^[3]

A powerful regional family

The title Count of Novalaise indicates an inferior rank to the Humbertians (the future House of Savoy) and the great regional lords. They held rights over the region of Yenne and probably part of the Savoyard lowlands from the Rhone to Lac d'Aiguebelette in Savoie-Propre, the base of the future County of Savoy.^[5] Originally from Seyssel, whose name they bear, they appear to have exchanged it with Aix, an ancient city where the kings of Burgundy owned a residence. This move is considered by historians to have been between 1070 and 1200. The historian Bernard Demotz has promoted the thought that the family may have been related to the early Humbertians, given their location both in Savoie-Propre and neighbouring Bugey.^[5]

Their control the region was through the construction of castles or buildings to control access to the city of Chambéry, including their strongholds of Aix (at the edge of Lake Bourget), la Bâtie (parish of Barby near Chambéry), Saint-Cassin (also near Chambéry), Aiguebelette (Avant-Pays Savoyard) or Bourdeau (on the banks of Lake Bourget).^[5]

Their local strength allowed them to join the entourage of the Counts of Savoy and to join the count's council.^[5]

In 1454 the last member^[2] of the House of La Chambre died and their titles and possessions passed to Amédée (or Aymon), son of Marguerite de La Chambre and Jean de Seyssel, Marshal of Savoy, and who joined the Seyssel name with La Chambre. Louis, Duke of Savoy elevated the rank of Seyssel-La Chambre to an earldom on August 1456, and the earldom became a marquisate in 1564.^[2]

The senior branch of Seyssel, lords of Aix, disappeared in 1509 and their titles and possessions also passed to the Seyssel-La Chambre branch. Françoise de Seyssel-La Chambre was the heiress of her husband Gabriel de Seyssel, her son having died. She appointed as her sole heir her godson Charles de Seyssel-La Chambre, "on the express condition that he relinquishes the name and arms of La Chambre and take the name and arms of Seyssel, and that neither he nor his heirs would separate the four baronies of Aix, La Bâtie, Châtillon and Maillonnaz".^[1]

In the next century, following the extinction of this second branch in 1660 and additionally a lawsuit, the marquisate of Aix passed to the junior branch holders of the marquisate of Serraz (1687). It also obtained the marquisate of Sommariva del Bosco during the same period.^[2]

Titles and Offices

The house of Seyssel possessed domains located mainly in the Savoyard state, including the provinces of Savoy Propre, Genevois, Maurienne, Bresse, Bugey and Piedmont, but also the Dauphiné.

Non-exhaustive list of the titles borne by the Seyssel family at various times:^[1]

Vicounts of Maurienne (inherited from La Chambre), of Novalaise (mentioned in an act of 1209), and of Choisel;
Marquis of Aix (1575), of La Chambre (1564), of Châtillon, of Meximieux, of La Serraz (1654), of Sommariva;
Counts of Seyssel-La Balme (1744), of Cevins, of Dammartin, of Hueille, of La Chambre (1456), of Montfort, of Montreal, of Seyssel, of the Holy Empire, of the French Empire;
Barons of Aix (after 1509), Bourdeau, Bâtie-Seyssel, Bourg-Saint-Christophe, Châtellard-en-Bauge, Châtillon-en-Chautagne, Cueille, Cuines, Hurtières, Meximieux (by marriage, around 1530–17), Pontamafrey, Ruffey, Saint Helena des Millières, Saint-Rémy, Sermoye, Serra, Theys (in Dauphiné), and of Villars;
Lords of Aiguebelette, Aix (1235) with all judicial authority, the fish in Lake Bourget, Albigny, Ambilly, Artemare, Barjact, Beauretour, Bessinge, Beyrin, Blonay, Bourdeau, Buisson, Chambuet, Chamoux, Charniaz, Chateau-Neuf, Chatelard, Chatelard-en-Semine, Chatillon, Chemin, Chignin, Choisel, Cloz or Clos (Yenne), Compois, Contrevoz, Cressieu, Dragonnière, Fistillieu, Genost, Granges, Jambol, La Balme, La Martinière, Malet, Marcellaz, Meyrieux, Montbressieu, Munet, Mussel, Novalaise, Pas, Plantées, Puygauthier, La Rochette, Saint-Cassin, la Sauce (fortified house), Tresserve, Vacheresse, Virieu (Virieu-le-Grand) (1438-1440), Saint-Germain-les-Paroisses, Saint-Helene-des-Millières, Saint-Hippolyte-sur-Aix, Saint-Sigismond (now attached to Aix), Sothonod, Tour de Arbigno, Tour de Chavornay, Tivolière, Tour-de-Lugrin, Traize, Villard, Villaret (Meyrieux-Trouet* ), Villeneuve and Truchères;
Joint lords of Buffavent, and of Thorens.

Related Research Articles

Savoy is a cultural-historical region in the Western Alps. Situated on the cultural boundary between Occitania and Piedmont, the area extends from Lake Geneva in the north to the Dauphiné in the south.

Amadeus III of Savoy was Count of Savoy and Maurienne from 1103 until his death. He was also known as a crusader.

Savoie is a department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region, Southeastern France. Located in the French Alps, its prefecture is Chambéry. In 2019, Savoie had a population of 436,434.

Aix-les-Bains, locally simply Aix, is a commune in the southeastern French department of Savoie.

Chambéry is the prefecture and largest city of the Savoie department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region of southeastern France. The population of the commune of Chambéry was 59,172 as of 2020, while the population of the Chambéry metropolitan area was 255,790. The city is located at the foot of the French Alps between Bauges and Chartreuse mountains, making Chambéry an important railway and highway crossroads.

Mont-Blanc[mɔ̃blɑ̃] was a department of the First French Empire. It was named after Mont Blanc, the highest mountain in Western Europe, which marks the border between France and Piedmont. It was formed in 1792, when the Savoy region, was occupied by the French. The department ceased to exist following Napoleon's defeat at Waterloo; the territory was restored to its former rulers.

Vin de Savoie is an Appellation d'Origine Contrôlée and Protected Designation of Origin for red and white wines in the Savoy wine region of France, which is located in the foothills of the Alps. The region is divided roughly into three distinct parts: the glacially sculpted terrain along the South shore of Lake Geneva, the hilly country near the northern end of Lac de Bourget, and the area bordering the Massif de Bauges South of Chambéry.

Lac du Bourget, also locally known as Lac Gris or Lac d'Aix, is a lake at the southernmost end of the Jura Mountains in the department of Savoie, France. It is the deepest lake located entirely within France, and either the largest or second largest after Lac de Grand-Lieu depending on season.

The arrondissement of Chambéry is an arrondissement of France in the Savoie department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region. It has 151 communes. Its population is 274,839 (2016), and its area is 1,586.1 km² (612.4 sq mi).

The following is a list of the 19 cantons of the Savoie department, in France, following the French canton reorganisation which came into effect in March 2015:

Mouxy is a commune in the Savoie department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region in south-eastern France.

Conjux is a commune in the Savoie department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region in southeastern France. Since January 2017, the commune has formed part of the conurbation of Grand Lac, following the fusion of the former Communauté de communes de Chautagne into this larger agglomeration.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Italian irredentism in Savoy</span> Italian political and nationalist movement

Italian irredentism in Savoy was the political movement among Savoyards promoting annexation to the Savoy dynasty's Kingdom of Italy. It was active from 1860 to World War II.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Amadeus III of Geneva</span>

Amadeus III was the Count of Geneva from 1320 until his death. He ruled the Genevois, but not the city of Geneva proper, and it was during his time that the term "Genevois" came to be used as it is today. He was the eldest son and successor of William III and Agnes, daughter of Amadeus V of Savoy. He played a major rôle in the politics of the House of Savoy, serving consecutively as regent and president of the council, and also sitting on the feudal tribunal—one of three tribunals of the Audiences générales—of the Duchy of Aosta.

The Albanais is a small Savoyard region situated between Lake Annecy and Lac du Bourget, at the entrance to the Parc naturel régional du Massif des Bauges. Located in the French departments of Savoie and Haute-Savoie, its principal city is Rumilly. The name Albanais comes from the Latin Albinnum, which is derived from the names of the tribes Albii whose presence is attested to in the toponymy of places such as Albens, Alby, and Albigny.

The Château de La Bâtie-Seyssel is a castle in the commune of Barby in the Savoie département of France.

Marc-Claude de Buttet was a Renaissance poet, courtier and humanist. He formed part of the La Pléiade circle. He was lord of the feudal rent of Grésy in the province of Genevois.

The Château de Saint-Michel-de-Maurienne is a 13th-century castle in the commune of Saint-Michel-de-Maurienne Savoie département of France.

The history of Savoy presents a synthesis of the various periods, from prehistory to the present day, of the geographical and historical entity known as Savoy, a territory whose definition has varied over the course of historical periods, until it was defined by the two French departments of Savoie and Haute-Savoie.

References

1 2 3 Mark de Seyssel-Cressieu (1900). La maison de Seyssel: ses origines, sa généalogie, son histoire (in French). Grenoble: Allier frères.
1 2 3 4 Michèle Brocard; Lucien Lagier-Bruno; André Palluel-Guillard (1984). Histoire des communes savoyardes: Aix-les-Bains et ses environs - Les Bauges - La Chartreuse - La Combe de Savoie - Montmélian (PDF) (in French). Vol. 2). Roanne: Éditions Horvath. ISBN 978-2-7171-0310-6.
1 2 3 Henri Jougla de Morenas (1939). Grand armorial de France (PDF) (in French). Vol. 6. Société du Grand armorial de France.
↑ Act dated 18 December 1244, Régeste genevois ou Répertoire chronologique et analytique des documents imprimés relatifs à l'histoire de la Ville et du Diocèse de Genève avant l'année 1312 (in French). Société d'histoire et d'archéologie de Genève. 1866.
1 2 3 4 Bernard Demotz (2000). Le comté de Savoie du xie au xve siècle : Pouvoir, château et État au Moyen Âge (in French). Geneva: Éditions Slatkine. ISBN 978-2051016766.

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.

[Seyssel-Cressieu-1] 1 2 3 Mark de Seyssel-Cressieu (1900). La maison de Seyssel: ses origines, sa généalogie, son histoire (in French). Grenoble: Allier frères.

[Brocard-2] 1 2 3 4 Michèle Brocard; Lucien Lagier-Bruno; André Palluel-Guillard (1984). Histoire des communes savoyardes: Aix-les-Bains et ses environs - Les Bauges - La Chartreuse - La Combe de Savoie - Montmélian (PDF) (in French). Vol. 2). Roanne: Éditions Horvath. ISBN 978-2-7171-0310-6.

[armorial-3] 1 2 3 Henri Jougla de Morenas (1939). Grand armorial de France (PDF) (in French). Vol. 6. Société du Grand armorial de France.

[4] Act dated 18 December 1244, Régeste genevois ou Répertoire chronologique et analytique des documents imprimés relatifs à l'histoire de la Ville et du Diocèse de Genève avant l'année 1312 (in French). Société d'histoire et d'archéologie de Genève. 1866.

[Demotz-5] 1 2 3 4 Bernard Demotz (2000). Le comté de Savoie du xie au xve siècle : Pouvoir, château et État au Moyen Âge (in French). Geneva: Éditions Slatkine. ISBN 978-2051016766.

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]

[5]

de Seyssel

Country	Duchy of Savoy France Italy
Founded	1235
Titles	Marquis d'Aix, and others
Motto	Franc et Léal (Frank and loyal)
Estate(s)	Aix, Beyrin, Bourdeau, Buisson, Chambuet, Châtelard, Châtillon, Choisel, Le Clos, Fistillieu, La Martinière, Malet, les Plantées, Saint-Bois, Saint-Cassin, Sainte-Hélène-des-Millières, Villaret.
Dissolution	1660 (1660)