Louis Bénigne de Bauffremont, prince de Listenais

Golden Fleece - Knights: Spanish Branch

Louis-Bénigne marquis de Clairvaux baron de Scey, Marquis de Mirebeau et de Listenois de BAUFFREMONT, chevalier de la Toison d'Or (branche espagnole) 1684-1755

• family - Bauffremont
• Louis Bénigne, Marquis of Bauffremont and Prince de Listenois

The House of Courtenay was a dynasty in medieval France originating from the castle of Courtenay in the Gâtinais (Loiret), in the 10th century. The dynasty descended from Athon, the first lord of Courtenay, apparently himself a descendant of the Counts of Sens and from Pharamond[citation needed], reputed founder of the French monarchy in 420.

Their male-line descent from Louis VI of France induced the impoverished 17th-century members of the Courtenay family to seek to be acknowledged as "Princes du Sang" (Princes of the Blood Royal) and "cousins to the king". Three kings in a row - Henry IV, Louis XIII, and Louis XIV - turned down their petitions. Although the Courtenays protested, their claims to the princely title were never acknowledged by the Paris Court of Accounts.

The last male member of the French Courtenays committed suicide in 1727. However his sister married Louis de Bauffremont, and their descendants assumed the dubious title of Prince de Courtenay, which they bear to this day.

Alexandre Emmanuel Louis de Bauffremont - Courtenay (1773–1833), son of Louis served under the Bourbons. He fled France during the French Revolution and settled in the United States. He later returned to France and was made a Count of the French Empire by Napoleon. Louis XVIII made him a peer of France in 1817, and duke in 1818.

The current head of the house, Prince Jacques de Bauffremont-Courtenay, 8th Duke of Bauffremont (born 1922), is the president of the Institut de la Maison de Bourbon, the organisation which supports the claims of Louis Alphonse, Duke of Anjou to the throne of France.[1] His sister Princess Claude de Bauffremont-Courtenay was honorary superintendent of the houses of education of the Legion of Honour.[2]

The head of the house uses the following titles: prince-duc de Bauffremont, prince de Courtenay et de Carency, prince et marquis de Listenois et de Marnay, comte et duc de Pont de Vaux, vicomte de Marigny et de Salins, cousin du roi. The cadet members of the house use the titles, prince de Bauffremont, prince de Marnay.

Two members of the family have been members of the Order of the Golden Fleece:

• Louis Bénigne, Marquis of Bauffremont and Prince de Listenois (1684–1755) in 1711
• and Charles Roger, Prince of Bauffremont-Listenois (1713–1795) in 1789.