After being confiscated and restored several times, the duchy reverted to the French crown in 1504, after the extinction of the house of Armagnac-Pardiac. In 1507, it was given by Louis XII of France to his nephew, Gaston de Foix, who was killed at the Battle of Ravenna in 1512.
After the death of Charles III in 1425, the Duchy was claimed by the descendants of both his younger daughter, Beatrice, and his elder daughter and heiress, Blanche I of Navarre. Louis XI settled the claim on Jacques d'Armagnac, grandson of Beatrice, in 1462, though Blanche's descendants, the Kings of Navarre, claimed the title until 1571.
She received the duchy of Nemours in 1524 with the duchy of Anjou. It was later transferred to her half-brother in 1528 and she received the duchy of Touraine in exchange.[2][3] She also received later the Duchy of Auvergne.
Potential claimants of the House of Orléans-Braganza
In 1909, members of the House of Orléans and the House of Orléans-Braganza signed the Pact of Brussels (also known as the Declaration of Brussels), the Duke of Orléans being present. The dynastic pact created the title of Prince of Orléans-Braganza for the Count d'Eu and his descendants, thus maintaining the princely status of his house, although this is considered a house distinct from the Royal House of France, and the Count d'Eu did not in fact recover his former position in the line of Orleans succession to the French throne.[4]
Under the Pact of Brussels the Count d'Eu and his sons equally undertook in his name and the name of his descendants not to contest in any way to the branch of the Duke d'Alençon the possession of the title of Duke of Nemours.[5][6]
Nevertheless, Charles Philippe d'Orléans, the last Duke of Nemours and only descendant of the Alençon, died without heirs. His death opened the theoretical possibility for the Head of the House of Orléans-Braganza to claim said title without violating the family pact.
List of duchesses
This is a list of duchesses of Nemours and their original houses.