In June , Revolutionary France abolished the use of titles of nobility. While France was still a kingdom—for now—its Second Order no longer had a hereditary place at the top of society. Legally, there were no more dukes or princes in France. A decade later, in May , First Consul Bonaparte was proclaimed Emperor of the French, and when he was crowned in Notre Dame in December, he needed a court composed of an entourage with noble honours.
A year later an eighth, the Grand Almoner, was added, and by there were twelve. There were fourteen in the first promotion plus four older generals who were semi-retired. Under the Old Regime, a Marshal of France held an equivalent rank to a duke, so it seemed logical to grant dukedoms to the most successful marshals. But France had abolished titles and fiefs, so at first, the Emperor looked abroad, to new territories being conquered abroad.
In , the Emperor took another step forward and created a full new hereditary nobility, from princes down to barons, with complete and detailed regulations for heraldry, styles of address, and sums of money required to pass along titles to heirs for example, , francs annual income was needed to secure a dukedom. But still, there was reluctance to have these titles reflect French placenames in fact, Napoleon repeatedly denied a title to Marshal Jourdan, since he wished to be honoured for his victory at Fleurus, —very early in the Revolutionary Wars—which was at that time part of France, though today it is in Belgian Hainaut.
Of all these Napoleonic dukes and princes, some achieved a sufficient income and passed along their titles to sons, in varying degrees of recognition by the Bourbon royal governments after or revived for cousins or other heirs by the restored Bonaparte regime of the Second Empire. Today there is still one principality Essling , three victory dukedoms Auerstaedt, Montebello and Albufera , and three regular dukedoms Feltre, Otrante , Reggio. Most of these will eventually have separate blog posts; this post will focus exclusively on those titles that were awarded then vanished after only one holder or in some cases two —some lasting a few years, and in one at least, only a few days.
What is so interesting, to me, about all of these titles, is how they drew on men from all walks of life, and an equally interesting cross-section of women, from highborn ladies to washer women.
