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Dukedom of Otranto
Arms of the 1st Duke of Otranto
Creation date1809
Created byNapoleon I
First holderJoseph Fouché, 1st Duc d'Otrante
Present holderCharles-Louis Fouché d'Otrante, 8th Duc d'Otrante

Duke of Otranto (French: Duc d'Otrante) is a hereditary title in the nobility of the First French Empire which was bestowed in 1809 by Emperor Napoleon I upon Joseph Fouché (1759-1820), a French statesman and Minister of Police. Fouché had been made a Count of the French Empire previously.

Background[edit]

The dukedom was named after the town of Otranto on the east coast of the Salento peninsula in Italy and created - under the French name of Otrante - as a duché grand-fief (a hereditary but nominal honor) in the satellite Kingdom of Naples.

The ducal house of Fouché d'Otrante is still extant in the Kingdom of Sweden, where the dukes have lived since the 19th century. In Sweden, they are considered to be part of the unintroduced nobility.

As of 2017, the title is held by Charles-Louis Armand Fouché d'Otrante, 8th Duc d'Otrante (born in Stockholm, 14 March 1986).

Genealogy[edit]

Joseph Fouché,1st Duc d'Otrante

Joseph Fouché, 1st Duc d'Otrante (21 May 1759 Le Pellerin, near Nantes, France - 25 December 1820 Trieste, then Austrian Empire, now Italy) was a son of Julien Joseph Fouché (1719–1771) and wife Marie Françoise Croizet (1720–1793), paternal grandson of Julien Fouché (1667–1745, son of Ambroise Fouché and wife Jeanne Passedouet born in 1629) and wife Marguerite Chiron (1683–1723, daughter of Toussaint Chiron and wife Marguerite Leray, paternal granddaughter of Pierre Chiron and wife Marguerite Hillaire and maternal granddaughter of Samson Leray and wife Marguerite Caillaud) and maternal grandson of Jean Croizet (c. 1690 -, son of Guillaume Croizet born in 1649 and died in 1719 and wife Nicole Bebar) and wife Marie Chesneau.

By his marriage to Bonne Jeanne Coiquaud (1763–1812), daughter of Nicolas François Coiquaud (1732–1794) and wife Marguerite Gautier (1734–1801), paternal granddaughter of Noël Coiquaud (1689–1764, son of Charles Coiquaud and wife Catherine Recoquille born in 1655 - 1733) and wife Catherine Lahogue (1690–1758, daughter of Charles Lahogue and wife Catherine Lefevre, born in 1646 and died in 1733) and maternal granddaughter of Pierre Gautier (c. 1690 - 1737, son of Jean Gautier and wife Claire Agaisse) and wife Jacquette Boisgontier (- 1743, daughter of Guillaume Boisgontier and wife Jacquette Jolivette born in 1644 and died in 1749), the 1st Duc d'Otrante had the following issue who reached adulthood:

  • Joseph Liberté Fouché d'Otrante, 2nd Duc d'Otrante (Saint-Leu-la-Forêt, 22 July 1796 – Paris, 31 December 1862), married to Fortunée Collin de Sussy on 14 July 1824; they separated shortly after without issue.
  • Armand François Cyriac Fouché d'Otrante, 3rd Duc d'Otrante (Paris, 25 March 1800 – Stjärnholm, 26 November 1878). Unmarried and without issue.
  • Paul Athanase Fouché d'Otrante, 4th Duc d'Otrante (Paris, 25 June 1801 – St. Germain-en-Laye, 10 February 1886), chamberlain to Oscar I of Sweden. Married firstly at Finspång, 24 January 1824 Christina Baroness Palmstierna (Stockholm, 11 February 1799 – Paris, 26 April 1826), without issue, secondly in Stockholm, 18 August 1836 Vilhelmina Amalia Baroness von Stedingk (Turku, Finland, 28 January 1802 – Helsinki, Finland, 25 February 1863), daughter of Victor Friherre von Stedingk and wife Lovisa Löf, and thirdly at St. Germain-en-Laye, 9 June 1884 Fronika Marx (Lyon, 4 February 1846 – Paris, 14 March 1887); he had issue, which remained in Sweden:
  • Joséphine-Ludmille Fouché d'Otrante (1803 – 1893), married to Adolphe Comte de La Barthe de Thermes (1789–1869), and had issue.

See also[edit]

References[edit]

  • The Fouché Memoirs (not genuine, but they were apparently compiled, at least in part, from notes written by Fouché)
  • Gilbert Augustin-Thierry, Conspirateurs et gens de police; le complot de libelles (Paris, 1903) (English translation, London, 1903)
  • Pierre Coquelle, Napoléon et l'Angleterre (Paris, 1903, English translation, London, 1904)
  • Ernest Daudet, La Police et les Chouans sous le Consulat et l'Empire (Paris, 1895)
  • Pierre M. Desmarest, Témoignages historiques, ou quinze ans de haute police (Paris, 1833, 2nd ed., 1900)
  • E. Guillon, Les Complots militaires sous le Consulat et l'Empire (Paris, 1894)
  • Louis Madelin, Fouché (2 vols., Paris, 1901)
  • E. Picard, Bonaparte et Moreau (Paris, 1905)
  • H. Welschinger, Le Duc d'Enghien (Paris, 1888)
  • Heraldica.org (Napoleonic heraldry)

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