Coat of arms of the House of Baux, with the star signifying their legendary descent from King Balthazar, one of the Three Wise Men.
The House of Baux is a French noble family from the south of France. It was one of the richest and most powerful families of medieval Provence, known as the 'Race d’Aiglon'. They were independent lords as castellans of Les Baux and Arles and wielded very considerable authority at the local level. They held important fiefs and vast lands, including the principality of Orange.[1]
In Old French: baux (and in Provençal-Occitan, li baou) is the word for 'cliffs, escarpment'. In its use as the family name, it refers to the natural fortress on which the family built their castle, the Château des Baux and the village that surrounded it. The escarpment provided a raised and protected mountain valley that protected their food supply; the natural ridge of the Alpilles allowed control of all the approaches to the citadel of Les Baux-de-Provence and the surrounding countryside, including the passage up and down the Rhone, and the approaches from the Mediterranean. Together, these natural advantages made the fortress impervious to the military technology of the time.
The family of des Baux is still thriving today in Naples in the person of several noble families descended from younger sons who followed Charles of Anjou south.[2] In particular from Bertrand, Lord of Baux and Prince of Orange, derive three cadet branches of the house, which moved to southern Italy, giving rise to the Italianized branches of the "Orsini del Balzo" Counts of Avellino, Dukes of Andria and Princes of Taranto.
After the death of Alix des Baux [fr], the last sovereign of Baux, the chateau and town were seized by King Rene, who gave them to his second wife, Queen Jeanne of Laval. When Provence was united with the crown almost 150 yrs of royal governors followed, including the lords, later counts and princes, de Manville. Les Baux became a centre for Protestantism. Its unsuccessful revolt against the crown led Cardinal Richelieu in 1632 to order that the castle and its walls should be demolished. This was accomplished with the aid of artillery.
Lords of Baux
Original coat of arms of the House of Baux (Lords of Baux). Some authors, and local tradition, with a hagiographic aim, fancifully claimed that the family was descended from Balthazar, one of the three Magi (the 16-rayed star symbolizing the star of Bethlehem). Some, that they descended from the first kings of Armenia, the star signifying that they directly knew Jesus. The mottoes of the family were Au Hasard Baltasar; Jamais Vassal; and Latin: Semper Ardentius.
The earliest definite ancestor was Pons (Poncius Iuvenis, 'Pons the Younger'). The name may indicate a trader from Greece,[why?] while his sobriquet, 'the Younger', distinguished him from his father, Pons the Elder. Pons the Younger was mentioned in three legal acts:[3]
1st in the act of donation of 14 May 971 donating Montmajour to Boson & his wife Folcoare,
2nd in 975 in the act of donation of land to St Etienne d'Arles, now called St. Trophime (Arch. du chap. d'Arles, liv. autent. f. 22)
3rd with his wife Profecte in an act of donation in 981
From this branch originated the family branches of the Seigneurs de Berre [fr], Lords of Meyrargues and Puyricard, who became extinct in 1349, and lords of Marignane, acquired by House of Valois-Anjou, as well as the Dukes of Andria.
Princes of Orange
When a branch of the lords of Baux married the heiress of the princes of Orange, they quartered their arms with those of the princes of Orange.
In 1417, the House of Ivrea or House of Chalon-Arlay succeeded as princes of Orange.
A brother of William I started the branch of the Lords of Courbezon (House of Baux-Courbezon), which became extinct in 1393. Another brother started the line of Lords of Suze, Solerieux and Barri (House of Baux-Suze-Solerieux-Barri), which became extinct and reverted afterwards to the counts of Orange.
Les Baux-de-Provence seen from the side, showing the natural fortress created by the escarpment. Without gunpowder, it was impregnable.
^ abLine of the dukes d'Andria and Nardo, counts of Squillace, princes of Tarento (in Naples) and Achaïa (Greece). Elder branch ended in 1530 in the male line. A younger branch survives in Naples as the "del Balzo" in multiple branches, as dukes of Capriglianode, another as counts del Balzo (died out 1932) and another as the dukes of Presenzano.del Balzo di Presenzano, Gioacchino. "GENEALOGY Maison del Balzo/des Baux, with bibliography cited there". Retrieved 2012-08-28.
^ abSg Courthézon, gave his rights to the principality to Raymond IV for this lordship. One male line died out c.1372, the other two lead to the counts d'Alessano, and counts d'Alessano, including the Orsini des Baux, died out by 1550.del Balzo di Presenzano, Gioacchino. "GENEALOGY Maison del Balzo/des Baux, with bibliography cited there". Retrieved 2012-08-28.
^(Per the references cited in the Simplified family tree footnote section below, rather than footnote each person, as they are from all these sources)
^ abcPaulet, Ladislas (1986). Les Baux et Castillon: Histoire des communes des Baux, de Paradou, de Maussane, et de Mouries. Arles, France: Editions Culture Provencale Méridionale de Marcel Petit. ISBN978-2866730604.
^d’Hauthuille, Olivier. Héraldique et généalogie. 89.I.160
^*Cook, Theodore Andrea (1905). Twenty-five great houses of France; the story of the noblest French chateaux. London: Country Life. p. 127. The first Count of Les Baux, whose name alone we know, was Leibulf, whose son Pons, or Poncius, owned large lands in Argence Old Provence
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