The House of Choiseul is a French noble family of chivalric extraction, first mentioned in 1060. Originally from Champagne, its cradle is the village of Choiseul (in the modern day Haute-Marne department). An illustrious house, its members held prominent political, ecclesiastical and military positions within the Kingdom of France. The Choiseul family is one of the oldest French families still in existence, having been identified among the families surviving into the 21st century who have been able to prove their filiation in the male line, both natural and legitimate, without interruption back to a first ancestor attested by a deed dating from before 1250.
History
They were descendants of the Counts of Langres. The family's head was Renaud III de Choiseul, comte de Langres and sire de Choiseul, who in 1182 married Alix de Dreux, daughter of Louis VI of France. It has formed into the Langres, Clémont, Aigremont, Beaugré, Allecourt, Frontières, Praslin, Plessis branches, among others. It also took the name Choiseul-Gouffier from the 18th century onwards.
It has produced several marshals:
- Jean de Baudricourt (?–1499), seigneur of Baudricourt and of Choiseul
- Charles de Choiseul, comte of the Plessis-Praslin (1563–1626), who served under Henri IV and Louis XIII
- César de Choiseul du Plessis-Praslin, duc de Choiseul (1598–1675), who defied Turenne at Rethel (1650), when he commanded the Spanish army
- César, duc de Choiseul (1602–1675), French marshal and diplomat, generally known for the best part of his life as marshal du Plessis-Praslin
- Claude de Choiseul, comte de Choiseul-Francières (1632–1711), who distinguished himself in the battle of Seneffe against the Dutch Republic and made a marshal in 1693
Two bishops and an archbishop:
- Gilbert de Choiseul du Plessis Praslin (1613–31 December 1689 at Tournai), Bishop of Comminges from 1644 to 1670; brother of marshal César de Choiseul du Plessis-Praslin
- Gabriel-Florent de Choiseul-Beaupré (1718–1723), bishop of Saint-Papoul, bishop of Mende
- Antoine-Clériade de Choiseul-Beaupré (1754–1774), Archbishop of Besançon
Also a famous minister, a diplomat, etc. :
- Étienne François, duc de Choiseul (1719–1785), ambassador then Secretary of State to Louis XV
- César Gabriel de Choiseul, duc de Praslin (1712–1785), cousin of the former, ambassador then secretary of state to Louis XV
- Marie-Gabriel-Florent-Auguste de Choiseul-Gouffier (1752–1817), French writer
- Claude Antoine Gabriel, duc de Choiseul-Stainville (1760–1838), French writer and peer
- Charles de Choiseul-Praslin (1805–1847), 5th Duke of Praslin, French député and peer
- Gaston Louis Philippe de Choiseul-Praslin (1834–1906), 6th Duke of Praslin, married to Mary Elizabeth Forbes, sister of H. De Courcy Forbes
- Horace de Choiseul-Praslin (23 February 1837 – 26 December 1915)
- Comte Eugène Antonio (Antoine) Horace de Choiseul-Praslin, a French politician.