Conclusion

In 1529, Antoine de Noailles, a 25-year-old nobleman from Limousin, was awarded the position of gentilhomme de la chambre du roi at the court of Francis I. Provincial écuyers in the fifteenth century, the Noailles family faithfully served the French crown during the Hapsburg-Valois Wars, and Antoine was appointed captain in the army in the 1530s. ¹ Antoine developed relationships with high-powered noble families, such as the Montmorency, and later became a prominent diplomat. His younger brothers, François and Gilles, became counsellors in the Conseil d’Etat, and Antoine’s sons and grandsons followed a similar trajectory. Prestigious marriages with high-ranking French nobles were arranged for those children not destined for a career in the Church. ² Early supporters of Henry of Navarre, members of the Noailles family were rewarded with government positions by the early Bourbon kings. In 1642, Antoine’s grandson was made governor of Auvergne by Louis XIII. ³ A few years later, members of the Noailles family became dukes and pairs.