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Marche (Traditional province, France)

by Pierre Gay

History of Marche
Description of the flag of Marche

See also:

History of Marche

The county of Marche (Latin, Marchia) was founded in the Xth century. The first counts of Marche were the lords of Charroux. Charroux is now a village of 1,500 inhabitants, which was built near a Benedictine abbey dedicated to St. Savior. The abbey was protected by Charlemagne and several councils were hold in Charroux. The abbey owned important relics, such as parts of the True Cross, and samples of the flesh and the blood of Christ, which attracted more than 25,000 visitors during the June pilgrimage. The abbey was extremely wealthy and owned land in England. The abbey was suppressed in 1762 and preserved from total destruction by the writer Prosper Mérimée, General Inspector of the Historical Monuments during the Second Empire.

The next owners of Marche were the counts of Lusignan, from Poitou, who claimed to descend from fairy Mélusine. The most famous member of the Lusignan family is Gui de Lusignan (1129-1194), king of Jerusalem (1186-1192) and of Cyprus (1192-1194) after having been expelled from Jerusalem by Conrad I de Montferrat.

In 1308, king Philippe IV le Bel incorporated Marche to the royal domain. Marche was later granted to the junior branch of the house of Bourbon as its apanage. In 1531, following the betrayal of constable de Bourbon, all the his possessions, including Marche, were reincorporated to the royal domain.

Ivan Sache, 13 May 2003

The name of the province come from the Frankish word *marka, meaning border. In the Carolingian times, a march was a territorial district expected to protect a border. Charlemagne created severals marches. A Danish march, which gave the name of Denmark; a Saxon marche (both to protect the north of Germany); a Sorb march (Elbe region), an Avar marche (around the Danube),; a Friulian march in Italy; a Gascon march and a Breton march (north of Nantes).

After the sharing of Charlemagne's empire, Charles le Chauve, king of Francia Occidentalis, maintained the march system. Some of these marches became powerful feudal states (for instance Flanders and the County of Toulouse) when the Carolingian rule collapsed, most probably because they were located quite far from the central power (or at least its remains).

Hervé Rochard & Ivan Sache, 13 May 2003

Description of the flag of Marche

The banner of arms of Marche can be blazoned as follows (GASO):

D'azur semé de fleurs de lys d'or, à la cotice de gueules chargée de trois lionceaux d'argent, brochant sur le tout

In English (Brian Timms):

Azure semy de lis or on a bend gules three lions rampant bendwise argent

These arms were used by Count Jacques around 1360. They are similar to the arms of Bourbonnais, with the three lions as the surbrisure. Jacques was the second son of Louis I, duke of Bourbon, the founder of the third house of Bourbon.

The three lions come from the old arms of the province, those of the Lusignan family

Ivan Sache & Hervé Rochard, 13 May 2003