Admiral of France



The title Admiral of France is one of the Great Officers of the Crown of France, the naval equivalent of Marshal of France.

The title was created in 1270 by Louis IX of France, during the Eighth Crusade. At the time it was equivalent to the office of Constable of France. The Admiral was responsible for defending the coasts of Picardy, Normandy, Aunis, and Saintonge. In times of war, it was his responsibility to assemble French merchant ships into a navy. He had to arm, equip, and supply the ships for the course of the war, and give letters of marque to corsairs. In peacetime, he was responsible for the maintenance of the royal fleet (when one existed). He was also responsible for maritime commerce and the merchant fleet.

During the modern era, few admirals were sailors — moreover, with the exception of Claude d'Annebault, none of them actually commanded the fleet. It must be said that the actual power of the admiral was rather small, partly because of the creation of other admirals (the Admiral of the Levant for Provence, the Admiral of Brittany, and the Admiral of the West for Guyenne), and because of the creation of the General of the Galleys and the Secretary of State for the Navy.

The title, like the title of Constable, had much more political importance (which would eventually lead to the suppression of both titles). It was also a lucrative position: the admiral was allocated a part of the fines and confiscations imposed by the admiralty, and he had a right to unclaimed ships and shipwrecks as well as a tenth of the spoils taken in battle. He also had juridicial rights, comparable to those exercised by the constable and the marshal. This was known as the Table de marbre, after the seat of the admiralty in Paris. A second headquarters of the admiralty was established at Rouen, and about 50 other headquarters were set up at various other places around the coast of France. These tribunals judged cases dealing with fishing disputes and any crimes committed in the country's ports.

The Admiralty was suppressed in 1627 by Cardinal Richelieu, who had been named to the newly created post of Grand Master of Navigation and who wanted to bring all naval authority under one position. The position was recreated in 1669, but was now only an honorific title. The first new admiral was Louis, Count of Vermandois, who at the time was only 2 years old. Thereafter, only Louis Alexandre, Count of Toulouse involved himself in maritime affairs.

It was suppressed once more in 1791, restored in 1805 in the person of Marshal of France Joachim Murat. Currently, the last known Admiral of France was François Thomas Tréhouart, in 1869.

Admirals

 * Florent de Varennes 1269 - First admiral of France
 * Aubert II de Longueval, dead in naval combat in 1283 along the coasts of the Kingdom of Aragon
 * Othon de Torcy : 1296-1297
 * Mathieu IV of Montmorency : 1297-1304
 * Rainier I of Monaco, Lord of Cagnes 1304–1314
 * Hugues Quiéret 1340
 * Luis de la Cerda 1341–1346
 * Jean de Vienne 1373–1396
 * Louis de Culant 1421–1437
 * André de Laval-Montmorency ?1437–
 * Jean V de Bueil 1450–1477
 * Louis de Bourbon, comte de Roussillon 1466-1486
 * Charles II d'Amboise 1473–1511
 * Guillaume Gouffier, seigneur de Bonnivet 1517–1525
 * Philippe de Chabot 1526–1543
 * Claude d'Annebault 1544–1552
 * Gaspard de Coligny 1552–1572
 * Charles, Duke of Mayenne –1582
 * Anne de Joyeuse 1582–1587
 * Jean Louis de Nogaret de La Valette 1587–
 * Charles de Gontaut, duc de Biron 1592–1594
 * André de Brancas 1594–1595
 * Henri II de Montmorency
 * César, Duke of Vendôme 1651–1665
 * Louis, Count of Vermandois 1669–1683
 * Louis Alexandre, Count of Toulouse 1683–1737
 * Louis Jean Marie de Bourbon, Duke of Penthièvre 1737–1789
 * Joachim Murat 1805–1815
 * Albin Roussin 1840–1854
 * Charles Baudin 1854–1854
 * François Alphonse Hamelin 1854–1864
 * Armand Joseph Bruat 1855–1855
 * Charles Rigault de Genouilly 1860–1873
 * Léonard Charner 1864–1869
 * François Thomas Tréhouart 1869