da VictorIII » domenica 27 febbraio 2011, 9:16
Dear Cezar,
In the hope that I may provide you with an answer to your query:
Emmanuel Philibert des Prez, marquis de Villars, chevalier du Saint-Esprit, active in the siege of Montauban in 1621, was the son of;
Melchior des Prez, seigneur de Montpezat et du Fou, and Henrietta de Savoie-Villars (born 1541), comtesse de Villars.
Henrietta was of Honorat II, who was of Rene de Savoie, the Grand Bastard of Savoy.
Rene was of Phillip II, Duke of Savoy for just one year (1496-1497).
Pierre de Villars, who was given the "courtesy" title of Marquis de Villars (and never ruled over such a Marchesate), was born in 1623, and was a cousin (distant) to Emmanuel Philibert.
Their bloodlines connect at Rene of Savoy.
Pierre's father was Claude de Villars, mestre de camp et gentilhomme de la chamber du roi, wed Charlotte Louvet de Nogaret - Cauvisson.
I do not know precisely how Claude de Villars descends from Rene, but Pierre was most certainly acknowledged as the grandson of Rene, and thus, the illegitimate great-grandson of The Duke, Phillip II.
So both men enjoyed descent from Rene de Savoie, but it was Emmanuel Philibert, through his mother Henrietta, that had the strongest and most sustained connection to The House.
Emmanuel was raised under significantly more circumstance and privilege, than his relation Pierre, also the Marquis of Villars.
However, I must note that this information indicating Pierre de Villars as a grandson of Renato is only found in secondary sources!
Does someone know of a primary archival source that indicates such descent?
Perhaps this genealogy was invented posthumously, and at random, only once Pierre and his son Claude Louis Hector began to figure more prominently into French history??
(For reference: Rene of Savoy was produced by Phillip II and his mistress Libera Portoneri. Phillip's legitimate issue came from his first two marriages; 3 from Margaret de Bourbon, 6 from Claudine de Brosse of Brittany).
All the Very Best,
Victor