[1] La Marche first appeared as a separate fief about the middle of the 10th century, when William III, Duke of Aquitaine, gave it to one of his vassals, Boson, who took the title of Count.

[2] The county owes its name to its position, it having been in the 10th century a march or border district between the duchy of Aquitaine and the domains of the Frankish kings in central France.

[2] With the death of the childless Count Guy in 1308, his possessions in La Marche were seized by Philip IV of France.

[3] In 1314, the king made La Marche an appanage for his youngest son the Prince, afterwards Charles IV.

[6][2] The title was granted to Thibaut, a younger son of Henri, the Orléanist claimant to the throne of France.