A well-known member of this family was Charles Maurice de Talleyrand-Périgord (1754–1838), who achieved distinction as a French statesman and diplomat.

Their motto was "Re que Diou" (an Old French dialectal form for "Nothing But God"): their ancestor was one of the great men of the kingdom of France, and participated in the election of Hugh Capet as King of France.

An anecdote reports that Capet asked Boson "Mais qui donc t'as fait comte?"

to which he replied "Ceux là même qui t'ont fait Roi" ("The same ones who made you King").

The Périgords considered their entitlements to emanate from the same power that entitled the French kings themselves to govern, divine right of civil authority being a cornerstone of most Christian doctrine emanating from the Bible since the earliest days.