County of La Marche

The County of La Marche (French pronunciation: [maʁʃ] ⓘ; Occitan: la Marcha) was a medieval French county, approximately corresponding to the modern département of Creuse and the northern half of Haute Vienne.

[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.

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

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

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

Map of France in 1154, showing location of County of La Marche