House of Artois

The House of Artois was an ancient noble house founded by Comte Charles I d'Artois in the 13th century. In 1297, Artois was created one of the first peerages created after the original twelve.

History
The descendants from the first Comte d'Artois, Charles I, the Comte d'Artois held the land of Artois, France. The Artois family was very wealthy, having an income of 500,000 livres a year (equal to about 2 million today).

The Artois's were very high nobility, able to get themselves Honors of the Court and Louvre. The House of Artois were a constant presence in court until the 18th century when the house started to fall.

Succession dispute
In 1755, when Comte Louis Antoine d'Artois died of illness a dispute of succession started since his eldest son, Xavier d'Artois, was missing. The Parlement officially declared that his youngest son Charles d'Artois could inherit the title. This would become a problem when Xavier d'Artois would resurface in England, married to Elisabeth of York. Though Xavier did not try to get the title back from his brother or did anyone want French land to belong to an English family.

Artois-York
Xavier d'Artois (1737-) was the son of Comte Louis Antoine d'Artois and married Elisabeth of York, heiress to the York estate after he left France. Their last names were combined to create the cadet house of Artois-York.

Modern Artois Family

 * 1) Comte Louis Antoine d'Artois, married Helene de Valois
 * 2) Louis Xavier Antoine d'Artois (1737), married Elisabeth of York
 * 3) Lord Henry (1755-)
 * 4) Lady Helene (1757-)
 * 5) Comte Charles Xavier Edmund d'Artois (1739-), married Catherine de Rohan (1755-1765), Jeanne Becu (1765), no issue
 * 6) Sophie d'Artois, died shortly after childbirth

Notable Members
Comte Charles X d'Artois (1739-) was the Comte d'Artois starting from 1755. He was raised away from court but officially came to court in 1755. He was an infamous member of the court due to rumors of melancholia and his annulment to Catherine de Rohan and marriage to his commoner mistress, Jeanne Becu.