Counts and dukes of Aumale


The County of Aumale, later elevated to a duchy, was a medieval fief in Normandy. It was disputed between England and France during parts of the Hundred Years' War.

Aumale in Norman nobility

Aumale was a medieval fief in the Duchy of Normandy and, after 1066, of the King of England.
According to Chisholm, the fief of Aumale was granted by the archbishop of Rouen to Odo, brother-in-law of William the Conqueror, who erected it into a countship.
However Thompson tells us Aumale was given to Adelaide, William’s half-sister, as a dower by her first husband Enguerrand; it then passed jure uxoris to her second and third husbands, Lambert and Odo. In the Domesday survey Adelaide is recorded as the Countess of Aumale, with holdings in Suffolk and Essex. In 1087 Odo received the Lordship of Holderness, and at some time before 1090 Adelaide’s holdings were passed to their son, Stephen. In 1102 the fief, with Odo’s lands in Holderness, passed to their son, Stephen.

Lords of Aumale

Norman Counts:
Anglo-Norman Counts:
In 1196, Philip II of France captured the castle of Aumale, and granted the title of "Count of Aumale" to Renaud de Dammartin. It was later was held by the houses of Castile, Harcourt, and Lorraine.
After several extinctions the title was re-created in 1547 for Francis, then styled Count of Aumale by courtesy. On his accession as Duke of Guise, he ceded it to his brother Claude, Duke of Aumale. It was later used as a title by Henri d'Orléans, the youngest son of Louis-Philippe, King of the French and Duke of Orléans.
, the titleholder is a grandson of the late Henri, Count of Paris, Orléans heir, and his wife, Princess Isabelle of Orléans-Braganza of Brazil. Prince Foulques, Duke of Aumale, son of Prince Jacques, Duke of Orléans and the duchess, née Gersende de Sabran-Pontèves, added it to his title of Comte d'Eu.

Counts of Aumale (House of Dammartin)

French Counts:
Through the end of the Hundred Years' War, the kings of England at various times ruled Aumale, through their claims to be dukes of Normandy and later, kings of France. The title of Count or Duke of Aumale was granted several times during this period.

Earls of Aumale (1095)

In 1196, Philip II of France captured the castle of Aumale. However, despite this, the kings of England continued to claim the Duchy of Normandy, and to recognize the old line of Counts or Earls of Aumale. These were:
. Arms: A cross patonce
Aveline married Edmund Crouchback, 1st Earl of Lancaster, in 1269, but she died without issue in 1274. A claim upon the inheritance by John de Eston was settled in 1278 with the surrender of the earldom to the Crown.

Dukes of Aumale, first Creation (1385)

Note: This creation is not listed in several sources such as "The Complete Peerage", which indicates the creation shown below as the 1st.

Dukes of Aumale, second Creation (1397)

In further creations in the English peerage after the Hundred Years' War, Aumale was spelled in the Latinised form Albemarle. For these, see Duke of Albemarle and Earl of Albemarle.