Isaac de Forcade de Biaix


Isaac de Forcade de Biaix, aka Isaak de Forcade de Biaix, aka Isaac von Forcade de Biaix, aka Isaac von Forcade, aka Peter Isaac von Forcade, aka Isaak von Forcade, was a Royal Prussian colonel, Hofmarschall to the Prince of Prussia and recipient of Prussia's highest military order of merit for heroism, Knight of the Order of Pour le Mérite. He was a descendant of the noble family of Forcade in Béarn, born as a Roman Catholic, but emigrated to Brandenburg-Prussia at a young age, where he joined the Huguenot community in Berlin.
He is referred to in some historical sources, as Isaac Quirin von Forcade, Marquis de Biaix, As with his uncle and first cousin, there is no evidence that he was ever a Marquis. Biaix was never, at any time in its history, a marquisate, but instead a noble manor in Pau .

Military career

Historical sources related to the research of noble families in France erroneously state that he was a major general, as does the 25 July 1748 Catholic baptismal record for a niece, Elizabeth-Christine de Casamajor, at Saint-Martin's church in Pau, France. In reality, his first cousin, Friedrich Wilhelm Quirin von Forcade de Biaix was the Prussian major general in 1748.

Early Military Career in Prussia

He fought near Glogau Fortress, near Breslau, Ohlau, the Siege of Neisse, in skirmishes between Nossen and Lindenau, at Göding, and at the Siege of Brno in Moravia.
He fought with his unit at the Siege of Prague, Beraun, Selmitz, Prague, and the Battle of Hohenfriedberg.
He fought at the Battle of Soor, Schönefeld near Leipzig, Meißen, and at the Battle of Kesselsdorf.
Fought at the Siege of Pirna.
He fought at the Battle of Reichenberg near Kratzau, the Battle of Prague, Witkow Mountain near Wittgendorf, Angelka, White Mountain near Prague, Wellemin , on Löbau, near Reinsberg, Burkersdorf, Dittersbach auf dem Eigen and Kiesdorf auf dem Eigen, the Battle of Moys, Barschdorf , the Battle of Breslau , the Battle of Leuthen, and at the Siege of Breslau .

Retirement

In all, he served the Royal house for 52 years, during which time he fought with honor in the First Silesian War, the Second Silesian War and the Seven Years' War.

Family

Coat of Arms

The family motto of the Prussian branch is "In Virtute Pertinax".
Coat of Arms: An escutcheon with the field divided into four parts. Left half: argent tincture, a gules lion holding a sinople eradicated oak tree between its paws; azure tincture charged with three or mullets; Right half: a gules castle with three towers on an argent tincture; sinople tincture charged with three argent roses below it. A Grafenkrone as helmut on top of the escutcheon, crested with a or fleur-de-lis. Two or lions supporting the escutcheon. Motto: "In Virtute Pertinax".
Heraldic Symbolism: The lion symbolizes courage; the eradicated oak tree symbolizes strength and endurance; the towers are symbols of defense and of individual fortitude; the mullets symbolizes divine quality bestowed by god; the rose is a symbol of hope and joy; the fleur-de-lis is the floral emblem of France; the coronet is a symbol of victory, sovereignty and empire. A Count's coronet to demonstrate rank and because the family originally served the counts of Foix and Béarn during the English Wars in the Middle Ages.

Parents

Isaac de Forcade, Seigneur de Biaix,, attorney, Jurat in Pau, Legislator at the Parliament of Navarre in Pau, and his third wife Claire de Lalanne
The French-language entry in a Stettin parish register for his 1738 marriage is one the only two known documents that establish his parental lineage. In this document, he states that he is a native of Pau, in Béarn, and that his parents were Jean de Forcade and Therèse de Lalande.
Although few documents exist to prove his parental line, his obituary notice published on the occasion of his death in 1775, which includes a curriculum vitae, begins by explaining that he was the nephew of Lieutenant General Jean de Forcade de Biaix. According to detailed genealogical records, his uncle, Jean de Forcade de Biaix, had nine brothers, but did not have another brother by the same name who could have married a Therèse de Lalande. Instead, and because of the later use of de Biaix name as part of his surname in some historical sources in Prussia and France, he is thought to be the youngest son of Jean de Forcade de Biaix's eldest brother, Isaac de Forcade, Seigneur de Biaix and his third wife Claire de Lalanne, where his 1703-1704 birth fits neatly into a gap between the recorded baptisms for two other children, baptized 19 July 1703 and 13 April 1708.
The Roman Catholic parish register for Pau for time period around his birth may have originally recorded his birth and baptism, but records for 1704, with the exception of a handful of entries for the month of January, have been lost from the original register. The years surrounding 1704 are very chaotically recorded. What the parish register does clearly show, however, is that there was no married couple named Jean de Forcade and Therèse de Lalande, as named in his marriage record in Stettin, bearing children in Pau during the ten years before or after 1704.
This parish register, however, does record the baptism of an Isaac de Biaix, baptized 24 December 1707, son of, Jacques de Biaix and his wife Jeanne de Harpère.
Kurt von Priesdorff, in his ten volume work :de:Soldatisches Führertum, claims without citing evidence or sources, that Isaac Quirin de Forcade, Marquis de Biaix was the son of Lieutenant General Jean de Forcade de Biaix and his wife Juliane, Freiin von Honstedt. Other scholarly works make the same claim, citing Priesdorff as their source. In the absence of proof to the contrary, and considering Priesdorff's privileged access to sources for his scholarly work, this possibility should not be completely ruled out, despite Isaac de Forcade de Biaix's 1738 marriage record citing his birthplace in Pau, Béarn as proof to the contrary.

Marriages

Isaac de Forcade de Biaix married on 16 July 1738 at the French Reformed Church in Stettin, with Anna Elisabeth de Cantenius, the daughter of Martin de Cantenius and his wife Sophie Dorothea Friedeborn.
He married a second time on 21 February 1763 with the widow Katharina von Eickstedt, née Catherine von Vieregg, the daughter of Georg IX. von Vieregg and Margarethe Dorothee von Vieregg.

The Fiefs of Barsekwitz and Gollin

Anna Elisabeth de Cantenius acquired the fiefs of Barskewitz and Gollin, both mesne-fiefs of the Order of Saint John from the von Borck family in 1731 for 28,000 Reichsthaler and was ennobled on 3 September 1737 by King Frederick William I of Prussia with them. Gollin was a farming village, a dependency of Barskewitz, now both suburbs of Gmina Stargard Szczeciński in Stargard County.
The Vassal Table of 1756 for the district lists him as the head of the household at his wife's properties.
A detailed inventory of the fiefs in 1784 states that, in addition to its many features and assets, Barskewitz also included a church belonging to the Jacobshagen Synod, itself a branch of the church in Pansin.
Following her death, the court in Sonnenburg ruled on 24 January 1765, that as her heir, the Lordship of her two fiefs passed to him.
His own last will and testament dated 7 April 1772 did not name any male children as heirs. In this will, he bequeathed that Gollin remain the property of his second wifeKatharina von Eickstedt. He further stipulated that Barskewitz be transferred upon his death to his eldest step-son, Ernst Friederich von Eickstedt, hereditary Herr of Hohenholz and Plossow, for an annual payment of 24,000 Reichsthaler, but only for the period of his lifetime. Furthermore, that upon the death of the preceding, it would again be transferred to his nephew, Captain Sir Friederich Wilhelm Sigismund von Aschersleben, Knight of the Order of Saint John, or his male heirs, and that should he no longer be living and not leave any male heirs, the property would subsequently transfer to the Canon Friedrich von Itzenplitz and his male heirs, in exchange for the payment of the same amount.
The Vassal Table of 1802 shows that Barskewitz and Gollin were still owned by the von Itzenlitz family, the owner shown with the occupation of :de:Landrat |Landrat in the Kurmark. The 1 January 1862 directory of the Pomeranian Knighthood shows that the property was jointly owned by the Countess von Itzenplitz in Berlin and her husband, a von Meding, the retired Oberpräsident of the Geheimrat to the King of Prussia.

Children

An entry in the evangelical parish register for St. Jacob's church in Stettin, dated only as between Advent 1760 ' and Advent 1761 ', states that an "…unmarried noble daughter of Colonel Forcade, age 27 years…" was buried.
His marriage with Anna Elisabeth Cantenius is said to have been childless, thus extinguishing his branch of the family.
A step-daughter from his second marriage much later in life, Louise von Eickstedt, married a Canon in Havelberg Friedrich von Itzenplitz, Erbherr auf Gross- und Klein-Behnitz, Jerchel.

Other Family