Everything about Admiral Of France totally explained
The title
Admiral of France is one of the
Great Officers of the Crown of France, the naval equivalent of
Marshal of France.
The title was created in
1270 by
Louis IX of France, during the
Eighth Crusade. At the time it was equivalent to the office of
Constable of France. The Admiral was responsible for defending the coasts of
Picardy,
Normandy,
Aunis, and
Saintonge. In times of war, it was his responsibility to assemble French merchant ships into a navy. He had to arm, equip, and supply the ships for the course of the war, and give
letters of marque to
corsairs. In peacetime, he was responsible for the maintenance of the royal fleet (when one existed). He was also responsible for maritime commerce and the merchant fleet.
During the modern era, few admirals were sailors - moreover, with the exception of
Claude d'Annebault, none of them actually commanded the fleet. It must be said that the actual power of the admiral was rather small, partly because of the creation of other admirals (the Admiral of the Levant for
Provence, the Admiral of
Brittany, and the Admiral of the West for
Guyenne), and because of the creation of the General of the Galleys and the Secretary of State for the Navy.
The title, like the title of Constable, had much more political importance (which would eventually lead to the suppression of both titles). It was also a lucrative position: the admiral was allocated a part of the fines and confiscations imposed by the admiralty, and he'd a right to unclaimed ships and shipwrecks as well as a tenth of the spoils taken in battle. He also had juridicial rights, comparable to those exercised by the constable and the marshal. This was known as the
Table de marbre, after the seat of the admiralty in
Paris. A second headquarters of the admiralty was established at
Rouen, and about 50 other headquarters were set up at various other places around the coast of France. These tribunals judged cases dealing with fishing disputes and any crimes committed in the country's ports.
The Admiralty was suppressed in
1627 by
Cardinal Richelieu, who had been named to the newly-created post of Grand Master of Navigation and who wanted to bring all naval authority under one position. The position was recreated in
1669, but was now only an honorific title. The first new admiral was
Louis de Bourbon, comte de Vermandois, who at the time was only 2 years old. Thereafter, only
Louis Alexandre de Bourbon, comte de Toulouse involved himself in maritime affairs.
It was suppressed once more in 1791, restored in 1814. Currently, the last known Admiral of France was
Trehouard de Beaulieu, in 1869.
Admirals
Sources
B. Barbiche, Les institutions de la monarchie française à l'époque moderne, Presses unversitaires de France, 1999
Further Information
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