Aléaume de L’Escuyer d’Hagnicourt has a special place in my heart. He is the one who “took me” to our royal ancestors, and who also reinforced my conviction that in genealogy just like in life, we need to “trust our intuition”.

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I woke up one morning with the name “Aléaume” in my mind. It was very clear. I only knew one Aléaume at the time, one of my direct ancestors (born before 1537, and died between 1580/1588). I couldn’t wait to start my genealogy research that day! (You know the feeling… still in PJs, grab a cup of coffee, and rush to the computer!) Armed with a cup of strong—strong coffee (it was 2am), I went to my computer, opened my Geneanet tree, and located Aléaume. I was “pushed” to start with his first wife, Nicole de Bohan, so I did! I completely let myself be guided by my fingers on the keyboard and the ideas popping in my head, trusting that even though I had completely derived from that family branch by the end of that day, it would soon take me to a great discovery. You guessed it… Within a couple of days, it led me to royalty branches.

As we saw in my post about Charlemagne, all Europeans descend from him, so from royalty. But let’s be honest… it’s pretty “cool” when you find your lineage, even though it doesn’t change much to your day-to-day life! (you still do your own cooking and cleaning, your bank account is at the same level, and your spouse still doesn’t refer to you as “Your Highness”…)

Aléaume was Seigneur de Paradis, de Flize, d’Hagnicourt, d’Inaumont et d’Harzillemont, in the Ardennes (08) department of France. (The photos of Hagnicourt below are from Wikipedia).

He was also an “archer dans les ordonnances du roi sous la charge de Mr de Lameth” (archer of the King’s ordonnance under the command of Mr. de Lameth). The “compagnies d’ordonnance” were initially created on May 26, 1445, a few decades before Aléaume was born, by King Charles VII of France. The King’s goal was to bring a better efficiency to the royal army during conflicts, and also to part from individuals who were causing damages while the King’s army was traveling (perpetrators of looting, for example). Those who were kept in the “compagnies d’ordonnance” were the best on battle fields and the most loyal to the King.

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Genealogy

Aléaume is the “author” of the branch of the “Seigneurs d’Hagnicourt” of the de L’Escuyer family. I’m his direct descendant (14th generation). He is the direct ancestor (6th generation) of the Marquis Charles Louis Joseph de L’Escuyer d’Hagnicourt who died during the French Revolution (you can see my previous post about him here).

Unfortunately, at this time, our de L’Escuyer lineage stops with Aléaume’s parents, Gérard de L’Escuyer and Antoinette de Chastelain. I haven’t yet found further sources to “go up” either line. We do know that Gérard de L’Escuyer died in 1537. There is an epitaph on his and Antoinette’s tomb in the nave of the Church of Puiseux, in the Ardennes (08), where they are buried. He too was an archer in the Ordonnances du Roi. “Tel père, tel fils !” (like father like son).

However, there were plenty of sources to continue my research of Aléaume’s first wife’s ancestors, Nicole de Bohan. Here are some of the family names of her ancestors (if you’ve already researched your own French noble ancestors, or researched French nobility, those names might already sound familiar to you): de Grandpré, de Barbençon, de Châtillon, d’Argies, de Condé, de Sully, de Vendôme, de Bruyères, de Lévis (and de Lévis-Mirepoix), de Beaumont, d’Avesnes, de Brabant, de Souabe, de Blois, de Dreux, de Hainaut, de France… to name a few.

As we know, once you go “high enough” back in time in France nobility and royalty, you “hit” other countries (Belgium, Germany, England, Scotland, Sweden, etc…). Simply fascinating, isn’t it? All those discoveries yet to come… and many more sleepless nights ahead!!