De Barrau family

The de Barrau family is a French noble family from the province of Rouergue, now the department of Aveyron, in France.

Descended from a notary who lived in the 16th century, it began its noble alliances in that same century. In the following century, Guion de Barrau established himself as a nobleman and succeeded in having this status maintained after being convicted of usurpation of nobility. In the 18th century, Madame de Barrau was abducted and arrested by a lettre de cachet in 1767; in 1789, Pierre Firmin de Barrau de Caplongue was one of the drafters of the cahier de doléances of the nobility of the Rodez and Millau bailiwicks; the family château was looted and burnt down in 1793; Barrau father and son were summoned to appear before the Revolutionary Tribunal in 1794. After the French Revolution, some of its members became notables in the Aveyron department. Three of the latter were historians, including Hippolyte de Barrau, who in 1836 proposed the creation of a learned society, the ' [Society of letters, sciences and arts of Aveyron]; he was its first president, and the de Barrau family is still represented on it. Another family member was a botanist on the ' [Commission for the Scientific Exploration of Algeria]. Moreover, many of them defended Catholic and royalist ideals from the French Revolution to the First World War. It is relevant to mention de Barrau in 1792, who had revolutionaries shot, Eugène de Barrau in 1852, who carried out a confidential mission for the “Count of Chambord”, or Jean de Barrau, member of the steering committee of the National Federation of the King's Camelots and private secretary to the Duke of Orléans in 1914. In the 20th century, following the fighting in the First World War, four of the six young Barrau men died.

This family has left several traces of its history in the Aveyron department.

History

Patronymic

According to the Filae website, between 1891 and 1990, the Occitan surname Barrau ranked 1,544th among the most frequently borne names in France, making it not very popular nationally. During this period, it was mainly found in southwestern and southern France, This surname is thought to be a nickname Claude Cougoulat, who has studied surnames of Gallic origin, writes that the root Barr- would designate a place difficult to access or closed or an obstacle.

The Barrau surname preceded by a particle has been borne by various families. Today, the de Barrau family (from Carcenac, Aveyron) is not to be confused with the and families, the latter two being commonly known as de Barrau.

Origins in central Rouergue

thumb|Geographical location of the Aveyron department (formerly province of Rouergue).

, in Documents généalogiques sur des familles du Rouergue [], writes: “This family can only be traced back to 1557. However, traces of the family can be found before this period, notably in several ancient deeds in the departmental archives. These acts contain gaps and obscurities that make it impossible to establish its ancestry clearly and precisely beyond the 16th century. Firmin de Barrau, who tested his will on April 7, 1557, is the first author of proven filiation". writes that this family has been mentioned in deeds since the end of the 15th century. writes: “The fire of 1793, by destroying most of our titles, deprived us of the means to further our research”. In the Cartulaire de l [Cartulary of Bonnecombe Abbey], edited by Pierre-Aloïs Verlaguet, the village of Carcenac-Salmiech mentions a person named Barraus da Carcennac, who witnessed a tithe agreement in 1233 and ceded rights to a farmhouse in 1242. However, in the absence of proof of filiation, this person cannot yet be linked to the de Barrau family.

thumb|Map of the Rouergue region where the de Barrau family settled during the Ancien Régime.

Carcenac is an ancient village about five kilometers northeast of Salmiech. The toponym “Carcenac” has a Celtic ending in “ac” (from -acum). The first construction of its church dates from at least the 13th century.

thumb|Lévézou landscape.|180x180px

thumb|Partial view of Salmiech with Saint-Firmin church.|154x154px

thumb|Entrance to the village of Carcenac, east side.|153x153px

In their works, Hippolyte de Barrau and mention that the de Barrau family has been noble since 1557, but this information has been shown to be erroneous. The family's proven and followed lineage can be traced back to Firmin Barrau, who was a notary in the 16th century in Salmiech. whose family belonged to the ancient nobility of Rouergue. Gustave Chaix d'Est-Ange writes: “Firmin Barrau became related to the best noble families of the country through his marriage on June 5, 1611, to Marie de Faramond, daughter of François de Faramond, from an old knight family still in existence, and Louise de Lapanouse ”. and Martin de Framond writes: “These movements up the social ladder, often masked in genealogies, can be judged by noting alliances”. His marriage was not to a noble, but thanks to his father's and grandfather's alliances, he had several close ancestors who were noble. Guion lived in the countryside, like his ancestors; he was a rural man, his father and grandfather having married daughters from old noble families who lived on their lands and served the kings as knights. Firmin de Barrau had to pay 120 livres in capitation tax, corresponding to class 10, which taxed gentiles who were seigneurs of parishes, the highest degree of rural nobility,

In the 17th century, there were no judgments other than those of 1666 and 1699.

The de Barrau family, from Carcenac in Rouergue, obtained a total of three maintenances of nobility from the intendants of Montauban: on a proof of nobility dating from 1539 that we know to be related to the de Barrau de Muratel family. they are also all from the same background, except in the 16th century and 1656.

These alliances are: in the 16th century, the family (proven nobility 1486, presumed nobility 1382); in 1680, the Seguy family (presumed 13th-century noble ancestry); in 1730, the de Michau family (maintained noble on proof of 1544); in 1759, the de La Roque-Bouillac family (early 14th-century nobility with presumed early 11th-century noble ancestry, court honors in the 18th century); in 1790, the de Morlhon family (13th-century nobility with presumed 11th-century noble ancestry). Jean Antoine de Barrau's marriage enabled his children to inherit property in Albigeois.

Other family members

In the 16th century, there were no noble alliances or noble relatives.

In the 17th century, alliances were made either with the nobility or the bourgeoisie, but they were always with families from Rouergue. During his tours of duty at Versailles, Pierre de Barrau took part in a contra dance (four couples of dancers in a square) featuring Queen Marie Antoinette. They had first cousins who also served in the King's Military Household: Françoise de Barrau, married on August 6, 1755, to Joseph de Méjanès-Puechlor, King Louis XV's bodyguard, had two sons who were brigadiers in King Louis XVI's bodyguard corps.

Except for two members, one a judge in the 17th century and the other a lawyer in parliament after serving as King Louis XV's bodyguard, no member of the de Barrau family held any office or position. Hubert de Solages. Pierre Firmin de Barrau de Caplongue and de Barrau d'Espinassettes were among the electors. In La noblesse au XVIIIe siècle [Nobility in the 18th century], Guy Chaussinand-Nogaret writes that the editors of the cahiers de doléances were chosen primarily on the basis of their competence. On November 1, 1793, revolutionary troops looted and set fire to the château belonging to the de Barrau family in the village of Carcenac. The then young soldier Jean-Baptiste Grivel took part in the sack. Hippolyte de Barrau was mayor of Salmiech and general councilor in the combined communes of Cassagnes-Bégonhès and Réquista, a founding member with and other notables from the department, including his brother Adolphe de Barrau. He was elected its first president. Since its foundation, this learned society has brought together several notables, and various personalities to this day, and preserves numerous documents on the Aveyron département. Eugène de Barrau was admitted at the time of its foundation and was elected vice-president from 1871 until his death in 1887. From 1889, Fernand de Barrau was also a member of the Societé. In the book, he wrote: “In the final analysis, Eugène de Barrau's Notebooks are extraordinarily rich and remarkably diverse. With their wealth of daily notes, they are a highly accurate document of the way of life, mentalities, and sensibilities of the department's circles of notables. But the Legitimist struggle lifted Les Chemins d'une vie [Paths of a life] into the sphere of national politics and ‘great history’, on which the editor of the Notebooks cast a sometimes impassioned, sometimes disillusioned eye”. One account states that “he was suddenly dismissed from his post, due to the hostility of certain people offended by his influence”. Hippolyte also wrote a genealogical work on the families of Rouergue, which is still published today, and like his brother Eugène, he was also a memorialist. In 1839 and 1840, under the July Monarchy, he was a botanist on the Commission d'exploration scientifique d'Algérie. Following France's conquest of Algeria in 1830, in 1833 was born the idea of setting up a commission to conduct research in Africa, and more specifically in Algeria. He joined a team of French scientists recruited based on their skills to explore the Algerian territory.

In 1880, Raymond de Barrau (1847-1931), a former lawyer at the Court of Appeal of Paris, Doctor of Law, and now a magistrate, resigned from his position following the expulsion of the Catholic Congregations from France. His letter of resignation, which was reproduced in two newspapers in southwest France, emphasized the defense of private property against the backdrop of the crisis between the French state and the Catholic Church: In 1831, he launched La Gazette du Rouergue (1831-1836), a newspaper with Legitimist views. and in 1852, he was entrusted with a confidential mission to Henri d'Artois, about which he wrote in his personal notebooks: “I received a mission that could only be transmitted orally and by a reliable person. The idea of being of some use to my cause determined me very quickly, and the following night I had made up my mind [...] This [the audience] was short, and the prince gave me in a few words his verbal reply to the verbal message I had sent to him”. On taking up his post, he declared: “Le Journal de l'Aveyron, which is entering its eighty-second year, is today changing its editor: it will not change its principles. Before us, it was monarchist and Catholic; at his age, one cannot correct oneself; its subscribers will always find it Catholic and monarchist”.

At the beginning of the 20th century, Jean and Paul de Barrau, two of the sons of Fernand de Barrau and Henriette Fabre, continued their commitment to the royalist cause. They were members of Action Française, a royalist political force under the influence of Charles Maurras. During his military service, Jean was reunited with Maxime Real del Sarte, In November 1913, he joined the executive committee of the National Federation of King's Camelots. This public commitment began during the French Revolution, and it is this memory that continues to express itself into the twentieth century. It spanned four generations and more than a century. On April 24, 1917, in the eight hundred and thirteenth list of its “In the Field of Honor” column, the newspaper L'Action française wrote: “The de Barrau family, the honor of Catholic and royalist Rouergue, counted six combatants at the start of the war. At present, three have died for France; three are still facing the enemy.”

Recent and current times

After the deaths of Raymond and Fernand de Barrau in 1931 and 1938, there were no new notables in the family. The notability from the 19th century lost its power with the upheavals of the two world wars. Following the fighting in the First World War, Fernand de Barrau lost three of his four sons (Jean and Paul in battle, Roger as a result of his wounds after the war),

In 1972, one of its members became a member of Charles de Gaulle's family (Paris branch).

The de Barrau family is a surviving member of the French nobility. Some of its members have been members of the ' [The French Nobility Mutual Aid Association] since 1992.

The current Carcenac Château is owned by Gilles Séguret, son of Geneviève de Barrau, who has lived there since 1995.

In the 21st century, bearers of the name are members of the Société des lettres, sciences et arts de l'Aveyron, or still live in the area.

According to the genealogy presented by various authors, this was a small family from the Ancien Régime.

In 2002, listed 14 male bearers of the name in the agnatic line (in the male line without adoption).

I) Firmin (I) Barrau, notary in the 16th century, among other children:

II) Firmin (II) Barrau, bourgeois, from Salmiech, married in the 16th century Françoise de Méjanès,

III) Firmin (III) Barrau, married in 1611 to Marie de Faramond, In 1656 his first wife Anne de Vedelly, daughter of Jean de Vedelly and Isabeau de Moyssety, brought him half the seigneury of Trémouilles with high, medium, and low justice. Among his children:

1: Pierre Firmin de Barrau (1731-1816), lord of Caplongue, In 1789, he was secretary and one of the editors of the cahier de doléances of the nobility of the bailiwicks of Rodez and Millau. where he remained until his dismissal in 1789. In 1790, he married Marguerite Dablanc, daughter of Pierre Dablanc, a lawyer in Rodez, and Paule Henriette de Morlhon. He was forced into hiding for several months during the French Revolution. In 1803, under the Consulate, he enriched his village church with art furniture from the Cordeliers de Rodez convent, which had been slated for destruction, and also from the Bonnecombe abbey. At the beginning of the 19th century, he was a notable figure in the canton of Cassagnes.

3: Paul de Barrau (1891-1916), King's Camelot, founder and president of an Action française group in Rodez in 1909, awarded the Croix de Guerre with commendation, died in combat. Rouquette (1879), de Maribail (1886), Fabre (1888), van den Brande (1904), de Grenier de Lassagne (1927), Sarrauste de Menthière (1931),

thumb|200x200px|Stained glass window with the Barrau family coat of arms (error in the color of the lion, which should have been red) in Carcenac church.

Guillaume de Barrau (one of the sons of Pierre Firmin de Barrau and Françoise de Faramond), Lord of Le Besset, used three seals with the following arms in 1733-1737: “Quarterly four lions (count's crown)’;

In the village of Carcenac: a house (rebuilt after the Revolution); a square named after Hippolyte de Barrau; in the village church, a stained-glass window featuring an engraving of his arms and a commemorative plaque, in memoriam, of family members killed in the First World War, which was affixed in the same chapel as the stained-glass window;
In the village of Trémouilles: the coat of arms of this commune, of which the de Barrau family was co-lord from 1656 to 1789, features the silver background and the gules lion that are part of the family's coat of arms.

Other memorabilia

Several members of the de Barrau family contributed to the history of Rouergue in the 19th century. Hippolyte and Adolphe de Barrau initiated and helped found the Société des lettres, sciences et arts de l'Aveyron in 1836. The writing of works on the history of Rouergue by Hippolyte, Eugène, and Fernand de Barrau. The launch of two Legitimist newspapers: La Gazette du Rouergue (1831-1836) by Hippolyte de Barrau, and L'Écho de l'Aveyron (1845-1863) by Eugène de Barrau.