Brézé was the name of a noble

French nobility

The French nobility was the privileged order of France in the Middle Ages and the Early Modern periods.In the political system of the Estates General, the nobility made up the Second Estate...

 Angevin

Anjou

Anjou is a former county , duchy and province centred on the city of Angers in the lower Loire Valley of western France. It corresponds largely to the present-day département of Maine-et-Loire...

 family. The founder and most famous member of the family was Pierre de Brézé

Pierre de Brézé

Pierre de Brézé was a French soldier and politician in the service of King Charles VII. He had made his name in the English wars when in 1433 he joined with Yolande, queen of Sicily, the constable Richmond and others, in chasing from power Charles VII's minister La Trémoille...

 (c. 1410-1465), one of the trusted soldiers and statesmen of Charles VII

Charles VII of France

Charles VII , called the Victorious or the Well-Served , was King of France from 1422 to his death, though he was initially opposed by Henry VI of England, whose Regent, the Duke of Bedford, ruled much of France including the capital, Paris...

. He was succeeded as seneschal

Seneschal

A seneschal was an officer in the houses of important nobles in the Middle Ages. In the French administrative system of the Middle Ages, the sénéchal was also a royal officer in charge of justice and control of the administration in southern provinces, equivalent to the northern French bailli...

 of Normandy

Normandy

Normandy is a geographical region corresponding to the former Duchy of Normandy. It is in France.The continental territory covers 30,627 km² and forms the preponderant part of Normandy and roughly 5% of the territory of France. It is divided for administrative purposes into two régions:...

 by his eldest son, Jacques de Brézé (c. 1440-1490), count of Maulevrier; and then by his grandson, Louis de Brézé

Louis de Brézé, seigneur d'Anet

Louis de Brézé, seigneur d'Anet and comte de Maulevrier was a French nobleman, the grandson of King Charles VII of France by his natural daughter with his mistress Agnès Sorel.- Birthright, marriage, political intrigues :...

 (died 1531), husband of the famous Diane de Poitiers

Diane de Poitiers

Diane de Poitiers was a French noblewoman and a prominent courtier at the courts of kings Francis I and his son, Henry II of France. She became notorious as the latter's favourite mistress...

, whose tomb in Rouen Cathedral

Rouen Cathedral

Rouen Cathedral is a Roman Catholic Gothic cathedral in Rouen, in northwestern France. It is the seat of the Archbishop of Rouen and Normandy.-History:...

, attributed to Jean Goujon

Jean Goujon

Jean Goujon was a French Renaissance sculptor and architect.-Biography:His early life is little known; he was likely born in Normandy and may have traveled in Italy...

 and Jean Cousin the Elder

Jean Cousin the Elder

Jean Cousin was a French painter, sculptor, etcher, engraver, and geometrician. He is known as "Jean Cousin the Elder" to distinguish him from his son Jean Cousin the Younger, also an artist.-Career:...

, is a splendid example of French Renaissance

French Renaissance

French Renaissance is a recent term used to describe a cultural and artistic movement in France from the late 15th century to the early 17th century. It is associated with the pan-European Renaissance that many cultural historians believe originated in northern Italy in the fourteenth century...

 work.

The lordship of Brézé passed eventually to Claire Clémence de Maillé, Princess of Condé, who sold it to Thomas Dreux, who took the name of Dreux-Brézé when it was erected into a marquisate. Henri Evrard, marquis de Dreux-Brézé

Henri Evrard, marquis de Dreux-Brézé

Henri Evrard, marquis de Dreux-Brézé , succeeded his father Thomas as master of the ceremonies to Louis XVI in 1781.On the meeting of the states-general in 1789 it fell to him to regulate the questions of etiquette and precedence between the three estates...

 (1762-1829) succeeded his father as master of the ceremonies to Louis XVI in 1781. He died on 27 January 1829, when he was succeeded in the peerage and at court by his son Scipion (1793-1845).

Notable members of the Brézé family

• Pierre de Brézé
  Pierre de Brézé
  Pierre de Brézé was a French soldier and politician in the service of King Charles VII. He had made his name in the English wars when in 1433 he joined with Yolande, queen of Sicily, the constable Richmond and others, in chasing from power Charles VII's minister La Trémoille...
  
  
• Louis de Brézé, seigneur d'Anet
  Louis de Brézé, seigneur d'Anet
  Louis de Brézé, seigneur d'Anet and comte de Maulevrier was a French nobleman, the grandson of King Charles VII of France by his natural daughter with his mistress Agnès Sorel.- Birthright, marriage, political intrigues :...
  
   (grandson of Pierre)
• Claire Clémence de Maillé Brézé
• Jean Armand de Maillé-Brézé
  Jean Armand de Maillé-Brézé
  Jean Armand de Maillé-Brézé was a French admiral.He was born in Milly-le-Meugon, in one of the most powerful French families of the time; his father was Urbain de Maillé-Brézé, marquis de Brézé, Marshal of France, his uncle Cardinal Richelieu, King Louis XIII's renowned minister, and his...
  
   (brother of Claire Clémence)
• Urbain de Maillé-Brézé
  Urbain de Maillé-Brézé
  Urbain de Maillé-Brézé , was a Marshal of France during the Thirty Years' War and Franco-Spanish War .- Biography :...
  
  (1597 - February, 13 1650) , Marshall of France,marquis de Brézé