[LORRAINE]. [NICOLAS DE LORRAINE]. BARBEREAU... - Lot 33 - Ader

[LORRAINE]. [NICOLAS DE LORRAINE]. BARBEREAU DIT AUGUEVILLE (Michel)]. Letters of ennoblement granted to Michel Barbereau dit Augeville by Nicolas de Lorraine, count of Vaudémont and baron of Mercoeur. In French, illuminated act on parchment, signed "Nicolas"; mention on the reverse: "By Monseigneur le conte de Vaudemont in the absence of Madame la duchesse douairiere...". [signed "Demazures"]. France, Lorraine, Nancy, February 7, 1553Dimensions : 725 x 575 mmCondition : some traces of moisture and stains; the name "Barbereau" has been systematically redacted and erased through holes in the parchment: nevertheless the coat of arms attests to the identity of Michel Barbereau . Very beautiful act copied in italics, preceded by a large illuminated initial with the arms of Nicolas de Lorraine (1524-1577), son of Antoine le Bon, Duke of Lorraine and Bar, and of Renée de Bourbon-Montpensier, first bishop of Metz from 1543 to 1548 and of Verdun from 1544 to 1547, then count of Vaudémont from 1548 to 1577, lord of Mercœur from 1563 to 1569, then duke of Mercœur from 1569 to 1577: He was regent of the duchies of Lorraine and Bar during the minority of his nephew Charles III from 1552 to 1559. He was the father of Louise de Lorraine-Vaudémont, wife of King Henry III of France. Michel Barbereau said Augueville was cantor in the chapel and the room of the dukes Antoine and François, valet of room of the duke of Lorraine. According to Dom Pelletier, Nobiliaire ou Armorial général de la Lorraine et du Barrois (Nancy, 1758, tome I, p. 28), he was ennobled on February 7, 1555 but the present document backdates this ennoblement by two years (document dated February 7, 1553). The coat of arms of Michel Barbereau dit Augueville is blazoned as follows: "Or, 3 lions armed and lampassed sable, 2 and 1, on a chief of azure charged with 3 roses or. Crest: a lion rising sable crowned with a triumphal hat or, holding a bunch of roses of the same. They are painted and illuminated under the document allowing the identification of the ennobled person despite the effort to remove the name from the document. The name is confirmed by a modern pen and felt-tip hand in the lower part of the document. This document is cited in Jacquot, Albert. "Anoblissement d'artistes lorrains," Réunion des Sociétés des Beaux-Arts des Départements 9 (1885), pp. 119-120 and in Jacquot, Albert. La Musique en Lorraine : étude rétrospective d'après les archives locales. Third edition. Paris, 1886, p. 45.