To every one that might be interested by the Bouillon family name...
(This is a long message, sorry for the lentgh, but I couldn't do shorter...)
Bouillon is a patronymic (Lastname) quite widespread in France with an estimation of 8000 living holder (877th rank out of 5 000 ranks for the 1 300 000 known different existing lastname - Rank n°1 is "Martin" in France, which is the most popular and widespread one with more than 185 000 living holder-).
Europe is an old continent so when you get back thru time across genealogical researches, you discover that before the years 1900's,
people were rarely travelling and most of the people will born, marry and died in an circle area of less than 20 miles...
And when you speak about America, it is a total different picture, where , exception done of the native indians,most of people you fall into in the genealogical searches are great travellers coming from all othe the possible place on earth...
This particularity I was refering too in Europe, make the searches easier, and above all, the amont of genuine documents that could have been saved thru centuries is definitively amazing, and gave European searchers large opportunities to go back way before years 1800, 1700 and even 1600 in lot of cases.
Patronymics or Family names appeared in France (and most probably in Europe also) between years 1200s and 1300s, where the need was felt to distinguish two same firstname holder in the same hamlet or village.
And then the first need for differentiation, had gave birth to family lastnames...
People started to speak about "Jean Delacroix" (so Jean who is living in the house near the Cross) to distinguish him from the other "Jean Bouillon" (so the "Jean" living in the hamlet called "Bouillon")
So basically Patronymic or family Lastnames are coming most of the time from a geographical names, which is the case for BOUILLON.
So If you want to study and track back the true origin of your Bouillon family roots, you have to identify as much as geographical names related to Bouillon you could possibly find in France (or in Europe maybe, but Bouillon sounds definitively like a French language name, -don't forget that some parts of Belgium and Switzerland were frencjh is spoken, may also been concerned).
The conclusion is that geographical name are way much older than the family names.
This geographical name have crossed centuries with fewer modifications, and may came from Latine, old german, greek or arabic origin.
And What does it mean exactly to have called a place after the name "Bouillon" ?
There is several possible explanation : First of all, there is probably no connection to "Bouillon" taken in the meaning of "Soup"..., which is in fact a very recent wording or usage of the word Bouillon.
Most probably "Bouillon" could refer to a place where they is a water spring where the water could have "bubbling" violentely.
or "Bouillon" could be also seen as a swamp place
Now, everybody knows that there is a town in Belgium called "BOUILLON" a mid-size town near a larger town SEDAN in France
This BOUILLON town is the one that were belonging to the former existing duchy of Lower-Lorraine in years 0900 to 1100.
This place has got a universal reputation ever since Godefroi IV of Bouillon,Son of Eustache II, Count of BOULOGNE, led the first crusade to Jerusalem, and became "Avoué du Saint-Sepulchre", humble title he purposely took rather than became the first king of Jerusalem.
Godefroi was called "de Bouillon", because he was born and entitled by the Holly-Roman Empire Emperor HENRI IV as Marquis of Anvers/Antwerp, land to which Bouillon was belonging. (This is one additionnal example of a family name coming from a geographical origin...)
One additionnal word on the Dutchy of Lower Lorraine : in the French History, between years 1000 to 1400, the title carried by Counts and Dukes were related to the ownership of the land, but after the years 1400, most of the titles carried were kind of honorific, and were most of the time stripped from the majority of the ownership of the geographical region they were refering to.
These titles could then "jump" from one family to the other, whether by mariage of the last living women or wheter by having been returned to the King of France once, who was deciding then to give it back to someone else -most of the time to one of his younger brother-)
Regarding the "de Bouillon" title holder ;
Beyond Godefroi namely called "de Bouillon", who led the crusade, as he was not married , he got no chidren bearing the title (or the name) de Bouillon, and his closer family relatives took the name "of Jerusalem" after his death and Godefroi's brother, Baudoin Ier, became the first king of Jerusalem.
At that time there was no count or Duke titled " de Bouillon". There has been only some Bishops of the town Liege that took also the title of Duke of Bouillon in the years 1300's
Then there was the lords of Sedan, descendings from the Counts of La Marck-Berg, who took the Title of Lord of Bouillon.
Then in the 1500s a descendant of the Lord of Sedan, Robert IV, Son of Robert III , Lord of Sedan and Bouillon, and also Marshall of France, became Duke of Bouillon.
The family then grew of importance and did some alliances with high ranked french noble families like
the Count(ess) of Maulevrier-Bréze, the Duke(ess) of Montpensier-Bourbon, The Count(esss) of Turenne-Tour-d'Auvergne,Marquis(ess) de Beuvron-Harcourt...etc...
After the death of the last male of the elder branch entitled Duke of Bouillon, its daughter married Henri Viscount of Turenne, who became then himself Duke of Bouillon.
The title was then in the 1600's in the turenne-Tour-d'Auvergne family and left the La Marck-Berg. The title remains in this family up until the late 1700's where again the last male entitled died and then his sister who
had married the Prince of Rohan-Guemené, brought the title in this new family.
All this details to explain that the "Duke of Bouillon" is just a title that has been be carried by different family names.
De bouillon is more a title, and "de Lamarck-Berg", "de Turenne-Tour-d'Auvergne", "de Rohan-Guemené" are family names.
By the way these lastnames are still referring to geographical data, pointing out to the original root and title carried by their ancestors. And In this case, as they was always male descendance, the title originlly carried, became and remained the family name.
In the Case of the "de Bouillon", there is no family roots carrying the title that could have been became a true family name, in case of everlasting living descendance,
Only the title "Duke of Bouillon" has been living among different familes. If ever Godefroi would have been officiailly married and would have had children, maybe de "de Bouillon" could have became a familly
name.
Or if ever the first count of Sedan, who took the title once of "Lord de Bouillon", have had everlasting descendance, maybe also the "de Bouillon" could have became a family name.
My personnal conclusion is that no living "Bouillon" or "de Bouillon" is a descendant of Godefroi de Bouillon...
I know also that there is a family name "de BULLION" that has been carried by an old family from years 1500's up to nowadays.
The "de Bullion" family was coming from italian wealthy merchant named "Bullioni" that came in France during King of France François Ier reign(like Léonado de Vinci did also)
This family went in Lyon and settle in the Burgundian area closed to MACON city One of the descending branch stayed there locally and another one, has reach higher level in the french society , and took responsabilities closed to the king of France in the years 1700's
This branch has became Lords of some places in the vincinity of Paris, and the place took the name after them.
Nowadays there is a small town called BULLION, in the french departement of "YVELINES", closed to RAMBOUILLET and VERSAILLES.
One important thing to notice to track back its own "Bouillon" ancestor :
As already said, Bouillon is more surely a french word
Between the years 1500 and 1600, from 15 to 20% of French people embrace the new protestant religion, and crual religion war opposed catholics and protestants in France from 1562 to 1598.
In 1598, the (formely protestant and newly converted catholic) King of France Henri IV promulgate the "Edit de nantes" authorizing the new protestant religion to be allowed as the old catholic roman church.
But after its death, his son Louis XII and grandson Louis XIV, cut gradually the liberties allowed to the protestants and finaly the "Edit de nantes" was revoked in 1685
Protestants started to be persecuted again.
From 1685 to 1787, more than 200 000 french protestants flew to neighbouring countries, especially to Germany and switzerland, and to a lesser extend to Holland, or Great Britain.
Most of the Protestants were people like wealthy merchants, or nobles, knowing how to read and how to write,(so having been capable of reading Luther's books) compared to the illiterate catholic that were mostly in their vast majority , poor farmers.
These flewing protestant (called "Huguenots" in Germany) were very welcomed in the states their were heeding to, as they were bringingtheir knoledge, and sometimes their wealth.
So thru this religion wars and escapes, a lot of protestant and "Bouillon" family name holder may have flew to Germany and Switzerland.
If you check the german phone book on the internet , you will see that more than 300 different phone number are pointing to "Bouillon" family name holder...They are the descendants of the ones that have flew in the 1700's.
Because Bouillon, is definitevely not a german word...
So if you are living in the US, are carrying the family name "Bouillon", and are refering to a german or swiss or even dutch or english people from the 1700's or the 1800's as your last oldest known ancestor, There is a big chance that you can go back beyond this years and track back an oldest ancestor somewhere in France where archives data before 1700's are commonly still existing...
My conclusion is taht most of all Bouillon ancestor may have lived in or nearby one of a geographical sites in France, refering to "Bouillon" ...
And beyond the famous city of Bouillon in Belgium, here are the other known geographical names holding the word BOUILLON in France are
the following (wishing I may have been almost exhaustive in my quest...)
"BOUILLON" : Small Village closed to small town AVRANCHES or larger town SAINT-LO
in french Departement called "MANCHE", (French Departement equivalent to US County) - Number 50
in french region "NORMANDIE" (French Region is equivalent to US State)
"La Mare de BOUILLON" : Small water pound or lake closed to BOUILLON (preceeding village)
"Le BOUILLON" : Small Village closed to small town SEES or larger town ALENCON on the river SARTHE
in french Departement called "ORNE", (French Departement equivalent to US County) - Number 61
in french region "NORMANDIE" (French Region is equivalent to US State)
"Le Bois de BOUILLON" : Small Wood or Forest closed to BOUILLON (preceeding village)
"BOUILLON" : Small Village closed to small town SEES or larger town ALENCON
in french Departement called "PYRENEES-ATLANTIQUES", (French Departement equivalent to US County) - Number 64
in french region "AQUITAINE" (French Region is equivalent to US State)
"BOUILLONVILLE" : Small Village closed to small town THIAUCOURT or larger town NANCY
in french Departement called "MEURTHE-et-MOSELLE", (French Departement equivalent to US County) - Number 54
in french region "LORRAINE" (French Region is equivalent to US State)
"Le BOUILLON" : Small Hamlet from the village of PLOUER closed to small town DINAN or larger town Saint-MALO
in french Departement called "COTES-d'AMOR", (French Departement equivalent to US County) - Number 22
in french region "BRETAGNE" (French Region is equivalent to US State)
"BOUILLON" : Small Hamlet from the village of ARCINGES closed to small town CHARLIEU or larger town ROANNE
in french Departement called "LOIRE", (French Departement equivalent to US County) - Number 42
in french region "RHONE-ALPES" (French Region is equivalent to US State)
"BOUILLON" : Small Hamlet from the village of VALSONNE closed to small town VILLEFRANCHE-sur-SAONE or larger town LYON
in french Departement called "RHONE", (French Departement equivalent to US County) - Number 69
in french region "RHONE-ALPES" (French Region is equivalent to US State)
"BOUILLON" : Small Hamlet from the village of COUERON closed to small town Saint-HERBLAIN or larger town NANTES
in french Departement called "LOIRE-ATLANTIQUE", (French Departement equivalent to US County) - Number 44
in french region "BRETAGNE" (French Region is equivalent to US State)
"Les BOUILLONS" : Small Hamlet from the village of CHAMPNIERS closed to small town CHARROUX or larger town POITIERS
in french Departement called "VIENNE", (French Departement equivalent to US County) - Number 86
in french region "POITOU-CHARENTE" (French Region is equivalent to US State)
"Les BOUILLONS" : Small Hamlet from the village of LANTIC closed to small town CHATELAUDREN or larger town Saint-BRIEUC
in french Departement called "COTES d'ARMOR", (French Departement equivalent to US County) - Number 22
in french region "BRETAGNE" (French Region is equivalent to US State)
"Les BOUILLONS" : Small Hamlet from the village of Saint-VERAIN closed to small town COSNE-sur-LOIRE or larger town AUXERRE
in french Departement called "NIEVRE", (French Departement equivalent to US County) - Number 58
in french region "BOURGOGNE" (French Region is equivalent to US State)
"Les BOUILLONS" : Small Hamlet from the village of EPINEU-le-CHEVREUIL closed to small town Sainte-SUZANNE or larger town LE MANS
in french Departement called "SARTHE", (French Departement equivalent to US County) - Number 71
in french region "PAYS DE LOIRE" (French Region is equivalent to US State)
"Les BOUILLONS" : Small Hamlet from the village of ORGEVAL closed to small town POISSY or larger town PARIS
in french Departement called "YVELINES", (French Departement equivalent to US County) - Number 78
in french region "ILE DE FRANCE" (French Region is equivalent to US State)
"BOUILLON" : one of the two water spring of the river LOIRET in France
Now If these data may help you to break some walls of unknow territory where you could find older ancestor, i woill be glad to have helped you.
But that is just the beginning of another story for you...
By the way...my name is Patrick BOUILLON,
I am a 40 years old French Microelectronics Engineer working on an IBM plant in the vincinity of Paris, leaving in Fontainebleau, 25 miles south of Paris, but coming,genealogically speaking, from Burgundy.
I have myself a genealogical search ongoing, which is going back to the 1550, with an oldest known ancestor being Jean Bouillon, a protestant and a merchand living in the burgundian town of Paray-le-Monial, 50 Miles North-West from Lyon.
One of the branch issued from one of its son sticked to the protestant religion and the descendant flew to Germany in 1686, and I am still searching to contact german genealogists that could have done sone genealogy studies tracking back their ancestor up to one Jean Bouillon, Surgeon in Berlin in 1700, or one Esaye Bouillon, Glover in Berlin, his brother
The second Branch issued from another son, leaved the protestant religion, under the pressure of all the persecutions agaist the protestant between 1650 and 1686 in France. I am a descendant of this Branch, which is holding actually 600 hundred Bouillon in Charollais County.
The best assumptions I have for identifying the roots of this Jean Bouillon of 1560, being my oldest ancestor, is that is coming from the hamlet "Bouillon" from the village of ARCINGES closed to small town CHARLIEU, place being only 20 miles distant.(as described above)
Feel free to contact me if you want, I speak/type French and English fluently, but I can read also German...
You have my e-mail.
Good Search or Quest to all of you
More Replies:
-
Re: To every one that might be interested by the Bouillon family name...
Carolyn Green 6/29/05
-
Re: To every one that might be interested by the Bouillon family name...
debbie boullion 10/16/05
-
Re: To every one that might be interested by the Bouillon family name...
-
Re: To every one that might be interested by the Bouillon family name...
john bouillon 11/09/04
-
Re: To every one that might be interested by the Bouillon family name...
Betty Bouillon 11/28/03
-
A way for searching genealogical online database of the Lyon area
Patrick BOUILLON 11/29/03
-
Re: A way for searching genealogical online database of the Lyon area
Betty Bouillon 11/30/03
-
Re: A way for searching genealogical online database of the Lyon area
-
Re: To every one that might be interested by the Bouillon family name...
Patrick BOUILLON 11/29/03
-
A way for searching genealogical online database of the Lyon area