Page "Peerage of France" Paragraph 53

The number of lay peerages increased over time from 7 in 1297 to 26 in 1400, 21 in 1505, and 24 in 1588.

By 1789, there were 43, including five held by princes of the blood ( Orléans, Condé, Bourbon, Enghien, and Conti ), ( Penthièvre ) ( who was the son of a legitimized prince, the Count of Toulouse, also a pair de France ), and 37 other lay peers, ranking from the Duchy of Uzès, created in 1572, to the Duchy of Aubigny, created in 1787.