Counts of Blois

Count of Blois
Arms of the House of Blois
Creation date	832
Created by	Louis the Pious
Peerage	Nobility of France
First holder	William, Count of Blois
Last holder	Gaston, Duke of Orléans
Subsidiary titles	Count of Châteaudun Count of Chartres (until 1286) Count of Dunois (from 1241) Lord of Avesnes (from 1241)
Status	Dissolved
Extinction date	1660
Seat(s)	Château of Blois

During the Middle Ages, the counts of Blois were among the most powerful vassals of the King of France.

This title of nobility seems to have been created in 832 by Emperor Louis the Pious for Count William, the youngest son of Adrian, Count of Orléans. Over a few decades, the county was gathered to the royal lands of France until the end of the 9th century, before being relegated to the status of viscount.

From its autonomy around 940 to the definitive integration to the Dukedom of Orleans in 1397, the county was directed by the son of the last viscount's descendants, Theobald I. His descendants, called House of Blois ended up related to a large number of European noble families.

In 1397, the title was ceded by Count Guy II in the favor of Duke Louis I of Orléans, who was the second son of King Charles V. The very last hereditary count of Blois was his grandson, Duke Louis II, who annexed the county to the Crown lands of France when he was crowned King of France in 1498 under the name of Louis XII.

The title reappeared in 1626 when Duke Gaston of Orléans was offered a newly independent County of Blois from Orléans, but King Louis XIV refused this favor to his brother, Duke Philippe, when he received the traditional apanage in 1660.