BREZE, the name of an Angevin noble family, the most fa mous member of which was PIERRE DE BREZE (? 1410-1465) , one of the trusted soldiers and statesmen of Charles VII. He had made his name as a soldier in the English wars, and during the Praguerie he supported the royal cause against the dauphin Louis and the revolted nobles, a service which was remembered against him after Louis's accession to the throne. He fought against the Eng lish in Normandy in 1440-41, and in Guienne in 1442. He be came chamberlain to Charles VII., and gained the chief power in the State through the influence of Agnes Sorel. The six years of his ascendancy were the most prosperous period of the reign of Charles VII. The dauphin Louis in 1448 brought against him accusations which led to a formal trial, resulting in a complete exoneration of Breze and his restoration to favour. He fought in Normandy in 1450-51, and became seneschal of the province after the death of Agnes Sorel and the consequent de cline of his influence at court. He made an ineffective descent on the English coast at Sandwich in 1457, and was preparing an expedition in favour of Margaret of Anjou when the accession of Louis XI. brought him disgrace and a short imprisonment. In 1462 he accompanied Margaret to Scotland with a force of 2,000 men, and after the battle of Hexham he brought her back to Flanders. He was reappointed seneschal of Normandy, and fell in the battle of Montlhery, July 16, 1465. He was succeeded as seneschal by his eldest son Jacques de Breze (c. 1440-90), count of Maulevrier ; and by his grandson, husband of the famous Diane de Poitiers, Louis de Breze (d. 1531).
The lordship of Breze passed eventually to Claire Clemente de Maille, princess of Conde, by whom it was sold to Thomas Dreux, who took the name of Dreux Breze, when it was erected into a marquisate. HENRI EVRARD marquis de Dreux Breze, succeeded his father as master of the ceremonies to Louis XVI. in 1731. On the meeting of the states-general in 1789 it fell to him to regulate the questions of etiquette and precedence be tween the three estates. Breze did not formally intimate to President Bailly the proclamation of the royal séance until June 20, when the carpenters were about to enter the hall to prepare for the event, thus provoking the session in the tennis court. After the royal seance Breze was sent to reiterate Louis's orders that the estates should meet separately, when Mirabeau replied that the hall could not be cleared except by force. After the fall of the Tuileries Breze emigrated for a short time. At the restora tion he was made a peer of France, and resumed his functions as guardian of an antiquated ceremonial. He died on Jan. 27, 1829, when he was succeeded in the peerage and at court by his son Scipion The best contemporary account of Pierre de Breze is given in the Chroniques of the Burgundian chronicler, Georges Chastellain, who had been his secretary. Chastellain addressed a Deprecation to Louis XI. on his behalf at the time of his disgrace.