BRISSAC, DUKES OF. The fief of Brissac in Anjou was acquired at the end of the 15th century by a noble French family named Cosse belonging to the same province. Brissac was made a countship in I 56o for Charles de Cosse, who was grand master of artillery and governor of Piedmont and of Picardy. The second Charles de Cosse fought for the League and as governor of Paris opened the gates of that town to Henry IV., who created him marshal of France in 1594. Brissac was raised to a duchy in the peerage of France in 1611. Louis Hercule Timoleon de Cosse, duc de Brissac and commandant of the constitutional guard of Louis XVI., was killed at Versailles on Sept. 9, 1792.