LOUIS XVIII (1755-1824)

Letters patent of ennoblement by King Louis XVIII for Capitaine de Vaisseau Jacques Epron-Desjardins (1766-1837), dated December 16, 1815 and accompanied by an impression of the royal seal in green wax depicting Louis XVIII in coronation robes and seated on the throne, on one side, and his arms crowned and surmounting the Order of the Holy Spirit, on the other, in his pewter box. The King's declaration stipulates that the naval officer may "take the quality of squire for himself and all his descendants", and his coat of arms is described as "Azure, a mast bored argent, the sail of the same charged with the letter M sable and between two mullets or: the shield stamped with a helmet tared in profile adorned with its mantling", and is painted polychrome in the upper left-hand corner. The declaration is addressed to the Royal Court of Rennes, and bears the autograph signatures of Louis XVIII "Louis" and twice that of the Keeper of the Seals of France, François Barbé-Marbois (1745-1837). Flat vellum leaf. Seal diameter: 12.5 cm. History Jacques Epron-Desjardins commanded L'Argonaute, a seventy-four-gun ship of the line, at the time of the Trafalgar defeat in 1798, which brought him dishonor in Bonaparte's eyes. Having attained the rank of Capitaine de vaisseau and been named Chevalier de la Légion d'Honneur in 1804, he was again promoted to officer and awarded the Ordre de Saint-Louis in 1814. At the start of the Restoration, he was knighted by Louis XVIII on December 16, 1815. He ended his naval career as Rear Admiral, and served as Mayor of Saint-Servan from 1830 to 1835.