SAGAN
"Sagan is a Silesian Principality. The Emperor Ferdinand II sold it in 1627 to the famous Wallenstein. In 1646 Prince Lubkowitz became the purchaser of it, and from his descendants Peter Biten, Duke of Courland, bought it. At his death (1800) it passed to his eldest daughter, the Princess Catherine Wilhelmine, whose third husband was Count Charles Rodolph von Schulenberg. When she died in 1839, the duchy passed into the hands of her sister Pauline, Princess of Hohenzollern-Hechingen, who sold it to the third daughter of Peter Biren, Dorothea, Duchesse de Talleyrand. The Duchess died on the 19th of September, 1862, leaving her principality to her son, Prince Napoleon Louis de Talleyrand, Duc de Sagan and Valencay, born 12th March, 1812. (Talleyrand-Perigord, p. 43)
"SAGAN, a mediatised principality in Lower Silesia, 450 square miles in extent, with 42,000 inhabitants, is a circle of the government of Liegnitz in that province. It was originally a part of the principality of Glogau, and in consequence of a partition between the sons of Henry VIII., in 1395, it had princes of its own. It came afterwards to the crown of Bohemia, and was given by the emperor Ferdinand II. to the celebrated Wallenstein, after whose murder it reverted to the crown. It was sold in 1646 to Prince Lobkowilz, from whose family it was purchased, in 1786, for 1,100,000 florins, by Peter Biron, duke of Courland, on whose death, in 1800, it fell to his eldest daughter and heiress, Catherine, princess of Courland, who took the title of duchess of Sagan...." (Penny Cyclopedia, p. 309)
Area: 450 sq. mi.
Territorial Development & Dynastic History
?: To Duchy of Glogau
1395: Sagan created in consequence of a partition between the sons of Heinrich VIII
1397: Sagan was created out of a portion of Glogau
?: To Crown of Bohemia
1627: Albrecht of Wallenstein bought Sagan from the Emperor Ferdinand II
1634: To Crown of Bohemia after Wallenstein's death
1646: Purchased by Prince Lobkowitz
1786: Purchased by Peter Biron, Duke of Courland, from Prince Lobkowitz for 1.1M florins
?: Inherited by Duke Peter's eldest daughter, Catherine, who took the title of Duchess of Sagan
1843: Inherited by Dorothea, youngest daughter of Peter Biron of Courland. She married Edmond de Talleyrand.
1845: Dorothea invested as Duchess of Sagan by Friedrich Wilhelm IV of Prussia
?: Napoleon III of France recognized the title in France in favour of Dorothea's son Louis de Talleyrand
Reference
The Penny Cyclopaedia of the Society for the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge
