Seyssel

Seyssel is an ancient French family which is first mentioned in Savoy in the thirteenth century and probably dates back some time earlier. The name derives from city of Seyssel, and the family's various branches held the titles of viscounts, earls, barons and marquises over the course of time. Its members were positioned in the first rank at the court of the Counts of Savoy and the bishops of Geneva. Today there are branches of the Seyssel in Italy, Bavaria, Austria and France. History Origins In a history of the Seyssel family, Count Marc de Seyssel-Cressieu (1861-1922) considers it quite possible that the family is related to an early lord of Aix-les-Bains Gauthier d'Aix (Galterius de Aquis) who in 1097 was a witness to a donation made by Humbert II, Count of Savoy to the priory of Bourget. However other Savoy historians question this link maintaining that the Aix title was in the gift of the crown, a view supported by the authors of Histoire des communes savoyardes. Some writers suggest that it may have been a cadet branch of the House of Savoy.