The Huguenot Bartholomew Dupuy and his descendants

THE NAME DUPUY IN FRANCE. 87
posed mainly of the nobility and middle C hap. i.
classes, with few adlierents from the lower
class. About one-third of their strength was
from the nobility— gentlemen of letters, chief
burgesses of cities, wealthy families, and soldiers
of rank and long experience. Some of
the noblest families of France have been those
whose names adorned Huguenot history, and
for centuries prior to the Reformation, their
names had become famed for distinguished
services.
One of these old-famed French names is
Du Puy. It is mentioned in the history of
the country in the eleventh century, and was
found in the southeastern section. In that
locality is Le Puy, 270 miles a little southeast
of Paris, and the capital town of the department
of Haute-Loire, province of Languedoc.
In the 10th century it was called Podium LePuy.
Sanctae Mariae^ whence Le Puy. It sent the
flower of its chivalry to the crusades in 1096. ^^^^^
Joining Haute-Loire on the northwest is the
department of Puy de Dome, province of
Auvergne.
Both of these departments are in the high- Origin of
est mountainous region of France and as it
puy,"
was from that section the name Du Ptcy first
appeared, in two words, in history, the topography
of the country must have given rise to
the name— '^Du,'^ meaning, ''of the," and
**Puy" (old French), meaning, "mountain."
Louis Moreri (1643-80), a French historian,
says: ''Du Puy is an old house, prolific of
illustrious men. It is almost certain it had
its origin in France."
It was in 1033, that the two Burgundies of
France, frequently called the kingdom of