Jeanne de Clisson (1300–1359), also known as Jeanne de Belleville and the Lioness of Brittany, was a French–Breton noblewoman who became a privateer to avenge her husband after he was executed for treason by King Philip VI of France. She crossed the English Channel, targeted French ships, and regularly slaughtered almost their entire crew. It was her practice to leave at least one sailor alive to carry her message of vengeance.
Early life Jeanne Louise de Belleville, de Clisson, Dame de Montaigu, was born in 1300 in Belleville-sur-Vie (Belleville on the river Vie) in the Vendée in the Gâtine Vendéenne on the French side of the border with the Duchy of Brittany. She was a daughter of nobleman Maurice IV Montaigu of Belleville and Palluau (1263–1304) and Létice de Parthenay of Parthenay (1276–?).
As a seigneur family in the Bas-Poitou area, the de Montaigu family would have had direct or indirect business in winemaking, salt farming, and the merchant movements of these goods to and from markets as far as the Iberian Peninsula and up towards England. This would have included contacts with merchant shipping along the river Vie and along the coast of Poitou and Brittany with an island stronghold at Yeu.Heebøll-Holm, Thomas, K. Ports, piracy, and maritime war: piracy in the English Channel and the Atlantic, c. 1280 – c. 1330 / by Thomas K. Heebøll-Holm. Hajdu, R. "Family and Feudal Ties in Poitou, 1100–1300", The Journal of Interdisciplinary History, Vol. 8, No. 1 (Summer, 1977), pp. 117–139 (23 pages) The MIT Press
Jeanne's father died when she was four years old and there are no known records indicating that her mother remarried. It also appears she was born from her father's second marriage, as some records suggest he was previously married to Sibille of Châteaubriant. This alliance had apparently produced a son, Maurice V Montaigu. In 1320(?), on the death of her half-brother Maurice V, Jeanne inherited the seigneury of Montaigu and that of Belleville, as he had no heirs.vendeens-archives.vendee.fr
First marriage In 1312, Jeanne, aged about 12 years old, married her first husband, 19-year-old Geoffrey de Châteaubriant VIII (died 1326),Sumption, The Hundred Years War, 55 and Charles Goude, Histoire de Chateaubriant. Baronnie, Ville & Paroisse (rennes: Oberthur et fils, 1870) 33 a Breton nobleman, who himself was already a widower to Alix de Thouars. They had two children:
Geoffrey IX (1314–1347), inherited his father's estates as Baron, died in the Battle of La Roche-Derrien Louise (1316–1383), married Guy XII de Laval and subsequently inherited her brother's estate as Baroness.Buffé, Marcel (1983). Châteaubriant, une cité dans l'histoire – De la préhistoire à nos jours. Éditions Cid. p. 15.Ville de Châteaubriant (ed.). "Castelbus". Archived from the original on 2012-12-28. Retrieved 2013-02-18.
Second marriage In 1328, Jeanne married Guy de Penthièvre of the House of Penthièvre, widower of Joan of Avaugour and second son of the Duke of Brittany. Jeanne may have done this to protect her underage children.
The union was short-lived, as relatives of the ducal familyin particular, from the de Blois factionlaid a complaint with the bishops of Vannes and Rennes to protect their heritage, and an investigation was conducted on 10 February 1330, resulting in the marriage being annulled by Pope John XXII.On 10 February 1330, in Avignon, at the request of Guy de Bretagne, Pope Jean XXII appointed the bishops of Rennes and Vannes to investigate the alleged marriage which was allegedly contracted in 1328 by Jeanne de Belleville, widow of the Lord of Chateaubriant, and Guy de Bretagne, seigneur de Penthievre (Mollat, G., op cit, pj, no II pp. 49–50. See also Jean XXII (1316–1334) Lettres secretes et curiales relating to France, by Coulon, A. and Clemencet, S.) If Jeanne could not deny Guy's words. Guy could remarry (Mollat, G. op. Cit., p. 47) A little later, on 30 April 1330, Jeanne de Belleville, widow of Geoffroy de Chateaubriant, asked the Holy See for a dispensation to marry Olivier de Clisson (Mollat, G. op cit, p. 47 after Vatican Register, no 95, Lettres commune 81. See John XXII (1316–1334). Joint letters analyzed according to the so-called Avignon or Vatican registers, by Mollat, G. 1921–1947)
Guy then married into the de Blois faction to Marie de Blois, who was also a niece of Philip VI of France. Guy died unexpectedly on 26 March 1331, and his heritage passed to his daughter Jeanne of Penthièvre.Everard, Judith. Aristocratic Assemblies in Brittany, 1066–1203, Publisher: Brepols Publishers, Published: January 2003, , pp115–131
Marriage to Olivier IV de Clisson In 1330, Jeanne married Olivier IV de Clisson, a wealthy Breton who held a castle at Clisson, a manor house in Nantes, and lands at Blain. Olivier was initially married to Blanche de Bouville (died 1329). Olivier had a son, Jean, from this first marriage, who would go on to inherit his mother's lands as the Lord of Milly, near Paris.
Jeanne, a recent widow herself of the Lord of Châteaubriant, controlled areas in Poitou just south of the Breton border from Beauvoir-sur-Mer in the west to Châteaumur in the southeast of Clisson. In the marriage contract, there is evidence of Jeanne ensuring that the inheritances of her children from her previous marriage were legally secured. Combining these assets made Jeanne and Olivier the seigneurial power (senior Lord of an area)Morvan 71 Footnote 29, chapter 2 in the border region of Brittany. Jeanne and Olivier eventually had five children:
Isabeau (1330-1343), born out of wedlock (shortly before marriage to Olivier), she eventually married John I of Rieux and therefore was mother of Jean II de Rieux Maurice (1333–1334), in Blain Olivier V (1336–1407), his father's successor, a future Constable of France, nicknamed "The Butcher"Henneman, John Bell, Olivier de Clisson and Political Society in France Under Charles V and Charles VI, University of Pennsylvania Press, The Middle Ages Series, 1996, 336 pages Guillaume (1338–1345), died of exposure Jeanne (1340–?), married Jean Harpedanne, Lord of Montendre IV's successor
Jeanne at one point took Olivier to court with regard to access to remuneration from his estates as had been agreed upon in the marriage contract. This case was heard by King Philip VI, who found in her favour, as witnesses confirmed such promises had occurred. It appears this issue was resolved amicably.The said lord, by his oath given before us, would answer us whether these things were true. He replied and recorded by his oath that the said proprieties and gifts were true and who wanted to hold and accomplish them in good faith, and by what communion has usually engendered dissension and intrigue, the said lord, delivered and assigned from now on the said lady for the said third party. Historical Archives of Poitou, 13:110
Breton War of Succession During the Breton War of Succession, the de Clissons sided with the French choice for the vacant Breton ducal crown, Charles de Blois, against the English preference, John de Montfort. The extended de Clisson family was not in full agreement in this matter, and Olivier IV's brother, Amaury de Clisson, embraced the de Montfort party whilst his other brother, Garnier de Clisson, had defended Brest against the de Montforts.
In January 1342, the de Clisson castle of Blain was chosen as headquarters by Robert Bertrand, the French King's Lieutenant sent to aid Charles de Blois.
In 1342, the English, after four attempts, captured the city of Vannes. Jeanne's husband Olivier and Hervé VII de Léon, the military commanders defending this city, were captured. Olivier was the only one released after an exchange for Ralph de Stafford, 1st Earl of Stafford (a prisoner of the French), and a surprisingly low sum was demanded. This led Olivier to be subsequently suspected of not having defended the city to his fullest and to be accused by Charles de Blois of being a traitor.
Tournament and trial On 19 January 1343, the Truce of Malestroit was signed between England and France. Under the perceived safe conditions of this truce, Olivier and fifteen other Breton and Norman lords were invited to a tournament on French soil, where he was subsequently arrested, taken to Paris and tried by his peers. André Duchesne, writing 300 years later claims that the evidence was private correspondence between King Edward with these lords to convince them to change allegiances, which was contrary to the Ninth Article of the Truce, i.e. That no-one in the obedience of one King, at the time of Truce, should put himself under the obedience of the other, while it continued.
Failed rescue attempt Jeanne tried in vain to have Olivier set free. She seems to have tried to bribe a King's sergeant.On 12 March 1343, it was decided that Pierre Nicolas, the King's sergeant, detained at the Chatelet in Paris for having at the request of the Lady of Bellville, the Sire de Clisson hampered the execution, would be extended until further notice. His statement was made in front of Robert Mulet and were in the hands of master Guillaume de Dol. He was only, for the moment, suspended from his office. (Arche. Nat. X2A4, no 4097 G. Journa: Acts of the Parliament of Paris, Criminal Parliament. Reign of Philippe 6 de Valois. Analytical inventory of registers X2A to 5, by Brigitte Labat-Poussin, Monique Langlois and Yvonne Lanhers, Paris, 1987, p. 177) Jeanne was therefore summoned to answer charges of rebellion, disobedience, and excesses against the King.
Jeanne managed to evade arrest as she was being protected by Jean de Clisson (Olivier's eldest son from his first marriage, at the time the Lord of Milly, a castle about 55 km east of Paris) and accompanied by Guilaume Bérard, Jeanne's squire and valet, Guionnet de Fay, and Guillaume Denart.Cazelles, R. Political society and the crisis of royalty under Philippe VI Valois, Paris, 1958 Jean himself took refuge in Brittany after this and died soon after. Jeanne ignored the summons and was found guilty in absentia in June 1343.French Arch-Nat. Reg. X 2 a 4; f. 209 v°
Execution On 2 August 1343, Olivier IV was executed by beheading at Les Halles.
In the year of our Grace one thousand three hundred and forty-three, on Saturday, the second day of August, Olivier, Lord of Clisson, knight, prisoner in the Chatelet of Paris for several treasons and other crimes perpetrated by him against the king and the crown of France, and for alliances that he made with the king of England, enemy of the king and kingdom of France, as the said Olivier ... has confessed, was by judgement of the king given at Orleans drawn from the Chatelet of Paris to Les Halles ... and there on a scaffold had his head cut off. From there, his corpse was drawn to the gibbet of Paris and there hanged on the highest level, and his head was sent to Nantes in Brittany to be put on a lance over the city's Sauvetout Gate as a warning to others.The Law of Treason and Treason Trials in Later Medieval France (Cambridge Studies in Medieval Life and Thought: Third Series). 18 December 2003.
This execution shocked the nobility, as the evidence of guilt was not publicly demonstrated and the process of desecrating/exposing a body was reserved mainly for low-class criminals. The execution was judged harshly by Jean Froissart and his contemporaries.
Evading arrest On 26 August 1343, for her attempted bribery of the King's sergeant, Jeanne was also charged with the crime of lèse-majesté and subsequently sentenced to banishment, with confiscation of her property.
Head on the pike Jeanne took her two young sons, Olivier and Guillaume, from Clisson to Nantes, to show them the head of their father displayed at the Sauvetout gate.
Jeanne, enraged by her husband's execution, swore retribution against King Philip VI and Charles de Blois. She considered their actions a cowardly murder.
Piracy and later life