Boffille de Juge (died 1502), French-Italian adventurer and statesman, belonged to the family of del Giudice, which came from

Amalfi Amalfi (, , ) is a town and ''comune'' in the province of Salerno, in the region of Campania, Italy, on the Gulf of Salerno. It lies at the mouth of a deep ravine, at the foot of Monte Cerreto (1,315 metres, 4,314 feet), surrounded by dramati ...

, and followed the fortunes of the

Angevin Angevin or House of Anjou may refer to: *County of Anjou or Duchy of Anjou, a historical county, and later Duchy, in France **Angevin (language), the traditional langue d'oïl spoken in Anjou **Counts and Dukes of Anjou * House of Ingelger, a Frank ...

dynasty. When John of Anjou, duke of Calabria, was conquered in Italy (1461) and fled to Provence, Boffille followed him. He was given by Duke John and his father, King René, the charge of upholding by force of arms their claims on

Catalonia Catalonia (; ca, Catalunya ; Aranese Occitan: ''Catalonha'' ; es, Cataluña ) is an autonomous community of Spain, designated as a '' nationality'' by its Statute of Autonomy. Most of the territory (except the Val d'Aran) lies on the nort ...

. This cites: * P. M. Perret, ''Boffille de Juge, comte de Castres, et la république de Venise'' (1891) * F. Pasquier, ''Inventaire des documents concernant Boffille de Juge'' (1905).

Louis XI Louis XI (3 July 1423 – 30 August 1483), called "Louis the Prudent" (french: le Prudent), was King of France from 1461 to 1483. He succeeded his father, Charles VII. Louis entered into open rebellion against his father in a short-lived revol ...

, who had joined his troops to those of the princes of

Anjou Anjou may refer to: Geography and titles France * County of Anjou, a historical county in France and predecessor of the Duchy of Anjou **Count of Anjou, title of nobility *Duchy of Anjou, a historical duchy and later a province of France **Duk ...

, attached Boffille to his own person, made him his chamberlain and conferred on him the vice-royalty of Roussillon and Cerdanya (1471), together with certain important lordships, among others the county of

Castres Castres (; ''Castras'' in the Languedocian dialect of Occitan) is the sole subprefecture of the Tarn department in the Occitanie region in Southern France. It lies in the former province of Languedoc, although not in the former region of Lan ...

, confiscated from

Jacques d'Armagnac Jacques d'Armagnac (4 August 1477), duke of Nemours, was the son of Bernard d'Armagnac, count of Pardiac, and Eleanor of Bourbon-La Marche. As the Count of Castres, Jacques served under Charles VII of France in Normandy in 1449 and 1450, and af ...

duke of Nemours Duke of Nemours was a title in the Peerage of France. The name refers to Nemours in the Île-de-France region of north-central France. History In the 12th and 13th centuries, the Lordship of Nemours, in the Gatinais, France, was a possession of t ...

(1476), and the temporalities of the bishopric of Castres, confiscated from John of Armagnac. He also entrusted him with diplomatic negotiations with

Flanders Flanders (, ; Dutch: ''Vlaanderen'' ) is the Flemish-speaking northern portion of Belgium and one of the communities, regions and language areas of Belgium. However, there are several overlapping definitions, including ones related to cultu ...

and

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

. In 1480 Boffille married Marie d'Albret, sister of

Alain I of Albret Alain I of Albret (1440–1522), called "The Great", was a powerful French aristocrat. He was 16th Lord of Albret, Viscount of Tartas, the 2nd Count of Graves and the Count of Castres. He was the son of Catherine de Rohan and Jean I of Albret.Ach ...

''le Grand'', thus confirming the feudal position which the king had given him in the south. He was appointed as one of the judges in the trial of

René of Alençon René ('' born again'' or ''reborn'' in French) is a common first name in French-speaking, Spanish-speaking, and German-speaking countries. It derives from the Latin name Renatus. René is the masculine form of the name (Renée being the feminin ...

, and showed such zeal in the discharge of his functions that Louis XI rewarded him by fresh gifts. However, the bishop of Castres recovered his

diocese In church governance, a diocese or bishopric is the ecclesiastical district under the jurisdiction of a bishop. History In the later organization of the Roman Empire, the increasingly subdivided provinces were administratively associa ...

(1483), and the heirs of the duke of Nemours took legal proceedings for the recovery of the county of Castres. Boffille, with the object of escaping from his enemies, applied for the command of the armies of the republic of

Venice Venice ( ; it, Venezia ; vec, Venesia or ) is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto region. It is built on a group of 118 small islands that are separated by canals and linked by over 400 bridges. The isla ...

. His application was refused, and he further lost the viceroyalty of Roussillon (1491). His daughter Louise married against his will a gentleman of no rank, and this led to terrible family dissensions. In order to disinherit his own family, Boffille de Juge gave up the county of Castres to his brother-in-law, Alain d'Albret (1494). He died in 1502.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Juge, Boffille 15th-century births 1502 deaths Counts of Castres 15th-century Italian nobility