Armes Du Merle- Armorial Lebreton XIIIeme

Foulques or Foucaud du Merle (died 1314) was a

Marshal of France Marshal of France (french: Maréchal de France, plural ') is a French military distinction, rather than a military rank, that is awarded to generals for exceptional achievements. The title has been awarded since 1185, though briefly abolished (1 ...

Seigneur ''Seigneur'' is an originally feudal title in France before the Revolution, in New France and British North America until 1854, and in the Channel Islands to this day. A seigneur refers to the person or collective who owned a ''seigneurie'' (or ...

Gacé Gacé () is a commune in the Orne department in Lower-Normandy, north-western France. Population Heraldry Administration Twin towns * Kinross, Perth & Kinross, Scotland See also * Communes of the Orne department The following is a ...

and

Bellou-en-Houlme Bellou-en-Houlme is a commune in the Orne department in northwestern France. Population See also *Communes of the Orne department The following is a list of the 385 communes of the Orne department of France. The communes cooperate in the ...

, and Baron of

Le Merlerault Le Merlerault () is a commune in the Orne department in north-western France. Heraldry See also * Communes of the Orne department The following is a list of the 385 communes of the Orne department of France. The communes cooperate in the f ...

Briouze Briouze () is a Communes of France, commune in the Orne Departments of France, department of Normandy (administrative region), Normandy in northwestern France. It is considered the capital of the ''pays d'Houlme'' at the western end of the Orne in ...

and

Messei Messei () is a commune in the Orne department in north-western France. See also *Communes of the Orne department The following is a list of the 385 communes of the Orne department of France. The communes cooperate in the following intercomm ...

. Du Merle was the son of Guillaume VI du Merle and Marie de Nollent. He served Philip III and

Philip IV Philip IV may refer to: * Philip IV of Macedon (died 297 BC) * Philip IV of France (1268–1314), Avignon Papacy * Philip IV of Burgundy or Philip I of Castile (1478–1506) * Philip IV, Count of Nassau-Weilburg (1542–1602) * Philip IV of Spain ...

as a

knight banneret A knight banneret, sometimes known simply as banneret, was a medieval knight ("a commoner of rank") who led a company of troops during time of war under his own banner (which was square-shaped, in contrast to the tapering standard or the penn ...

. In 1302 he was made Marshal of France by Philip IV following the deaths of

Simon de Melun Simon de Melun (1250 – 11 July 1302 in Kortrijk) was a Marshal of France killed in the Battle of the Golden Spurs. He was a younger son of Viscount Adam II of Melun and Constance of Sancerre. From his mother, he inherited the castles of L ...

and

Guy I of Clermont Guy I of Clermont-Nesle (c. 1255 – 11 July 1302) was a Marshal of France, Seigneur (Lord) of Offemont ''jure uxoris'', and possibly of Ailly, Maulette and Breteuil. He might have been a Seigneur of Nesle also, or used the title "Sire of Nesle" ...

at the

Battle of the Golden Spurs The Battle of the Golden Spurs ( nl, Guldensporenslag; french: Bataille des éperons d'or) was a military confrontation between the royal army of France and rebellious forces of the County of Flanders on 11 July 1302 during the Franco-Flemis ...

, in which du Merle had also fought. In June 1303 du Merle led a force of 1,400 soldiers to bolster the defenders of

Tournai Tournai or Tournay ( ; ; nl, Doornik ; pcd, Tornai; wa, Tornè ; la, Tornacum) is a city and municipality of Wallonia located in the province of Hainaut, Belgium. It lies southwest of Brussels on the river Scheldt. Tournai is part of Euromet ...

. He fought alongside the king at the

Battle of Mons-en-Pévèle The Battle of Mons-en-Pévèle (or Pevelenberg) was fought on 18 August 1304 between the French and the Flemish. The French were led by their king, Philip IV. Prelude The French king wanted revenge for the defeat in Battle of the Golden Spu ...

in 1304 and following the battle negotiated for France with

Philip of Chieti {{no footnotes, date=November 2012 Philip of Chieti (1263–1308) was the 8th and youngest child of Guy, Count of Flanders and his first wife Matilda of Béthune. Philip was destined for a career in the church and studied for that purpose in Paris ...

. From 1311 to 1312 he participated in the

Council of Vienne The Council of Vienne was the fifteenth ecumenical council of the Roman Catholic Church and met between 1311 and 1312 in Vienne, France. One of its principal acts was to withdraw papal support for the Knights Templar at the instigation of Phili ...

on behalf of the French king.Yves Chiron, ''Histoire des conciles, Perrin'' (2011), p.135 Du Merle died in 1314 while leading the French army in

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 culture, ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Du Merle, Foulques Marshals of France Medieval French nobility Lords of France 13th-century births Year of birth uncertain 1314 deaths French military personnel killed in action 13th-century French people 14th-century French people 14th-century military history of France