Guillebert de Lannoy (also Gilbert, Guilbert or Ghillebert; 1386–1462), was a Flemish traveler and diplomat, chamberlain to the duke of Burgundy, governor of the fort of

Sluys Sluis (; zea, label=Zeelandic, Sluus ; french: Écluse) is a town and municipality located in the west of Zeelandic Flanders, in the south-western Dutch province of Zeeland. The current incarnation of the municipality has existed since 1 January ...

, and a knight of the Golden Fleece. He was the son of Guillebert I de Lannoy and Catherine of Molembais. He was a member of the noble

de Lannoy De Lannoy or Delannoy is a surname, and may refer to; ;Noble Belgian House of Lannoy: * Jean de Lannoy * Baldwin of Lannoy * Hugo van Lannoy * Guillebert de Lannoy, soldier, traveller and diplomat * Charles de Lannoy, 1st Prince of Sulmona: soldi ...

family. His brothers were

Hugo of Lannoy Hugo van Lannoy (French: 'Hue' or 'Hugues de Lannoy'; 1384 – 1 May 1456), Lord of Santes, was a Flemish statesman in the service of the Dukes of Burgundy, most notably Philip III who founded the Order of the Golden Fleece. Biography He was a ...

and Baldwin of Lannoy, also founding Knights of the Golden Fleece. Guillebert first served

Jean de Werchin Jean III de Werchin (1374 – 25 October 1415), called the Good (''le Bon''), was a knight errant and poet from the County of Hainaut in the Holy Roman Empire. In 1383 his father died and he inherited the baronies of Werchin, Walincourt and Cysoi ...

, seneschal of Hainaut, and accompanied him to the East and to Spain. He then served John the Fearless in his war against the Prince-Bishopric of Liège and the Armagnac–Burgundian Civil War. He then joined the Teutonic Knights in the Polish–Lithuanian–Teutonic War. Guillebert also fought in 1415 against the English in the Battle of Azincourt or Agincourt, where he was wounded and captured. In the service of

Philip the Good Philip III (french: Philippe le Bon; nl, Filips de Goede; 31 July 1396 – 15 June 1467) was Duke of Burgundy from 1419 until his death. He was a member of a cadet line of the Valois dynasty, to which all 15th-century kings of France belonge ...

, he discharged several diplomatic missions in France, England (as Ambassador to

Henry V of England Henry V (16 September 1386 – 31 August 1422), also called Henry of Monmouth, was King of England and Lord of Ireland from 1413 until his death in 1422. Despite his relatively short reign, Henry's outstanding military successes in the ...

), Teutonic Knights, Poland, Grand Duchy of Lithuania, and

Grand Duchy of Moscow The Grand Duchy of Moscow, Muscovite Russia, Muscovite Rus' or Grand Principality of Moscow (russian: Великое княжество Московское, Velikoye knyazhestvo Moskovskoye; also known in English simply as Muscovy from the Lati ...

and was one of the negotiators of the Treaty of Troyes (1420). In 1421 he was sent by

Palestine __NOTOC__ Palestine may refer to: * State of Palestine, a state in Western Asia * Palestine (region), a geographic region in Western Asia * Palestinian territories, territories occupied by Israel since 1967, namely the West Bank (including East ...

to inquire into the possibility of reviving the Kingdom of Jerusalem, and wrote an account of his travels, ''Les Pelerinages de Surye et de Egipte'', which was published in 1826 and again in 1842. His travels in the Baltic region and Russia are recounted in his book ''Voyages et Ambassades'', published in Mons in 1840 with subsequent editions. Around 1440 Lannoy wrote ''L'Instruction de josne prince'' ("Advice for a Young Prince"), which he dressed up with a fictional origin in the court of Norway "long, long ago", followed by a rediscovery of the manuscript text. The

dedication miniature A presentation miniature or dedication miniature is a miniature painting often found in illuminated manuscripts, in which the patron or donor is presented with a book, normally to be interpreted as the book containing the miniature itself.Brown ...

in Charles the Bold's copy of 1468-70 illustrates the Norwegian story, but using up-to-date Burgundian costume and, it seems, the faces of the ducal family. Charles, around seven when the work was written, had no doubt always been the young prince Lannoy had in mind.Kren & McKendrick, 235-237

Notes

References

* * * Oscar Halecki, "Gilbert de Lannoy and His Discovery of East Central Europe" ''Bulletin of the Polish Institute of Arts & Sciences in America'', 2:2 (1944), 314-31.
Genealogie online (in Dutch)
*Kren, T. & McKendrick, Scot (eds), ''Illuminating the Renaissance – The Triumph of Flemish Manuscript Painting in Europe'', Getty Museum/Royal Academy of Arts, 2003, * {{DEFAULTSORT:Lannoy, Guillebert de 1386 births 1462 deaths 15th-century diplomats 15th-century soldiers Burgundian knights Lannoy Guillebert Nobility of the Burgundian Netherlands