Guy XIV de Laval, François de Montfort-Laval, (28 January 1406 – 2 September 1486, Châteaubriant), comte de Laval, baron de Vitré and of La Roche-Bernard, seigneur of Gâvre, of

Acquigny Acquigny () is a commune in the Eure department in Normandy in northern France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories i ...

, of

Tinténiac Tinténiac (; br, Tintenieg; Gallo: ''Teintenyac'') is a commune in the Ille-et-Vilaine department in Brittany in northwestern France. Population Inhabitants of Tinténiac are called ''Tinténiacais'' in French. See also *Communes of the Ill ...

, of Montfort and Gaël, of Bécherel, was a French nobleman, known for his account of

Joan of Arc Joan of Arc (french: link=yes, Jeanne d'Arc, translit= �an daʁk} ; 1412 – 30 May 1431) is a patron saint of France, honored as a defender of the French nation for her role in the siege of Orléans and her insistence on the coronat ...

. He and his brother André de Lohéac were simultaneously vassals of the

duke of Brittany This is a list of rulers of the Duchy of Brittany. In different epochs the sovereigns of Brittany were kings, princes, and dukes. The Breton ruler was sometimes elected, sometimes attained the position by conquest or intrigue, or by hereditary r ...

and of the king of France.

Life

Origins

Guy was the son of

Guy XIII de Laval Guy XIII de Laval, born Jean de Montfort, (1385- 14 August 1414, Rhodes) was seigneur of Laval and of Kergorlay. He was the son of Raoul IX de Montfort and Jeanne de Kergorlay. Guy inherited the Laval title through his marriage on 22 January ...

and Anne de Laval (1385–1466). Through his mother he was grandson of Guy XII de Laval and of Jeanne de Laval, second wife of constable

Bertrand du Guesclin Bertrand du Guesclin ( br, Beltram Gwesklin; 1320 – 13 July 1380), nicknamed "The Eagle of Brittany" or "The Black Dog of Brocéliande", was a Breton knight and an important military commander on the French side during the Hundred Years' Wa ...

. In 1420, Guy XIV, only just fourteen years old, was the second person to put his signature to the petition sent to the king of England to demand the release of

Arthur III, Duke of Brittany Arthur III ( br, Arzhur), more commonly known as Arthur de Richemont (24 August 139326 December 1458), was briefly Duke of Brittany from 1457 until his death. He is noted primarily, however, for his role as a leading military commander during ...

, the future constable, who had been a prisoner since the Battle of Agincourt. Arthur was freed in September of that year. In 1424, he accompanied Arthur to the brilliant reception he had prepared for queen

Yolande of Aragon Yolande of Aragon (11 August 1384 – 14 November 1442) was Duchess of Anjou and Countess of Provence by marriage, who acted as regent of Provence during the minority of her son. She was a daughter of John I of Aragon and his wife Violant ...

in his château d'Angers. He thus worked to detach the Breton captain from the English and bring about a rapprochement between Brittany and France.

Companion of Joan of Arc

On 8 June 1429, at Selles-en-Berry (

Selles-sur-Cher Selles-sur-Cher (, ) is a commune in the French department of Loir-et-Cher, administrative region of Centre-Val de Loire, France. The name of the commune is known internationally for its goat cheese, Selles-sur-Cher, which was first made in t ...

), he rejoined the royal army which reunited

and the

duke of Alençon Duke is a male title either of a monarch ruling over a duchy, or of a member of royalty, or nobility. As rulers, dukes are ranked below emperors, kings, grand princes, grand dukes, and sovereign princes. As royalty or nobility, they are ran ...

to seek the liberation of the Loire Valley after the raising of the

siege of Orléans The siege of Orléans (12 October 1428 – 8 May 1429) was the watershed of the Hundred Years' War between France and England. The siege took place at the pinnacle of English power during the later stages of the war. The city held strategic an ...

. He has left, in a letter to his mother, a living portrait of Joan of Arc, of whom he was a fervent admirer. They distinguished themselves at

Jargeau Jargeau () is a commune in the Loiret department in north-central France. It lies about south of Paris. Geography The town is located in the French natural region of the Loire Valley, the former province of Orleans and the urban area of Orl ...

, Beaugency, and above all Patay, where he fought in the vanguard.

Coronation of Charles VII

With his brother André de Lohéac he followed the sovereign to Reims and assisted at the coronation of Charles VII of France on 17 July 1429, replacing Philip the Good, count of Flanders (who was also the

Duke of Burgundy Duke of Burgundy (french: duc de Bourgogne) was a title used by the rulers of the Duchy of Burgundy, from its establishment in 843 to its annexation by France in 1477, and later by Holy Roman Emperors and Kings of Spain from the House of Habsburg ...

). Among the favours distributed by the king on this occasion, the territory of Laval was raised to a

count Count (feminine: countess) is a historical title of nobility in certain European countries, varying in relative status, generally of middling rank in the hierarchy of nobility. Pine, L. G. ''Titles: How the King Became His Majesty''. New York: ...

y, and Guy de Laval was made governor of Lagny in 1430.

House of Brittany

On 1 October 1430, at

Redon Redon (; ) is a commune in the Ille-et-Vilaine department in Brittany in northwestern France. It is a sub-prefecture of the department. Geography Redon borders the Morbihan and Loire-Atlantique departments. It is situated at the junction of t ...

, Guy XIV married Isabelle of Brittany (died 1444), daughter of

John VI, Duke of Brittany John V, sometimes numbered as VI, (24 December 1389 – 29 August 1442) bynamed John the Wise ( br, Yann ar Fur; french: Jean le Sage), was Duke of Brittany and Count of Montfort from 1399 to his death. His rule coincided with the height of t ...

.Diane E. Booton, ''Manuscripts, Market and the Transition to Print in Late Medieval Brittany'', (Ashgate Publishing, 2010), 147. He was betrothed, in 1420, to Marguerite of Dreux, Isabelle's sister, who had herself been betrothed to Louis III d'Anjou.

Duchy of Brittany

In 1439, he negotiated the tentative Anglo-French treaty at

Gravelines Gravelines (, ; ; ) is a commune in the Nord department in Northern France. It lies at the mouth of the river Aa southwest of Dunkirk. It was formed in the 12th century around the mouth of a canal built to connect Saint-Omer with the sea. As ...

. Guy XIV assisted at

Tours Tours ( , ) is one of the largest cities in the region of Centre-Val de Loire, France. It is the prefecture of the department of Indre-et-Loire. The commune of Tours had 136,463 inhabitants as of 2018 while the population of the whole metro ...

, on 14 January 1446, in a notable combat before Charles VII, between the Englishman Jean Chalons and Louis du Bueil, with the latter being killed. As his ancestors had founded the four canonical-prebendaries of Saint-Jean-de-Langeais, it was up to him to provide the residency privileges which they dispensed, as a result of which divine service was no longer assured.

Marriage with Françoise de Dinan

It is known that after he had, for financial reasons, let his son Guy XV's engagement to Françoise of Dinan drop in 1440, in favour of Gilles of Brittany. Guy XIV once again abused the young age of this same son, making him break off another engagement to her, when she became the widow of Gilles of Brittany, and engaged him at 45 years old in February 1451 at Vitré, Françoise of Dinan (died 1500), baronne of Châteaubriant. Guy XIV had no rights on the barony of Châteaubriant. The Vatican archives contain two solicitations to the

Holy See The Holy See ( lat, Sancta Sedes, ; it, Santa Sede ), also called the See of Rome, Petrine See or Apostolic See, is the jurisdiction of the Pope in his role as the bishop of Rome. It includes the apostolic episcopal see of the Diocese of R ...

on this occasion, by Guy XIV and by his son. The inquiry concerning ''François-Guy de Laval, fils aîné de Guy, comte de Laval, seigneur du Gavre'' dates to 23 July 1450 and is addressed to the

bishop of Nantes The Roman Catholic Diocese of Nantes ( la, Dioecesis Nannetensis; french: Diocèse de Nantes; br, Eskopti Naoned) is a diocese of the Latin Rite of the Roman Catholic Church in Nantes, France. The diocese consists of the department of Loire- ...

. He begged, for canonical reasons, for an exemption from parental kinship, and from the ban on marriage between a woman and the father of someone to whom she had previously been engaged. The mandate of dispensation for the marriage of Guy XIV and Françoise of Dinan said to be of Thouars from her mother's name, and for their absolution from certain bans, is dated 17 December 1450 and addressed to the

bishop of Vannes The Roman Catholic Diocese of Vannes (Latin: ''Dioecesis Venetensis''; French: ''Diocèse de Vannes'') is a diocese of the Latin Rite of the Roman Catholic Church in France. Erected in the 5th century, the Episcopal see is Vannes Cathedral in ...

. The Vatican archives mention once more mention the comte of Laval and Françoise of Dinan his wife, in their founding of a psallette (choir school) at the Madeleine at Vitré, on 19 May 1453.

Relationship with Louis XI

King

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 ...

established a

cour des comptes The ''Cour des Comptes'' ("Court of Accounts") is France's supreme audit institution, under French law an administrative court. As such, it is independent from the legislative and executive branches of the French Government. However, the 1946 and ...

at Laval in 1463. The following year the king authorised "his cousin" Guy XIV to add a ''first quarter of France'', then ''those of Evreux''In remembrance of Jeanne d'Évreux, grandmother of Isabelle of Brittany, wife of Guy XIV - and those of ''Vitré''.

Brocéliande

At the beginning of the 15th century, the

château de Comper The Château de Comper is a former castle located in Paimpont forest (formerly known as Brocéliande), three kilometers to the east of the village of Concoret in the department of Morbihan in the region of Brittany, France. It has been rebuilt ...

became the fiefdom of the Laval family. In order to assert better his precedence on the viscountcy of Rohan to the States of Brittany, Guy XIV de Laval, seigneur of

Brocéliande Brocéliande, earlier known as Brécheliant and Brécilien, is a legendary enchanted forest that had a reputation in the medieval European imagination as a place of magic and mystery. Brocéliande is featured in several medieval texts, mostly r ...

, pretended, via his parent, to be descended from the ancient kings of

Armorica Armorica or Aremorica (Gaulish: ; br, Arvorig, ) is the name given in ancient times to the part of Gaul between the Seine and the Loire that includes the Brittany Peninsula, extending inland to an indeterminate point and down the Atlantic Coast ...

Conan and Ponthus. In 1467, he tried to get inserted into the "Chartre des Usements de Brécilie", with the object of the seigneurial rights over the inhabitants of the forest, mentioning the jousts of Ponthus, making a historical fact of a 14th-century fictional romance in the style of the Arthurian legends called "Le roman de Ponthus et la Belle Sidoine". He was the lieutenant-général of the

duchy of Brittany The Duchy of Brittany ( br, Dugelezh Breizh, ; french: Duché de Bretagne) was a medieval feudal state that existed between approximately 939 and 1547. Its territory covered the northwestern peninsula of Europe, bordered by the Atlantic Ocean t ...

in 1472.

Comte of Laval

Louis XI, in 1482, gave full powers to the comté of Laval, separating it from the

Maine Maine () is a state in the New England and Northeastern regions of the United States. It borders New Hampshire to the west, the Gulf of Maine to the southeast, and the Canadian provinces of New Brunswick and Quebec to the northeast and ...

. The comté of Laval was directly responsible to the crown of France. He was buried at the collegial church of Saint-Thugal at Laval. His daughter Jeanne de Laval (1433–1498) was the wife of king René I of Anjou. His eldest son, Francis, would be

Grand Master of France The Grand Master of France (french: Grand Maître de France) was, during the and Bourbon Restoration in France, one of the Great Officers of the Crown of France and head of the "", the king's royal household. The position is similar to that of L ...

and comte of Laval ( Guy XV de Laval), and one of his cadets Pierre de Laval was

archbishop of Rheims The Archdiocese of Reims (traditionally spelt "Rheims" in English) ( la, Archidiœcesis Remensis; French: ''Archidiocèse de Reims'') is a Latin Church ecclesiastic territory or archdiocese of the Catholic Church in France. Erected as a diocese ar ...

Notes

References

External links

*http://perso.orange.fr/jean-claude.colrat/2laval.htm

Sources

* * * *Jürgen Klötgen, "Une charte retrouvée de Guy XV de Laval (1491) - Notice historique sur les armoiries de Laval", in Revue Historique et Archéologique du Maine, t.CXLVIII, Le Mans, 1997 p. 209-232. See also : Full text from DVD-RHAM Revue Historique et Archéologique du Maine/1875-2000, Copyright by Société Historique et Archéologique du Maine, Le Mans, 2006. * "Guy XIV de Laval", in Alphonse-Victor Angot, Ferdinand Gaugain, Dictionnaire historique, topographique et biographique de la Mayenne, Goupil, 1900–1910 ( étail édition, t. IV, p. 528. {{DEFAULTSORT:Guy Xiv De Laval 1406 births 1486 deaths 15th-century Breton people Counts of France People of the Hundred Years' War House of Laval