Jean de Vienne (1341 – 25 September 1396) was a French

knight A knight is a person granted an honorary title of knighthood by a head of state (including the Pope) or representative for service to the monarch, the church or the country, especially in a military capacity. Knighthood finds origins in the Gr ...

general A general officer is an officer of high rank in the armies, and in some nations' air forces, space forces, and marines or naval infantry. In some usages the term "general officer" refers to a rank above colonel."general, adj. and n.". OED ...

and

Admiral of France Admiral of France (french: Amiral de France) is a French title of honour. It is the naval equivalent of Marshal of France and was one of the Great Officers of the Crown of France. History The title was created in 1270 by Louis IX of France, dur ...

during the Hundred Years' War.

Early life

Jean de Vienne was born at

Dole Dole may refer to: Places * Dole, Ceredigion, Wales * Dole, Idrija, Slovenia * Dole, Jura, France ** Arrondissement of Dole * Dole (Kladanj), a village at the entity line of Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina-Republika Srpska * Dole, Ljubušk ...

, in what is now Franche-Comté. As a nobleman, he started his military career at the age of 19, and was made a knight at 21. At 1366-1367 he took a part of a

Savoyard crusade The Savoyard crusade was a crusading expedition to the Balkans in 1366–67. It was born out of the same planning that led to the Alexandrian Crusade and was the brainchild of Pope Urban V. It was led by Count Amadeus VI of Savoy and directed ag ...

lead by Amadeus VI of Savoy against

Bulgaria Bulgaria (; bg, България, Bǎlgariya), officially the Republic of Bulgaria,, ) is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern flank of the Balkans, and is bordered by Romania to the north, Serbia and North Macedo ...

Career

Ofensivas Tovar-Vienne contra Inglaterra 01

By the age of 24, de Vienne was made

Captain-General Captain general (and its literal equivalent in several languages) is a high military rank of general officer grade, and a gubernatorial title. History The term "Captain General" started to appear in the 14th century, with the meaning of Command ...

for the Franche-Comté. In 1373,

Charles V Charles V may refer to: * Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor (1500–1558) * Charles V of Naples (1661–1700), better known as Charles II of Spain * Charles V of France (1338–1380), called the Wise * Charles V, Duke of Lorraine (1643–1690) * Infa ...

made him ''Amiral de France''. Working with determination, de Vienne reorganised the navy, started an important programme of construction, created an effective coast guard, navigation police, organised watches along the coasts, and attributed licences for building and selling of ships. Jean de Vienne was one of the first to understand that only by naval operations could serious harm be done to England. To this end he petitioned for strong support from the French monarchy and conducted several expeditions to Wight and the southern ports of England. Between 1381 and 1385, de Vienne fought against the

Flemish Flemish (''Vlaams'') is a Low Franconian dialect cluster of the Dutch language. It is sometimes referred to as Flemish Dutch (), Belgian Dutch ( ), or Southern Dutch (). Flemish is native to Flanders, a historical region in northern Belgium; ...

, notably during the

Battle of Roosebeke The Battle of Roosebeke (sometimes referred by its contemporary name as Battle of Westrozebeke) took place on 27 November 1382 on the Goudberg between a Flemish army under Philip van Artevelde and a French army under Louis II of Flanders who ha ...

. In pursuit of his dream of threatening the English at home, in 1385 he used a 180 ship fleet to land an army in

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a Anglo-Scottish border, border with England to the southeast ...

with the intent of invading England, but the force had to withdraw. After Charles VI succeeded his father Charles V to the Throne of France, the navy was allowed to decay, since Charles VI did not share his father's concern for naval affairs. Disappointed, de Vienne participated in the

Barbary Crusade The Barbary Crusade, also called the Mahdia Crusade, was a Franco- Genoese military expedition in 1390 that led to the siege of Mahdia, then a stronghold of the Barbary pirates in Hafsidi Ifriqiya (geographically corresponding to modern Tunisia ...

and joined in the crusade of King

Sigismund of Hungary Sigismund of Luxembourg (15 February 1368 – 9 December 1437) was a monarch as King of Hungary and Croatia (''jure uxoris'') from 1387, King of Germany from 1410, King of Bohemia from 1419, and Holy Roman Emperor from 1433 until his death in 1 ...

against the

Turks Turk or Turks may refer to: Communities and ethnic groups * Turkic peoples, a collection of ethnic groups who speak Turkic languages * Turkish people, or the Turks, a Turkic ethnic group and nation * Turkish citizen, a citizen of the Republic ...

. He was killed during the battle of Nicopolis, in

Legacy

Several ships of the

French Navy The French Navy (french: Marine nationale, lit=National Navy), informally , is the maritime arm of the French Armed Forces and one of the five military service branches of France. It is among the largest and most powerful naval forces in t ...

were named after Jean de Vienne, most notable of which include: * The cruiser , completed 1937, scuttled at Toulon in November 1942 * the F70 type frigate , completed 1984, decommissioned in 2019.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:de Vienne, Jean 1341 births 1396 deaths People from Dole, Jura Admirals of France French generals Christians of the Barbary Crusade Christians of the Battle of Nicopolis People of the Hundred Years' War French military personnel killed in action