Jean Guiton (2 July 1585 – 15 March 1654) was born in

La Rochelle La Rochelle (, , ; Poitevin-Saintongeais: ''La Rochéle''; oc, La Rochèla ) is a city on the west coast of France and a seaport on the Bay of Biscay, a part of the Atlantic Ocean. It is the capital of the Charente-Maritime department. With ...

, where he followed the occupation of

ship-owner A ship-owner is the owner of a merchant vessel (commercial ship) and is involved in the shipping industry. In the commercial sense of the term, a shipowner is someone who equips and exploits a ship, usually for delivering cargo at a certain freig ...

. He became a notable

Huguenot The Huguenots ( , also , ) were a religious group of French Protestants who held to the Reformed, or Calvinist, tradition of Protestantism. The term, which may be derived from the name of a Swiss political leader, the Genevan burgomaster Be ...

leader during the

Naval battle of Saint-Martin-de-Ré The Naval battle of Saint-Martin-de-Ré (French:''Bataille navale de Saint-Martin-de-Ré'') took place on 27 October 1622, between the Huguenot fleet of La Rochelle under Jean Guiton, and a Royal fleet under Charles de Guise. Under Henry IV th ...

and

siege of La Rochelle The siege of La Rochelle (, or sometimes ) was a result of a war between the French royal forces of Louis XIII of France and the Huguenots of La Rochelle in 1627–28. The siege marked the height of the struggle between the Catholics and the ...

. Having been nominated Admiral of the fleet of La Rochelle, Jean Guiton fought the

against Royal forces on 27 October 1622.''Europa triumphans'' by J. R. Mulryne, p.123
/ref> He later participated to the uprising of

Soubise Soubise can refer to: * Soubise, a salpicon of cooked and pureed rice and onions; used primarily "au gratin". (steaks, tournedos) * Soubise sauce, based on Béchamel sauce, with the addition of a ''soubise'' of onion and rice purée * Soubise, Ch ...

in 1625, leading to the

Capture of Ré island Capture may refer to: *Asteroid capture, a phenomenon in which an asteroid enters a stable orbit around another body *Capture, a software for lighting design, documentation and visualisation *"Capture" a song by Simon Townshend *Capture (band), an ...

by Royal forces that same year. He became mayor of La Rochelle and, during the 1627-1628

Siege of La Rochelle The siege of La Rochelle (, or sometimes ) was a result of a war between the French royal forces of Louis XIII of France and the Huguenots of La Rochelle in 1627–28. The siege marked the height of the struggle between the Catholics and the ...

, he organized an energetic resistance to the troops of king

Louis XIII Louis XIII (; sometimes called the Just; 27 September 1601 – 14 May 1643) was King of France from 1610 until his death in 1643 and King of Navarre (as Louis II) from 1610 to 1620, when the crown of Navarre was merged with the French crown ...

. The scene is still visible today in the City Hall (Hotel de Ville) of La Rochelle, where a marble table with a chip made by his dagger is on display. Then, Richelieu offered him leadership in the royal fleet and he fought Spain. One of his daughters married the son of the famous Protestant admiral

Abraham Duquesne Abraham Duquesne, marquis du Bouchet (2 February 1688) was a French naval officer, who also saw service as an admiral in the Swedish navy. He was born in Dieppe, a seaport, in 1610, and was a Huguenot. He was the son of a naval officer and theref ...

Abraham Duquesne-Guiton Captain, later Admiral, Abraham de Bellebat (Belébat?) de Duquesne-Guitton, also spelled Duquesne-Guiton (1648-d. 1724), was a French naval commander. In 1687 he sailed from the Cape of Good Hope in ''L'Oiseau'', with a French Ambassador, Clau ...

. Like many other Rochelais (people from La Rochelle), Jean Guiton was a

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Guiton, Jean 1585 births 1654 deaths 17th-century French people Huguenots Mayors of La Rochelle