John Tristan (8 April 1250 – 3 August 1270) was a French prince of the
Capetian dynasty
The Capetian dynasty (; french: Capétiens), also known as the House of France, is a dynasty of Frankish origin, and a branch of the Robertians. It is among the largest and oldest royal houses in Europe and the world, and consists of Hugh ...
. He was ''
jure uxoris'' count of
Nevers from 1265 and of
Auxerre
Auxerre ( , ) is the capital of the Yonne department and the fourth-largest city in Burgundy. Auxerre's population today is about 35,000; the urban area (''aire d'attraction'') comprises roughly 113,000 inhabitants. Residents of Auxerre are ref ...
and
Tonnerre from 1268. He was also in his own right
Count of Valois
The Valois ( , also , ; originally ''Pagus Valensis'') was a region in the valley of the Oise river in Picardy in the north of France. It was a fief in West Francia and subsequently the Kingdom of France until its counts furnished a line of king ...
and
Crépy, as an
apanages of the crown, from 1268.
Birth and childhood
John was born in
Damietta
Damietta ( arz, دمياط ' ; cop, ⲧⲁⲙⲓⲁϯ, Tamiati) is a port city and the capital of the Damietta Governorate in Egypt, a former bishopric and present multiple Catholic titular see. It is located at the Damietta branch, an easte ...
,
Egypt. He was the sixth child and the fourth son of king
Louis IX of France
Louis IX (25 April 1214 – 25 August 1270), commonly known as Saint Louis or Louis the Saint, was King of France from 1226 to 1270, and the most illustrious of the Direct Capetians. He was crowned in Reims at the age of 12, following the ...
, called St. Louis after canonization, and
Margaret of Provence
Margaret of Provence (french: Marguerite; 1221 – 20 December 1295) was Queen of France by marriage to King Louis IX.
Early life
Margaret was born in the spring of 1221 in Forcalquier. She was the eldest of four daughters of Ramon Berenguer I ...
. Moreover, he was the first of three children of this royal couple who were born during the
Seventh Crusade. He was born at the Egyptian port town of Damietta which had been conquered by the crusaders in 1249.
According to chronicler
Jean de Joinville, an old knight acted as midwife during John's birth. Two days prior to his birth, the king was captured by the
Mamluks which was the reason to name the child
Tristan
Tristan ( Latin/Brythonic: ''Drustanus''; cy, Trystan), also known as Tristram or Tristain and similar names, is the hero of the legend of Tristan and Iseult. In the legend, he is tasked with escorting the Irish princess Iseult to wed ...
due to the triste occasion. He was baptised in the grand mosque of Damietta that had been re-consecrated into a church. One month later, Damietta had to be abandoned. John subsequently spent his childhood in the
Holy Land where his siblings
Peter
Peter may refer to:
People
* List of people named Peter, a list of people and fictional characters with the given name
* Peter (given name)
** Saint Peter (died 60s), apostle of Jesus, leader of the early Christian Church
* Peter (surname), a s ...
(1251) and
Blanche (1253) were born.
Marriage
His father wished that John joined the
Dominican Order, but John resisted this wish successfully. In 1266, he was married to
Yolande II, Countess of Nevers (1247–1280), making him Count of Nevers, Auxerre and Tonnere. In 1268, John was made Count of Valois and Crépy on his own right by his father the king, a gift he received as
paréage
In Medieval France a ''paréage'' or pariage was a feudal treaty recognising joint sovereignty over a territory by two rulers, who were on an equal footing, ''pari passu''; compare peer. On a familial scale, ''paréage'' could also refer to the e ...
.
Crusade
Two years later, John accompanied his father during the
Eighth Crusade
The Eighth Crusade was the second Crusade launched by Louis IX of France, this one against the Hafsid dynasty in Tunisia in 1270. It is also known as the Crusade of Louis IX against Tunis or the Second Crusade of Louis. The Crusade did not see an ...
, which reached Tunis in July after setting out from
Cagliari
Cagliari (, also , , ; sc, Casteddu ; lat, Caralis) is an Italian municipality and the capital of the island of Sardinia, an autonomous region of Italy. Cagliari's Sardinian name ''Casteddu'' means ''castle''. It has about 155,000 inhabitan ...
on
Sardinia. But at Tunis the army suffered an outbreak of
dysentery
Dysentery (UK pronunciation: , US: ), historically known as the bloody flux, is a type of gastroenteritis that results in bloody diarrhea. Other symptoms may include fever, abdominal pain, and a feeling of incomplete defecation. Complications ...
. John Tristan was one of the victims who died of it, and three weeks later, St. Louis also succumbed to the disease. Both bodies were transported to France and buried in the
Basilica of St Denis
The Basilica of Saint-Denis (french: Basilique royale de Saint-Denis, links=no, now formally known as the ) is a large former medieval abbey church and present cathedral in the commune of Saint-Denis, a northern suburb of Paris. The building ...
.
John's marriage remained childless. His widow married again in 1272 with
Robert III of Flanders
Robert III (1249 – 17 September 1322), also called Robert of Béthune and nicknamed The Lion of Flanders (''De Leeuw van Vlaanderen''), was the Count of Nevers from 1273 and Count of Flanders from 1305 until his death.
History
Robert was the ol ...
; the county of Valois, his prerogative, returned to the Crown.
Ancestry
Notes
References
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External links
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{{DEFAULTSORT:John Tristan of France, Count of Valois
1250 births
1270 deaths
13th-century French people
French princes
Counts of Nevers
Counts of Valois
Counts of Anjou
Burials at the Basilica of Saint-Denis
Christians of the Seventh Crusade
Christians of the Eighth Crusade
Deaths from dysentery
People from Damietta
Sons of kings
Children of Louis IX of France