Louis de Luxembourg, Count of Saint-Pol, of Brienne, de Ligny, and Conversano (1418 – 19 December 1475) belonged to the Ligny branch of the

House of Luxemburg The House of Luxembourg ( lb, D'Lëtzebuerger Haus; french: Maison de Luxembourg; german: Haus Luxemburg) or Luxembourg dynasty was a royal family of the Holy Roman Empire in the Late Middle Ages, whose members between 1308 and 1437 ruled as king ...

and was

Constable of France The Constable of France (french: Connétable de France, from Latin for 'count of the stables') was lieutenant to the King of France, the first of the original five Great Officers of the Crown (along with seneschal, chamberlain, butler, and ...

Life

Saint-Pol was the eldest son of Peter of Luxembourg and

Margaret de Baux Margaret of Baux (french: Marguerite des Baux, it, Margherita del Balzo; 1394 – 15 November 1469) was a Countess of Saint-Pol, of Brienne, and of Conversano. She was a member of the noble House of Baux of the Kingdom of Naples, which had its or ...

. His name originates from the fact that he was a 7th generation descendant of Henry V, Count of Luxembourg, and thus belonged to the French branch of the

House of Luxembourg The House of Luxembourg ( lb, D'Lëtzebuerger Haus; french: Maison de Luxembourg; german: Haus Luxemburg) or Luxembourg dynasty was a royal family of the Holy Roman Empire in the Late Middle Ages, whose members between 1308 and 1437 ruled as king ...

. His older sister Jacqueline, better known as

Jacquetta of Luxembourg Jacquetta of Luxembourg, Dowager Duchess of Bedford and Countess Rivers (1415 or 1416 – 30 May 1472) was a prominent, though often overlooked, figure in the Wars of the Roses. Through her short-lived first marriage to the Duke of Bedford, bro ...

, married

John of Lancaster, 1st Duke of Bedford John of Lancaster, Duke of Bedford KG (20 June 138914 September 1435) was a medieval English prince, general and statesman who commanded England's armies in France during a critical phase of the Hundred Years' War. Bedford was the third son of ...

, and Louis was initially a supporter of the Lancastrian cause in the English

Wars of the Roses The Wars of the Roses (1455–1487), known at the time and for more than a century after as the Civil Wars, were a series of civil wars fought over control of the English throne in the mid-to-late fifteenth century. These wars were fought bet ...

. He was brought up by his uncle,

John II of Luxembourg, Count of Ligny John II of Luxembourg, Count of Ligny (1392 – 5 January 1441) was a French nobleman and soldier, a younger son of John of Luxembourg, Lord of Beauvoir, and Marguerite of Enghien. His older brother Peter received his mother's fiefs, includ ...

, who named Louis as heir to his estates. However, King

Charles VII of France Charles VII (22 February 1403 – 22 July 1461), called the Victorious (french: le Victorieux) or the Well-Served (), was King of France from 1422 to his death in 1461. In the midst of the Hundred Years' War, Charles VII inherited the throne of F ...

sequestrated the estates on John's death in 1441. As a result, Saint-Pol sought a rapprochement with the French king and duly had his inheritance restored to him. However, the county of

Guise Guise (; nl, Wieze) is a commune in the Aisne department in Hauts-de-France in northern France. The city was the birthplace of the noble family of Guise, Dukes of Guise, who later became Princes of Joinville. Population Sights The remains ...

was claimed by

Charles, Count of Maine Charles du Maine (1414–1472) was a French prince of blood and an advisor to Charles VII of France, his brother-in-law, during the Hundred Years' War. He was the third son of Louis II, Duke of Anjou and King of Naples, and Yolande of Aragon. ...

. The affair was settled by an agreement that Saint-Pol's sister Isabelle would marry the Count of Maine and receive the disputed lands as her

dowry A dowry is a payment, such as property or money, paid by the bride's family to the groom or his family at the time of marriage. Dowry contrasts with the related concepts of bride price and dower. While bride price or bride service is a payment b ...

War against the King

Saint-Pol became a close friend of the Dauphin Louis, the future King

Louis XI of France 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 revo ...

and fought with him in

Flanders Flanders (, ; Dutch: ''Vlaanderen'' ) is the Flemish-speaking northern portion of Belgium and one of the communities, regions and language areas of Belgium. However, there are several overlapping definitions, including ones related to culture, ...

and in

Normandy Normandy (; french: link=no, Normandie ; nrf, Normaundie, Nouormandie ; from Old French , plural of ''Normant'', originally from the word for "northman" in several Scandinavian languages) is a geographical and cultural region in Northwestern ...

. However, in 1465 Saint-Pol broke with his friend, now King, to join with the King's brother, Charles, Duke of Berry in the

League of the Public Weal The War of the Public Weal (French: ''La guerre du Bien public'') was a conflict between the king of France and an alliance of feudal nobles, organized in 1465 in defiance of the centralized authority of King Louis XI of France. It was masterminded ...

. At the battle of Montlhéry, he commanded the van of

Charles the Bold Charles I (Charles Martin; german: Karl Martin; nl, Karel Maarten; 10 November 1433 – 5 January 1477), nicknamed the Bold (German: ''der Kühne''; Dutch: ''de Stoute''; french: le Téméraire), was Duke of Burgundy from 1467 to 1477. ...

's army, yet later was made

constable of France The Constable of France (french: Connétable de France, from Latin for 'count of the stables') was lieutenant to the King of France, the first of the original five Great Officers of the Crown (along with seneschal, chamberlain, butler, and ...

by Louis XI. The

Treaty of Conflans The Treaty of Conflans (or the Peace of Conflans) was signed on 5 October 1465 between King Louis XI of France and Count Charles of Charolais. This treaty was signed months after the Battle of Montlhéry (13 July 1465), where the French dukes of ...

ended the war, while Saint-Pol received the hand of the King's sister-in-law, Maria of Savoy. After this, he was persistently disloyal to the King, conspiring with Charles, Count of Charolais, and with

Edward IV of England Edward IV (28 April 1442 – 9 April 1483) was King of England from 4 March 1461 to 3 October 1470, then again from 11 April 1471 until his death in 1483. He was a central figure in the Wars of the Roses, a series of civil wars in England ...

(the husband of his niece,

Elizabeth Woodville Elizabeth Woodville (also spelt Wydville, Wydeville, or Widvile;Although spelling of the family name is usually modernised to "Woodville", it was spelt "Wydeville" in contemporary publications by Caxton, but her tomb at St. George's Chapel, Wind ...

). The final treason came in 1474 when Saint-Pol approached

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 ...

, who had already entered into a compact with Edward IV of England to dismember France in a renewal of the Hundred Years' War. The scheme envisaged the murder of Louis and the sub-division of France between Saint-Pol, the Dukes of Burgundy, Brittany, Bourbon and Nemours, the

Count of Maine This is a list of counts and dukes of Maine. The capital of Maine was Le Mans. In the thirteenth century it was annexed by France to the royal domain. Dukes of Maine (''duces Cenomannici'') * Charivius ( fl. 723) – appears as ''dux'' in a docu ...

and King Edward. Saint-Pol then proceeded to draw other magnates into the conspiracy. The whole thing started to unravel after Louis and Edward concluded the

Treaty of Picquigny The Treaty of Picquigny was a peace treaty negotiated on 29 August 1475 between the Kingdom of England and the Kingdom of France. It followed from an invasion of France by Edward IV of England in alliance with Burgundy and Brittany. It left ...

in August 1475. Angered by this, Saint-Pol was imprudent enough to write to Edward, upbraiding him as a "cowardly, dishonoured and beggarly king". Edward promptly forwarded the letter to Louis, who now had all the proof he needed. A messenger was sent to the conspirator, in which he was informed that the King had 'need of a head such as his.' He was arrested in September 1475, and later imprisoned in the

Bastille The Bastille (, ) was a fortress in Paris, known formally as the Bastille Saint-Antoine. It played an important role in the internal conflicts of France and for most of its history was used as a state prison by the kings of France. It was sto ...

. Execution followed in December.

Philippe de Commynes Philippe de Commines (or de Commynes or "Philippe de Comines"; Latin: ''Philippus Cominaeus''; 1447 – 18 October 1511) was a writer and diplomat in the courts of Burgundy and France. He has been called "the first truly modern writer" ( Charle ...

, the chief chronicler of Louis' reign, was to write that Saint-Pol had been "abandoned by God because he had tried with all his might to prolong the hostilities between the King and the Duke of Burgundy." From 1468 to 1472 his

chaplain A chaplain is, traditionally, a cleric (such as a Minister (Christianity), minister, priest, pastor, rabbi, purohit, or imam), or a laity, lay representative of a religious tradition, attached to a secularity, secular institution (such as a hosp ...

was the well-known translator, author and scribe

Jean Miélot Jean Miélot, also Jehan, (born Gueschard, Picardy, died 1472) was an author, translator, manuscript illuminator, scribe and priest, who served as secretary to Philip the Good, Duke of Burgundy from 1449 to Philip's death in 1467, and then to hi ...

Marriage and children

Louis de Luxembourg married twice, first to

Jeanne de Bar, Countess of Marle and Soissons Jeanne de Bar, suo jure Countess of Marle and Soissons, Dame d'Oisy, Viscountess of Meaux, and Countess of Saint-Pol, of Brienne, de Ligny, and Conversano (1415 – 14 May 1462) was a noble French heiress and Sovereign Countess. She was the only c ...

(died 1462), and secondly to Marie of Savoy. He left at least nine legitimate children, including: *

John of Luxembourg, Count of Soissons John of Luxembourg (died 22 June 1476) was Count of Marle and Count of Soissons between 1462 and 1476, Lord of Dunkirk, Gravelines and Bourbourg. John was the eldest son of Louis de Luxembourg, Count of Saint-Pol and Jeanne de Bar, Countess o ...

* Peter II of Luxembourg, Count of Saint-Pol * Jacqueline of Luxembourg, married Philip I de Croÿ, Count of Porcéan (died 1511). * Anthony I of Luxembourg, Count of Ligny

Ancestry

Notes

References

*102 * *

External links

*The Memoirs of

Philippe de Commines Philippe de Commines (or de Commynes or "Philippe de Comines"; Latin: ''Philippus Cominaeus''; 1447 – 18 October 1511) was a writer and diplomat in the courts of Burgundy and France. He has been called "the first truly modern writer" (Charles ...

are a major source on the life of Louis de Luxembourg, Count of Saint-Pol. {{DEFAULTSORT:Luxembourg, Louis de, Count of Saint-Pol 1418 births 1475 deaths Counts of Saint-Pol Constables of France House of Luxembourg Prisoners of the Bastille