Jeanne de Fougères (died after 1273), was ruling
suo jure Lady of Fougères from 1256. She was the wife of
Hugh XII of Lusignan,
Count of La Marche and
Count of Angoulême. Jeanne was responsible for the later additions and fortifications of the Chateau of
Fougères which provided a greater stability for the town.
Life
Jeanne was born at the Chateau of
Fougères, in
Brittany on an unknown date, the only daughter and surviving child of Raoul III, seigneur of Fougères and
Isabelle de Craon (born 1212). Her paternal grandparents were Geoffrey, seigneur of Fougères and Mathilde de Porhoet, and her maternal grandparents were
Amaury I, seigneur of Craon (1175–1226) and
Jeanne des Roches
Jeanne des Roches, Dame de Sablé (c. 1195 – 28 September 1238) was a French noble heiress, ruler of de baronies of La Suze, de Briollay, de Mayet, de Loupeland, de Chateauneuf-sur-Sarte, de Genneteil, de Precigné, de Agon, and de Craon; and the ...
(c. 1195- 28 September 1238), daughter of
Guillaume des Roches
William des Roches (died 1222) (in French Guillaume des Roches) was a French knight and crusader who acted as Seneschal of Anjou, of Maine and of Touraine. After serving the Angevin kings of England, in 1202 he changed his loyalty to King Philip II ...
,
seneschal of Anjou
A seneschal (''siniscallus'', Vulgar or old Frankish Latin, also ''dapifer'') was an officer of an aristocratic household assigned to manage the domestic affairs of the lord. During the course of the twelfth century, the seneschalship also became ...
, and
Marguerite de Sablé.
Reign
Jeanne had a brother Jean de Fougères, but he died immediately after his birth on 6 December 1230. As no more sons were born to her mother, Jeanne became the heiress to her father's
lordship of Fougères, which she inherited ''suo jure'' upon the death of her father on 24 February 1256. She thereafter held the title of Dame de Fougères. That same year 1256, she issued orders for the expansion of the chateau of Fougères, adding the Melusine and Gobelin towers as well as fortifying the
ramparts and gates. Her efforts provided a greater stability for the town.
On 29 January 1254, Jeanne was married to Hugh XII de Lusignan, seigneur of Lusignan, Couhe, and Peyrat, Count of La Marche and Angoulême. She became the Countess of La Marche and Angoulême upon her marriage, which was recorded in the ''Chronicon Savigniacense'' on 4 February 1254.
Shortly after 25 August 1270, Jeanne became a widow when her husband Hugh was killed while on
Crusade
The Crusades were a series of religious wars initiated, supported, and sometimes directed by the Latin Church in the medieval period. The best known of these Crusades are those to the Holy Land in the period between 1095 and 1291 that were i ...
with 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 ...
. Jeanne was granted the wardship of her minor children in Nov. 1271. Jeanne de Fougères was not only instrumental in fortifying the Château of Fougères but also played a pivotal role in managing her lands, particularly during the politically turbulent period following her husband's death, ensuring the protection and prosperity of her domains.
[Evergates, Theodore. Aristocratic Women in Medieval France. University of Pennsylvania Press, 1999.] She died on an unknown date after 1273. She left a will dated 20 May 1269. She was buried in Savigny.
Upon Jeanne's death, her eldest daughter Yolanda became the Heiress of Fougères.
Issue
Hugh and Jeanne together had six children:
*
Yolande de Lusignan (24 March 1257- 30 September 1314), ''suo jure'' Countess of La Marche, Heiress of Fougères, married firstly Helie-Rudel, seigneur of Pons, by whom she had issue; and secondly Robert, seigneur of Mathe.
*
Hugh XIII of Lusignan, Count of La Marche and Angoulême (25 June 1259- 1 November 1303), on 1 April 1276 married Beatrice of Burgundy. Their marriage was childless.
*
Guy I de Lusignan (died 1308), Count of La Marche and Angoulême, died unmarried and without legitimate issue.
*
Jeanne of Lusignan (1260- 13 April 1323), married firstly Bernard Ezi III,
Lord of Albret, by whom she had two daughters; she married secondly Sir Piers de Geneville of
Trim
Trim or TRIM may refer to:
Cutting
* Cutting or trimming small pieces off something to remove them
** Book trimming, a stage of the publishing process
** Pruning, trimming as a form of pruning often used on trees
Decoration
* Trim (sewing), or ...
and
Ludlow, by whom she had another three daughters, including the eldest
Joan de Geneville, who in her turn married
Roger de Mortimer, 1st Earl of March
Roger Mortimer, 3rd Baron Mortimer of Wigmore, 1st Earl of March (25 April 1287 – 29 November 1330), was an English nobleman and powerful Marcher Lord who gained many estates in the Welsh Marches and Ireland following his advantageous marri ...
.
* Isabelle de Lusignan (died 1309), before 1288 in
Cognac married Jean de Vesci. She later became a nun at
Fontevrault Abbey
The Royal Abbey of Our Lady of Fontevraud or Fontevrault (in French: ''abbaye de Fontevraud'') was a monastery in the village of Fontevraud-l'Abbaye, near Chinon, in the former French duchy of Anjou. It was founded in 1101 by the itinerant preache ...
* Marie de Lusignan (died 1322), in 1288 married Etienne II, Count of Sancerre.
Ancestry
Notes
References
* Genealogist n.s. 21 (1905): 78–82, 163–171, 234–243.
* La Porta, Les Gens de Qualité en Basse-Marche 1(2) (1886): 1–60 (Généalogie de Lusignan).
* Schwennicke,
Europäische Stammtafeln n.s. 3(4) (1989): 816 (sub Lusignan).
{{DEFAULTSORT:La Marche and of Angouleme, Jeanne de Fougeres, Countess of
French countesses
13th-century births
13th-century deaths
People from Ille-et-Vilaine
French suo jure nobility
13th-century countesses regnant
13th-century French nobility
13th-century French women
13th-century ladies regnant
13th-century ladies consort