Eustache de Beaumarchais (; ''c''. 1235 – 23 August 1294) was a French baron and military leader who served as

seneschal The word ''seneschal'' () can have several different meanings, all of which reflect certain types of supervising or administering in a historic context. Most commonly, a seneschal was a senior position filled by a court appointment within a royal, ...

of the

County of Poitou The County of Poitou (Latin ''comitatus Pictavensis'') was a historical region of France, consisting of the three sub-regions of Vendée, Deux-Sèvres and Vienne. Its name is derived from the ancient Gaul tribe of Pictones. The county was bounded ...

(1268–76) and the

County of Toulouse The County of Toulouse (, , ) was a territory in present-day southern France consisting of the city of Toulouse and its environs, ruled by the Count of Toulouse from the late 9th century until the late 13th century. After Pippin the Short conq ...

(1272–94). He took part in the War of the Navarrería in 1276–77 and in the

Aragonese Crusade The Aragonese Crusade (1284–1285), also known as the Crusade of Aragon or Crusade against Catalonia, was a military venture waged by the Kingdom of France against the Crown of Aragon. Fought as an extension of the War of the Sicilian Vespers ...

in 1284–85. Eustache was probably born in the hamlet of Beaumarchais, now part of Othis, into a family of the

petty nobility The minor or petty nobility is the lower nobility classes. Finland Petty nobility in Finland is dated at least back to the 13th century and was formed by nobles around their strategic interests. The idea was more capable peasants with leader role ...

. He first entered royal service as guardian of the abbey of Aurillac. In 1257, Count

Alphonse of Poitiers Alphonse (11 November 122021 August 1271) was the Count of Poitou from 1225 and Count of Toulouse (as such called Alphonse II) from 1249. As count of Toulouse, he also governed the Marquisate of Provence. Birth and early life Born at Poissy, A ...

appointed him bailiff of the royal part of the

Auvergne Auvergne (; ; or ) is a cultural region in central France. As of 2016 Auvergne is no longer an administrative division of France. It is generally regarded as conterminous with the land area of the historical Province of Auvergne, which was dis ...

, which Alphonse held as an

appanage An appanage, or apanage (; ), is the grant of an estate, title, office or other thing of value to a younger child of a monarch, who would otherwise have no inheritance under the system of primogeniture (where only the eldest inherits). It was ...

. Eustache continued as bailiff down to 1266, when he was succeeded by Geoffroy de Montirel. In 1268, Alphonse, who was also Count of Toulouse, named him his seneschal in Poitou. Alphonse died in 1271 and his counties

escheat Escheat () is a common law doctrine that transfers the real property of a person who has died without heirs to the crown or state. It serves to ensure that property is not left in "limbo" without recognized ownership. It originally applied t ...

ed to the crown, but Eustache continued in the seneschalate of Poitou until 1276. In 1272, Eustache was appointed royal seneschal in Toulouse, a post he held until his death. It was in his capacity as seneschal of Toulouse that he was sent with an army to

Navarre Navarre ( ; ; ), officially the Chartered Community of Navarre, is a landlocked foral autonomous community and province in northern Spain, bordering the Basque Autonomous Community, La Rioja, and Aragon in Spain and New Aquitaine in France. ...

in 1276, to put an end to the civic unrest and stave off invasion by

Aragon Aragon ( , ; Spanish and ; ) is an autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community in Spain, coextensive with the medieval Kingdom of Aragon. In northeastern Spain, the Aragonese autonomous community comprises three provinces of Spain, ...

and Castile. The French crown had an interest in Navarre, since the heir to the French throne,

Philip Philip, also Phillip, is a male name derived from the Macedonian Old Koine language, Greek (''Philippos'', lit. "horse-loving" or "fond of horses"), from a compound of (''philos'', "dear", "loved", "loving") and (''hippos'', "horse"). Prominen ...

, was betrothed to the Navarrese queen, Joan I. In 1279, Eustache and Imbert de Beaujeu were appointed joint military commanders in

Languedoc The Province of Languedoc (, , ; ) is a former province of France. Most of its territory is now contained in the modern-day region of Occitanie in Southern France. Its capital city was Toulouse. It had an area of approximately . History ...

, a position they held until 1282. In 1283, the king ordered Eustache to make an examination of the '' Coutumes de Toulouse'', the customary law of Toulouse. In 1286 he ordered the Toulousains to swear an oath to uphold the ''Coutumes''. In 1280, Eustache became one of the king's knights. In 1284–85, he took part in King Philip III's disastrous invasion of

Catalonia Catalonia is an autonomous community of Spain, designated as a ''nationalities and regions of Spain, nationality'' by its Statute of Autonomy of Catalonia of 2006, Statute of Autonomy. Most of its territory (except the Val d'Aran) is situate ...

. Philip did manage to captured the city of

Girona Girona (; ) is the capital city of the Province of Girona in the autonomous community of Catalonia, Spain, at the confluence of the Ter, Onyar, Galligants, and Güell rivers. The city had an official population of 106,476 in 2024, but the p ...

, over he which he made Eustache governor. Philip died late in 1285, and in February 1288 his successor confirmed Eustache as a royal knight and seneschal of Toulouse in letters patent. In 1291, Eustache exchanged some property with the king. In the county of Toulouse, Eustache oversaw the construction of 22 ''

bastide Bastides are fortified new towns built in medieval Languedoc, Gascony, Aquitaine, England and Wales during the 13th and 14th centuries, although some authorities count Mont-de-Marsan and Montauban, which was founded in 1144, as the first bastides ...

s'': Rimont (1272),

Alan Alan may refer to: People *Alan (surname), an English and Kurdish surname * Alan (given name), an English given name ** List of people with given name Alan ''Following are people commonly referred to solely by "Alan" or by a homonymous name.'' * ...

(1272),

Montréjeau Montréjeau (; ) is a commune in the Haute-Garonne department in southwestern France. Montréjeau-Gourdan-Polignan station has rail connections to Toulouse, Pau, Bayonne and Tarbes. History Montréjeau was the site of one of the French Re ...

(1272),

Fleurance Fleurance (; ) is a Communes of France, commune in the Gers Departments of France, department in southwestern France. Geography Population See also *Communes of the Gers department References

Communes of Gers Armagnac {{Gers ...

(1274), Valence-d'Albigeois (1275),

Beaumont-de-Lomagne Beaumont-de-Lomagne (; Languedocien dialect, Languedocien: ''Bèumont de Lomanha'') is a Communes of France, commune in the Tarn-et-Garonne Departments of France, department in the Occitania (administrative region), Occitanie Regions of France, re ...

(1279),

Verdun-sur-Garonne Verdun-sur-Garonne (, literally ''Verdun on Garonne''; ) is a commune in the Tarn-et-Garonne department in the Occitanie region in southern France. Population Monuments Verdun-sur-Garonne Hotel de Ville.jpg, Town Hall Église de l'Assompt ...

(1279),

Saint-Lys Saint-Lys (; ''Sent Lis'' in gascon occitan) is a commune in the Haute-Garonne department in southwestern France. Population The inhabitants of Saint-Lys are known as ''Saint-Lysiens'' in French. See also *Communes of the Haute-Garonne depa ...

(1280),

Mirande Mirande (; Gascon language, Gascon: ''Miranda'') is a Communes of France, commune in the Gers Departments of France, department, Occitania (administrative region), Occitania, southwestern France. Geography Population Sites of interest * To ...

(1281), Pavie (1281),

Cazères Cazères (; ), or sometimes locally called as Cazères-sur-Garonne, is a small town and commune in the Haute-Garonne department in southwestern France. Cazères station has rail connections to Toulouse, Pau and Tarbes. It is the seat (capital) ...

(1282),

Cologne Cologne ( ; ; ) is the largest city of the States of Germany, German state of North Rhine-Westphalia and the List of cities in Germany by population, fourth-most populous city of Germany with nearly 1.1 million inhabitants in the city pr ...

(1284),

Miélan Miélan (; ) is a commune in the Gers department in southwestern France. The choral conductor Aurore Tillac was born in Miélan in 1980. Geography Population Notable residents * Pierre Marie Laurent Forgues (1761-2013), soldier * Au ...

(1284),

Plaisance-du-Touch Plaisance-du-Touch (, literally ''Plaisance of the Touch''; , Gascon: ''Plasença deu Toish'') is a commune in the Haute-Garonne department, southwestern France. It has a fine church with a notable organ by the Toulouse builder Puget. Populat ...

(1285), Réjaumont (1285),

Pampelonne Pampelonne (; ) is a commune in the Tarn department in southern France. See also *Communes of the Tarn department The following is a list of the 314 communes of the Tarn department of France. The communes cooperate in the following int ...

(1285),

Boulogne-sur-Gesse Boulogne-sur-Gesse (, literally ''Boulogne on Gesse''; ) is a commune of the Haute-Garonne department in southwestern France. Geography The river Gesse forms most of the commune's eastern border, while the Gimone The Gimone (; ) is a rive ...

(1286), Valentine (1287), Aurimont (1287),

Beaumarchés Beaumarchés (; ) is a commune in the Gers department in southwestern France. Geography Population See also *Communes of the Gers department The following is a list of the 458 communes of the Gers department of France. The commu ...

(1288), Grenade-sur-Garonne (1290) and

Sorde Sorde may refer to: * Sorde-l'Abbaye, a commune in France * Sorde, Manipur, a village in India See also * Sord (disambiguation) {{geodis ...

(1290). He also gave a charter of privileges to the ''bastide'' of Grenade-sur-Garonne.

Notes

Sources

* {{Authority control 1230s births 1294 deaths 13th-century French nobility