John Tristan (; 8 April 1250 – 3 August 1270) was a French prince of the Capetian dynasty. He was ''

jure uxoris ''Jure uxoris'' (a Latin phrase meaning "by right of (his) wife"), citing . describes a title of nobility used by a man because his wife holds the office or title '' suo jure'' ("in her own right"). Similarly, the husband of an heiress could beco ...

'' count of

Nevers Nevers ( , ; , later ''Nevirnum'' and ''Nebirnum'') is a city and the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Nièvre Departments of France, department in the Bourgogne-Franche-Comté Regions of France, region in central France. It was the pr ...

from 1265 and of

Auxerre Auxerre ( , , Burgundian language (Oïl), Burgundian: ''Auchoirre'') is the capital (Prefectures in France, prefecture) of the Yonne Departments of France, department and the fourth-largest city in the Burgundy historical region southeast of Par ...

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

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 ...

s of the crown, from 1268.

Birth and childhood

John was born in

Damietta Damietta ( ' ) is a harbor, port city and the capital of the Damietta Governorate in Egypt. It is located at the Damietta branch, an eastern distributary of the Nile Delta, from the Mediterranean Sea, and about north of Cairo. It was a Cath ...

Egypt Egypt ( , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a country spanning the Northeast Africa, northeast corner of Africa and Western Asia, southwest corner of Asia via the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to northe ...

. He was the sixth child and the fourth son of King

Louis IX of France Louis IX (25 April 1214 – 25 August 1270), also known as Saint Louis, was King of France from 1226 until his death in 1270. He is widely recognized as the most distinguished of the Direct Capetians. Following the death of his father, Louis VI ...

, called St. Louis after canonisation, and Margaret of Provence. Moreover, he was the first of three children of this royal couple who were born during the

Seventh Crusade The Seventh Crusade (1248–1254) was the first of the two Crusades led by Louis IX of France. Also known as the Crusade of Louis IX to the Holy Land, it aimed to reclaim the Holy Land by attacking Egypt, the main seat of Muslim power in the Nea ...

. 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 Jean de Joinville (, 1 May 1224 – 24 December 1317) was one of the great chroniclers of medieval France. He is most famous for writing the ''Life of Saint Louis'', a biography of Louis IX of France that chronicled the Seventh Crusade.' Biog ...

, 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 due to the ''triste'' (sad) 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 The term "Holy Land" is used to collectively denote areas of the Southern Levant that hold great significance in the Abrahamic religions, primarily because of their association with people and events featured in the Bible. It is traditionall ...

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 su ...

(1251) and Blanche (1253) were born.

Marriage

His father wished that John join the

Dominican Order The Order of Preachers (, abbreviated OP), commonly known as the Dominican Order, is a Catholic Church, Catholic mendicant order of pontifical right that was founded in France by a Castilians, Castilian priest named Saint Dominic, Dominic de Gu ...

, 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

and Crépy in his own right by his father, which was 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 ...

Crusade

Two years later, John accompanied his father during the Eighth Crusade, which reached Tunis in July after setting out from

Cagliari Cagliari (, , ; ; ; Latin: ''Caralis'') is an Comune, Italian municipality and the capital and largest city of the island of Sardinia, an Regions of Italy#Autonomous regions with special statute, autonomous region of Italy. It has about 146,62 ...

Sardinia Sardinia ( ; ; ) is the Mediterranean islands#By area, second-largest island in the Mediterranean Sea, after Sicily, and one of the Regions of Italy, twenty regions of Italy. It is located west of the Italian Peninsula, north of Tunisia an ...

. But at Tunis the army suffered an outbreak of

dysentery Dysentery ( , ), 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 may include dehyd ...

. 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 (, 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 is of singular importance historically and archite ...

. John's marriage remained childless. His widow married again in 1272 with Robert III of Flanders; the county of Valois, his prerogative, returned to the Crown.

Notes

References

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External links

, - {{DEFAULTSORT:John Tristan of France, Count of Valois 1250 births 1270 deaths 13th-century French nobility 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 Jure uxoris counts