John V of Armagnac ( Fr.: ''Jean V, comte d'Armagnac'') (1420 – 6 March 1473) was the penultimate

Count of Armagnac The following is a list of rulers of the County of Armagnac: House d'Armagnac, House of Armagnac *William of Fesenzac, William Count of Fézensac and Armagnac ?–960 *Bernard the Suspicious, first count privative of Armagnac 960–? *Gerald ...

of the older branch. He was the son of

John IV of Armagnac John IV (15 October 1396 – 5 November 1450) was a Count of Armagnac, County of Fézensac, Fézensac, and County of Rodez, Rodez from 1418 to 1450. He was involved in the intrigues related to the Hundred Years' War and in conflicts against the ...

and Isabella of Navarre.

Life

Styled Viscount de Lomagne while his father lived, John succeeded him as Count of Armagnac when he died (5 November 1450); soon after, he started a relationship with his sister Isabelle, Lady of the Four-Valleys (''Dame des Quatre-Vallées''), ten years his junior, whom the chronicler Mathieu d'Escouchy accounted one of the great beauties of France and whose betrothal to

Henry VI of England Henry VI (6 December 1421 – 21 May 1471) was King of England from 1422 to 1461 and 1470 to 1471, and English claims to the French throne, disputed King of France from 1422 to 1453. The only child of Henry V of England, Henry V, he succeeded ...

had been under consideration. When word got out that two boys (John and Anthony) had been born in the castle of

Lectoure Lectoure (; Gascon: ''Leitora'' ) is a commune in the Gers department in the Occitanie region in southwestern France. It is located north of Auch, the capital of the department, south of Agen and approximately northwest of Toulouse. In 1 ...

, the couple promised to reform their incestuous behavior. But within a few months, John solemnized the union between the two by claiming to have obtained a papal dispensation from

Pope Callixtus III Pope Callixtus III (, , ; 31 December 1378 – 6 August 1458), born Alonso de Borja (), was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 8 April 1455 to his death, in August 1458. Borgia spent his early career as a professor ...

, shortly after their third child, a daughter called Rose (or Mascarose), was born. Other serious breaches ensued: John refused to seat a bishop of Auch selected by the King and assented to by the Pope, installing an illegitimate half-brother of his in the seat. Events came to a head in May 1455. Authorities were alerted, and a brief was issued for John's arrest, when an investigation revealed that he had forced a forged dispensation out of Antoine d'Alet,

Bishop of Cambrai This is a List of bishops and archbishops of Cambrai, that is, of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Cambrai. Bishops For the first bishops of Arras and Cambrai, who resided at the former place, see Roman Catholic Diocese of Arras. On the death ...

, a magistrate in the court of Rome. Tried ''in absentia'' in 1460 before a ''

parlement Under the French Ancien Régime, a ''parlement'' () was a provincial appellate court of the Kingdom of France. In 1789, France had 13 ''parlements'', the original and most important of which was the ''Parlement'' of Paris. Though both th ...

'' of Charles VII, he was convicted of ''lese-majeste'', rebellion and incest. Forces were sent to capture him but he escaped punishment by fleeing to his cousins in Aragon. Though he pleaded his case in Rome, the couple were separated and the sons declared bastards and barred from inheritance. Within a few years a new King of France,

Louis XI Louis XI (3 July 1423 – 30 August 1483), called "Louis the 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 revolt known as the ...

, reinstated John in his domains, where John rashly undid his father's acts and broke faith with his promises. Betraying Louis, Armagnac was part of the league that called themselves ''Bien public'' and threatened Paris at the head of 6,000 mounted men. In 1469, Louis responded, under the pretense that John was treating with ambassadors from England, and sent an army under

Antoine de Chabannes Antoine de Chabannes (1408–1488), from 1439 Counts of Dammartin, Count of Dammartin (with a gap in 1463–1465), was a significant military and political figure of 15th-century France. An indefatigable fighter, during his long career he joined ...

to rout him. John fled to Spain, only to reappear in 1471 in the train of the king's rebellious brother, the duc de Guyenne. Louis had John besieged in his stronghold of

. John opened the gates of the city on 5 March 1473 but he died the next day, stabbed by men-at-arms. The title of

passed, first fruitlessly to his younger brother

Charles I, Count of Armagnac Charles d'Armagnac (born 1425; died 3 June 1497 in Castelnau-de-Montmiral at the age of 72 years) was Count of Armagnac and Rodez from 1473 to 1497. He was the son of John IV, Count of Armagnac and Rodez, and Isabella d'Évreux. His older brother, ...

, and in 1497 to his cousin of the cadet branch, Armagnac-Nemours.

Marriage and heirs

His union with his sister Isabelle of Armagnac (b. 1430 - d. Castelnau, 4 August 1476), produced three children: #John of Armagnac (d. 1516), Seigneur of Camboulas, married in 1507 with Jeanne de La Tour. No issue. #Anthony of Armagnac (d. ca. 1516), called the "Bâtard d'Armagnac". Unmarried and without issue. #Rose (or Mascarose) of Armagnac (d. 1526), married in 1498 with Gaspard II de Villemur, Seigneur of Montbrun. She had issue. In Lectoure on 19 August 1469, John married Joan (b. aft. 1454 - d. Pau, aft. 10 February 1476), daughter of Count Gaston IV of Foix and Queen Eleanor of Navarre, later monarch of Navarre. Pregnant at the time of her husband's death, Joan was transported to the castle of Buzet-sur-Tarn and lived still several years, contrary to

Père Anselme Anselm de Guibours (born 1625) (Father Anselm of the Blessed Mary, O.A.D., , or simply ''Père Anselme'') was a French Discalced Augustinian friar and noted genealogist. Biography He was born Pierre de Guibours in Paris in 1625, where he entered ...

's suggestion that she died after being forced to drink a potion (''un breuvage'') which made her give birth to a stillborn child in ca. April 1473 so that the "race of the Count could be ended" (''il ne restât aucun de la race du comte'').Père Anselme, Tome III, p. 424, citing "archives de Rodez".

Quotes

A contemporary chronicler described him: :''"Fire ran in his veins. He was as violent in his desires as imperious in his actions. His physical aspect was not seductive: short and stocky of stature, even pot-bellied, but gifted with great bodily strength. His neck was short, sumounted with an acne-pocked ("bourgeonné") visage, with squinty eyes, crowned by a shock of red hair."''

References

External links

"Un vrai feuilleton"
documentary history of Jean d'Aramagnac (in French) {{DEFAULTSORT:John 05 Of Armagnac Jean V Armagnac, Jean V Armagnac, Jean V Counts of Rodez Murdered royalty People murdered in France People convicted of incest