Guy XIV de Laval
Encyclopedia
Guy XIV de Laval, François de Montfort-Laval, (28 January 1406 - 2 September 1486, Châteaubriant
Châteaubriant
-Coat of arms:Two coats of arms are attributed :*First Pale: Blue, three gold fleurs de lys, Pales split in two by a shortened staff with a red hache....

), comte de Laval, baron de Vitré
Vitré, Ille-et-Vilaine
Vitré is a commune in the Ille-et-Vilaine department in Brittany in north-western France.Vitré, a sub-prefecture until 1926, is the seat of a canton of around 17,000 inhabitants . It lies on the edge of Brittany, near Normandy, Maine, and Anjou...

 and of La Roche-Bernard
La Roche-Bernard
La Roche-Bernard is a commune in the Morbihan department of Brittany in north-western France. Inhabitants of La Roche-Bernard are called in French Rochois for men and Rochoises for women....

, seigneur of Gâvre
Le Gâvre
Le Gâvre is a commune in the Loire-Atlantique department in western France.-See also:*Communes of the Loire-Atlantique department...

, of Acquigny
Acquigny
Acquigny is a commune in the Eure department in Haute-Normandie in northern France.-Population:-External links:*...

, of Tinténiac
Tinténiac
Tinténiac is a commune in the Ille-et-Vilaine department in Brittany in north-western France.-Demographics:Inhabitants of Tinténiac are called Tinténiacais.-References:* ;* -External links:*...

, of Montfort
Montfort-sur-Meu
Montfort-sur-Meu is a commune in the Ille-et-Vilaine department of Brittany in north-western France.It is noted as the birthplace of the well known author and Roman Catholic Saint Louis de Montfort, who is considered the pioneer of the field of Mariology. The saint's birthplace is at No 15, Rue de...

 and Gaël, of Bécherel
Bécherel
Bécherel is a commune in the Ille-et-Vilaine department of Brittany in north-western France.-Book town:Bécherel is a small village, called the "village of the books" because there are fifteen bookstores for around 660 inhabitants...

, was a French nobleman, known for his account of Joan of Arc
Joan of Arc
Saint Joan of Arc, nicknamed "The Maid of Orléans" , is a national heroine of France and a Roman Catholic saint. A peasant girl born in eastern France who claimed divine guidance, she led the French army to several important victories during the Hundred Years' War, which paved the way for the...

. He and his brother André de Lohéac were simultaneously vassals of the duke of Brittany
Duke of Brittany
The Duchy of Brittany was a medieval tribal and feudal state covering the northwestern peninsula of Europe,bordered by the Alantic Ocean on the west and the English Channel to the north with less definitive borders of the Loire River to the south and Normandy to the east...

 and of the king of France.

Origins

He was the son of Jean de Montfort (1385–1415), called Guy XIII de Laval
Guy XIII de Laval
Guy XIII de Laval, born Jean de Montfort, was seigneur of Laval and of Kergorlay. His father was Raoul IX de Montfort and his mother Jeanne de Kergorlay....

, and of Anne de Laval (1385–1466). Through his mother he was grandson of Guy XII de Laval and of Jeanne de Laval, second wife of constable Bertrand du Guesclin
Bertrand du Guesclin
Bertrand du Guesclin , known as the Eagle of Brittany or the Black Dog of Brocéliande, was a Breton knight and French military commander during the Hundred Years' War. He was Constable of France from 1370 to his death...

.

Jean de Laval
x Isabeau de Tinteniac

├──> Jeanne de Laval
│ x Bertrand du Guesclin
Bertrand du Guesclin
Bertrand du Guesclin , known as the Eagle of Brittany or the Black Dog of Brocéliande, was a Breton knight and French military commander during the Hundred Years' War. He was Constable of France from 1370 to his death...


│ x Guy XII de Laval
│ │
│ └──> Anne de Laval (1385–1466)
│ x Guy XIII de Laval
Guy XIII de Laval
Guy XIII de Laval, born Jean de Montfort, was seigneur of Laval and of Kergorlay. His father was Raoul IX de Montfort and his mother Jeanne de Kergorlay....


│ │
│ └──> Guy XIV de Laval
│ └──> André de Lohéac
│ └──> Louis de Laval

In 1420, Guy XIV, only just fourteen years old, was the second person to put his signature to the petition sent to the king of England to demand the release of Arthur
Arthur III, Duke of Brittany
Arthur III , known as the Justicier and as Arthur de Richemont, was Lord of Parthenay and titular Count of Richmond in England and for eleven months at the very end of his life, Duke of Brittany and Count of Montfort after inheriting those titles upon the death of his nephew.-Biography:Belonging...

, comte de Richemont, the future constable, who had been a prisoner since the battle of Agincourt
Battle of Agincourt
The Battle of Agincourt was a major English victory against a numerically superior French army in the Hundred Years' War. The battle occurred on Friday, 25 October 1415 , near modern-day Azincourt, in northern France...

. The Count of Richemont was freed in the September of that year.

In 1424, he accompanied Arthur to the brilliant reception he had prepared for queen Yolande of Aragon
Yolande of Aragon
Yolande of Aragon, , was a throne claimant and titular queen regnant of Aragon, titular queen consort of Naples, Duchess of Anjou, Countess of Provence, and regent of Provence during the minority of her son...

 in his château d'Angers
Château d'Angers
The Château d'Angers is a fortress style château located in the Loire Valley that is home of the Apocalypse Tapestry.- Building description :...

. He thus worked to detach the Breton captain from the English and bring about a rapprochement between Brittany and France.

Companion of Joan of Arc

On 8 June 1429, at Selles-en-Berry (Selles-sur-Cher
Selles-sur-Cher
Selles-sur-Cher is a commune in the Loir-et-Cher department of central France.The name of the commune is known internationally for the goat's cheese, Selles-sur-Cher, that was first made in the village in the 19th century.-Demography:-References:...

), he rejoined the royal army which reunited Joan of Arc
Joan of Arc
Saint Joan of Arc, nicknamed "The Maid of Orléans" , is a national heroine of France and a Roman Catholic saint. A peasant girl born in eastern France who claimed divine guidance, she led the French army to several important victories during the Hundred Years' War, which paved the way for the...

 and the duke of Alençon
John II of Alençon
John II of Alençon was the son of John I of Alençon and Marie of Brittany. He succeeded his father as Duke of Alençon and Count of Perche as a minor in 1415, after the latter's death at the Battle of Agincourt.He saw action as a young man at the Battle of Verneuil on 17 August 1424, and was...

 to seek the liberation of the Loire Valley
Loire Valley
The Loire Valley , spanning , is located in the middle stretch of the Loire River in central France. Its area comprises approximately . It is referred to as the Cradle of the French Language, and the Garden of France due to the abundance of vineyards, fruit orchards, and artichoke, asparagus, and...

 after the raising of the siege of Orléans
Siege of Orléans
The Siege of Orléans marked a turning point in the Hundred Years' War between France and England. This was Joan of Arc's first major military victory and the first major French success to follow the crushing defeat at Agincourt in 1415. The outset of this siege marked the pinnacle of English power...

. He has left, in a letter to his mother, a living portrait of Joan of Arc, of whom he was a fervent admirer. They distinguished themselves at Jargeau
Jargeau
Jargeau is a commune in the Loiret department in north-central France.It lies about south of Paris.-External links:*...

, Beaugency
Beaugency
Beaugency is a commune in the Loiret department in north-central France. It is located on the Loire river, upriver from Blois and downriver from Orléans.-History:...

, and above all Patay
Battle of Patay
The Battle of Patay was the culminating engagement of the Loire Campaign of the Hundred Years' War between the French and English in north-central France. It was a decisive victory for the French and turned the tide of the war. This victory was to the French what Agincourt was to the English...

, where he fought in the vanguard.

Coronation of Charles VII

With his brother André de Lohéac he followed the sovereign to Reims
Reims
Reims , a city in the Champagne-Ardenne region of France, lies east-northeast of Paris. Founded by the Gauls, it became a major city during the period of the Roman Empire....

 and assisted at the coronation of Charles VII of France
Charles VII of France
Charles VII , called the Victorious or the Well-Served , was King of France from 1422 to his death, though he was initially opposed by Henry VI of England, whose Regent, the Duke of Bedford, ruled much of France including the capital, Paris...

 on 17 July 1429, replacing Philip the Good, count of Flanders
Count of Flanders
The Count of Flanders was the ruler or sub-ruler of the county of Flanders from the 9th century until the abolition of the position by the French revolutionaries in 1790....

 (who was also the duke of Burgundy
Duke of Burgundy
Duke of Burgundy was a title borne by the rulers of the Duchy of Burgundy, a small portion of traditional lands of Burgundians west of river Saône which in 843 was allotted to Charles the Bald's kingdom of West Franks...

). Among the favours distributed by the king on this occasion, the territory of Laval was raised to a count
Count
A count or countess is an aristocratic nobleman in European countries. The word count came into English from the French comte, itself from Latin comes—in its accusative comitem—meaning "companion", and later "companion of the emperor, delegate of the emperor". The adjective form of the word is...

y and Guy de Laval was made governor of Lagny
Lagny
Lagny is the name or part of the name of three communes of France:*Lagny in the Oise département*Lagny-le-Sec in the Oise département*Lagny-sur-Marne in the Seine-et-Marne département...

 in 1430.

House of Brittany

Joanna of Navarre
x John V, Duke of Brittany
John V, Duke of Brittany
John V the Conqueror KG was Duke of Brittany and Count of Montfort, from 1345 until his death.-Numbering:...




├──> Arthur III, Duke of Brittany
Arthur III, Duke of Brittany
Arthur III , known as the Justicier and as Arthur de Richemont, was Lord of Parthenay and titular Count of Richmond in England and for eleven months at the very end of his life, Duke of Brittany and Count of Montfort after inheriting those titles upon the death of his nephew.-Biography:Belonging...



├──> John VI, Duke of Brittany
John VI, Duke of Brittany
John VI the Wise , was duke of Brittany, count of Montfort, and titular earl of Richmond, from 1399 to his death...


│ x Joan of France
Joan of France (1391-1433)
Joan of France was a daughter of King Charles VI of France and his wife, Queen Isabeau of Bavaria. Her most notable siblings were King Charles VII of France, Catherine of Valois , Isabella of Valois and Michelle of Valois, who...


│ │
│ └──> Isabelle de Bretagne
Isabella of Brittany
Isabella of Brittany was a daughter of John VI, Duke of Brittany, and his wife, Joan of Valois. Isabella was a member of the House of Dreux.- Family :...


│ │ x Guy XIV de Laval
│ │
│ └──> Francis I, Duke of Brittany
Francis I, Duke of Brittany
Francis I , was duke of Brittany, count of Montfort and titular earl of Richmond, from 1442 to his death. He was son of Duke John VI and Joan of France.He first married, at Nantes in 1431, Yolande of Anjou Francis I (in Breton Fransez I, in French François I) (Vannes/Gwened, May 14, 1414 –...


│ │
│ └──> Peter II, Duke of Brittany
Peter II, Duke of Brittany
Peter II , was duke of Brittany, count of Montfort and titular earl of Richmond, from 1450 to his death. He was son of Duke John VI and Joan of France, and thus was younger brother of Francis I.In 1442, he married Françoise d'Amboise Peter II (in Breton Pêr II, in French Pierre II) (1418 –...


│ │
│ └──> Gilles of Brittany
│ x Françoise de Dinan

x Henry IV of England
Henry IV of England
Henry IV was King of England and Lord of Ireland . He was the ninth King of England of the House of Plantagenet and also asserted his grandfather's claim to the title King of France. He was born at Bolingbroke Castle in Lincolnshire, hence his other name, Henry Bolingbroke...



On 1 October 1430, at Redon, Guy XIV married Isabelle of Brittany (d. 1444), daughter of John VI, Duke of Brittany
John VI, Duke of Brittany
John VI the Wise , was duke of Brittany, count of Montfort, and titular earl of Richmond, from 1399 to his death...

. He was betrothed, in 1420, to Marguerite of Dreux, Isabelle's sister, who had herself been betrothed to Louis III d'Anjou
Louis III of Naples
Louis III was titular King of Naples 1417–1426, Count of Provence, Forcalquier, Piedmont, and Maine and Duke of Anjou 1417–1434, and Duke of Calabria 1426–1434....

.

Duchy of Brittany

In 1439, he negotiated the tentative Anglo-French treaty at Gravelines
Gravelines
Gravelines is a commune in the Nord department in northern France.It lies at the mouth of the river Aa 15 miles southwest of Dunkirk. There is a market in the town square on Saturdays. The "Arsenal" approached from the town square is home to an extensive and carefully displayed art collection....

. Guy XIV assisted at Tours
Tours
Tours is a city in central France, the capital of the Indre-et-Loire department.It is located on the lower reaches of the river Loire, between Orléans and the Atlantic coast. Touraine, the region around Tours, is known for its wines, the alleged perfection of its local spoken French, and for the...

, on 14 January 1446, in a notable combat before Charles VII, between the Englishman Jean Chalons and Louis du Bueil, with the latter being killed. As his ancestors had founded the four canonical-prebendaries of Saint-Jean-de-Langeais, it was up to him to provide the residency privileges which they dispensed, as a result of which divine service was no longer assured.

Marriage with Françoise de Dinan

It is known that after he had, for financial reasons, let his son Guy XV's engagement to Françoise of Dinan drop in 1440, in favour of Gilles of Brittany. Guy XIV once again abused the young age of this same son, making him break off another engagement to her, when she became the widow of Gilles of Brittany, and engaged him at 45 years old in February 1451 at Vitré, Françoise of Dinan (d. 1500), baronne of Châteaubriant. Guy XIV had no rights on the barony of Châteaubriant.

The Vatican archives contain two solicitations to the Holy See
Holy See
The Holy See is the episcopal jurisdiction of the Catholic Church in Rome, in which its Bishop is commonly known as the Pope. It is the preeminent episcopal see of the Catholic Church, forming the central government of the Church. As such, diplomatically, and in other spheres the Holy See acts and...

 on this occasion, by Guy XIV and by his son. The inquiry concerning François-Guy de Laval, fils aîné de Guy, comte de Laval, seigneur du Gavre dates to 23 July 1450 and is addressed to the bishop of Nantes. He begged, for canonical reasons, for an exemption from parental kinship, and from the ban on marriage between a woman and the father of someone to whom she had previously been engaged. The mandate of dispensation for the marriage of Guy XIV and Françoise of Dinan, said to be of Thouars from her mother's name, and for their absolution from certain bans, is dated 17 December 1450 and addressed to the bishop of Vannes.

The Vatican archives mention once more mention the comte of Laval and Françoise of Dinan his wife, in their founding of a psalette at the Madeleine at Vitré, on 19 May 1453.

Relationship with Louis XI

Charles VI
Charles VI of France
Charles VI , called the Beloved and the Mad , was the King of France from 1380 to 1422, as a member of the House of Valois. His bouts with madness, which seem to have begun in 1392, led to quarrels among the French royal family, which were exploited by the neighbouring powers of England and Burgundy...



├──> Charles VII
Charles VII of France
Charles VII , called the Victorious or the Well-Served , was King of France from 1422 to his death, though he was initially opposed by Henry VI of England, whose Regent, the Duke of Bedford, ruled much of France including the capital, Paris...


│ │
│ └──> Louis XI
Louis XI of France
Louis XI , called the Prudent , was the King of France from 1461 to 1483. He was the son of Charles VII of France and Mary of Anjou, a member of the House of Valois....



├──> Jeanne de France
Joan of France (1391-1433)
Joan of France was a daughter of King Charles VI of France and his wife, Queen Isabeau of Bavaria. Her most notable siblings were King Charles VII of France, Catherine of Valois , Isabella of Valois and Michelle of Valois, who...


│ x John VI, Duke of Brittany
John VI, Duke of Brittany
John VI the Wise , was duke of Brittany, count of Montfort, and titular earl of Richmond, from 1399 to his death...


│ │
│ └──> Isabelle of Brittany
│ x Guy XIV de Laval

King Louis XI established a cour des comptes
Cour des Comptes
The Court of Audit is a quasi-judicial body of the French government charged with conducting financial and legislative audits of most public institutions and some private institutions, including the central Government, national public corporations, social security agencies , and public services...

 at Laval in 1463. The following year the king authorised "his cousin" Guy XIV to add a first quarter of France, then those of Evreux - and those of Vitré.

Brocéliande

At the beginning of the 15th century, the château de Comper
Château de Comper
The Château de Comper is a castle located in Paimpont forest , three kilometers to the east of the village of Concoret in the département of Morbihan in the region of Brittany, France....

 became the fiefdom of the Laval
Laval, Mayenne
Laval is a commune in the Mayenne department in north-western France.It lies on the threshold of Brittany and on the border between Normandy and Anjou. Its citizens are called Lavallois.-Geography:...

 family. In order to assert better his precedence on the viscountcy of Rohan to the States of Brittany, Guy XIV de Laval, seigneur of Brocéliande
Brocéliande
Brocéliande is the name of a legendary forest that first appears in literature in 1160, in the Roman de Rou, a verse chronicle written by Wace....

, pretended, via his parent, to be descended from the ancient kings of Armorica
Armorica
Armorica or Aremorica is the name given in ancient times to the part of Gaul that includes the Brittany peninsula and the territory between the Seine and Loire rivers, extending inland to an indeterminate point and down the Atlantic coast...

 Conan and Ponthus. In 1467, he tried to get inserted into the "Chartre des Usements de Brécilie", with the object of the seigneurial rights over the inhabitants of the forest, mentioning the jousts of Ponthus, making a historical fact of a 14th century fictional romance in the style of the Arthurian legends called "Le roman de Ponthus et la Belle Sidoine".

He was the lieutenant-général of the duchy of Brittany in 1472.

Comte of Laval

Guy XIV de Laval
x Isabelle of Brittany

├──> Guy XV de Laval

├──> Pierre de Laval

├──> Jeanne de Laval
Jeanne de Laval
-Sources:*Accounts of John Legay, fundraiser for the Queen of Sicily, the manuscript of the library of Angers, published in the History Anjou in 1900.*King Lecoy by René de la Marche.*Conduct of King René J. Levron....


│ x René I of Anjou
René I of Naples
René of Anjou , also known as René I of Naples and Good King René , was Duke of Anjou, Count of Provence , Count of Piedmont, Duke of Bar , Duke of Lorraine , King of Naples , titular King of Jerusalem...



x Françoise of Dinan

Louis XI, in 1482, gave full powers to the comté of Laval, separating it from the Maine. The comté of Laval was directly responsible to the crown of France.

He was buried at the collegial church of Saint-Thugal at Laval. His daughter Jeanne de Laval
Jeanne de Laval
-Sources:*Accounts of John Legay, fundraiser for the Queen of Sicily, the manuscript of the library of Angers, published in the History Anjou in 1900.*King Lecoy by René de la Marche.*Conduct of King René J. Levron....

 (1433–1498) was the wife of king René I of Anjou
René I of Naples
René of Anjou , also known as René I of Naples and Good King René , was Duke of Anjou, Count of Provence , Count of Piedmont, Duke of Bar , Duke of Lorraine , King of Naples , titular King of Jerusalem...

. His eldest son, Francis, would be Grand Master of France
Grand Master of France
The Grand Master of France was, during the Ancien Régime and Bourbon Restoration in France, one of the Great Officers of the Crown of France and head of the "Maison du Roi", the king's royal household...

 and comte of Laval (Guy XV de Laval), and one of his cadets
Cadet branch
Cadet branch is a term in genealogy to describe the lineage of the descendants of the younger sons of a monarch or patriarch. In the ruling dynasties and noble families of much of Europe and Asia, the family's major assets – titles, realms, fiefs, property and income – have...

  Pierre de Laval was archbishop of Rheims.

Source

  • Jürgen Klötgen, "Une charte retrouvée de Guy XV de Laval (1491) - Notice historique sur les armoiries de Laval", in Revue Historique et Archéologique du Maine, t.CXLVIII, Le Mans, 1997 p. 209-232. See also : Full text from DVD-RHAM Revue Historique et Archéologique du Maine/1875-2000, Copyright by Société Historique et Archéologique du Maine, Le Mans, 2006. "Guy XIV de Laval", in Alphonse-Victor Angot, Ferdinand Gaugain, Dictionnaire historique, topographique et biographique de la Mayenne, Goupil, 1900-1910 ([détail édition]), t. IV, p. 528.
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