House of Armagnac
Encyclopedia
The House of Armagnac, at the end of the thirteenth century, was not yet powerful enough to play a political role beyond its possessions. The House of Toulouse
, which ruled over the large southwest of France, was defeated by the Capetians during the Albigensian Crusade
, but local dynasties, like the House of Foix
, the Counts of Comminges, the House of Albret
, were gaining momentum.
At the beginning of the fourteenth century, the Armagnacs reached the rank of great feudal lords with the legacy of the County of Rodez
. This heritage, combined with its Gascon lands, allowed the family to hold a rank of major importance in the heart of the nobility and, therefore, to ally itself to the royal House of France.
Between the fourteenth and fifteenth century, the Armagnacs came into possession of other territories including the counties of Charolais, La Marche, Pardiac
, Castres, the land of Nemours
elevated to a duchy, and the Carladez. After being attached to the Kings of France during the fourteenth century, the Counts of Armagnac sought to emancipate themselves (money titleDei gracia) from the Royal Trust in the fifteenth century and took an active part in the last struggles of feudalism in France. King Louis XI
broke their desire for independence by force and the Armagnacs would never recover from their defeat. They declined and became extinct in the sixteenth century.
The House of Armagnac's most famous member was Bernard VII, Count of Armagnac and Rodez, Constable of France, leader of the Armagnacs opposed to the Burgundians during the Hundred Years War.
The House of Armagnac is from the lineage of the former Dukes of Gascony
known since the eighth or ninth century.
(†930), Duke of Gascony
, divided the duchy between his three sons:
detached from his land the County of Armagnac, to give to his younger son Bernard
, who founded the first house of Armagnac. Bernard II, younger son of Bernard I, was briefly Count of Biscay—a title which he inherited from his mother—but was deposed by his cousin Guy Geoffroy Guillaume VIII, Duke of Aquitaine
. In 1140 the elder branch of Fézensac ended, which benefited the counts of Armagnac: a legacy that initiated the power of the family.
and John II, came closer to the court of France.
John I married his daughter, Joanna of Armagnac
to John, Duke of Berry
, who then married his daughter, Bonne of Berry
to Bernard VII of Armagnac, who then married his daughter, Bonne d'Armagnac
to Charles d'Orléans. At the death of Louis d'Orléans
, he succeeded him in the war against the Burgundians, becoming the head of the party that became that of the Armagnacs. To increase his power, he dispossessed the cadet branches of the family, recovering the Fezensaguet and Pardiac, but failed with Comminges. He died in 1418, leaving two sons:
in 1407 to the Treaty of Arras
in 1435, the House of Armagnac supported French interests against the Dukes of Burgundy allied with the English. The Armagnacs represented the armed wing of France.
. In 1473, Jean V of Armagnac
was besieged and killed in Lectoure by French troops led by Cardinal Jean Jouffroy Archbishop of Albi, who murdered the count in front of his wife, pillaged and burned everything, and left alive only the Countess Jeanne de Foix (daughter of Count Gaston de Foix).
The Countess was stripped of her jewels and dragged, even though she was seven months pregnant, into the castle of Buzet-sur-Tarn
which had been turned into a state prison. There King Louis XI
ordered the extinction of the House of Armagnac. Cardinal Jouffroy ordered the apothecaries and the soldiers to force the unfortunate Countess to drink a potion to destroy her unborn child. Jeanne de Foix's child was stillborn in April 1473. Jeanne died 10 February 1476.
Jacques d'Armagnac
, Duke of Nemours and John V of Armagnac, Count of Armagnac, were both targets of King Louis XI's
deadly vengeance against the House of Armagnac. They were two of the last three grandsons and male heirs of Bernard VII, Count of Armagnac.
The only male survivor of the House of Armagnac was, Charles I of Armagnac
. Charles I of Armagnac
, Count of Armagnac, Viscount Fezensaguet was born in 1425 and died without issue 3 June 1497 in Castelnau-de-Montmiral
at the age of 72 years. Charles I of Armagnac
was particularly troublesome and King Louis XI had him confined in prison for thirteen years, from 1472 to 1485. With King Louis XI having disposed of the House of Armagnac, Alain d'Albret occupied the county of Armagnac.
Counts of Toulouse
The first Counts of Toulouse were the administrators of the city and its environs under the Merovingians. No succession of such royal appointees is known, though a few names survive to the present...
, which ruled over the large southwest of France, was defeated by the Capetians during the Albigensian Crusade
Albigensian Crusade
The Albigensian Crusade or Cathar Crusade was a 20-year military campaign initiated by the Catholic Church to eliminate Catharism in Languedoc...
, but local dynasties, like the House of Foix
Viscounts of Béarn
The viscounts of Béarn were the rulers of a former province of France, located in the Pyrenees mountains and in the plain at their feet, in southwest France...
, the Counts of Comminges, the House of Albret
Albret
The lordship of Albret , situated in the Landes, gave its name to one of the most powerful feudal families of France in the Middle Ages...
, were gaining momentum.
At the beginning of the fourteenth century, the Armagnacs reached the rank of great feudal lords with the legacy of the County of Rodez
County of Rodez
The County of Rodez was a fief of the County of Toulouse formed out of part of the old County of Rouergue in what is today Aveyron, France. Its capital was Rodez. At its height, it was a centre of troubadour culture....
. This heritage, combined with its Gascon lands, allowed the family to hold a rank of major importance in the heart of the nobility and, therefore, to ally itself to the royal House of France.
Between the fourteenth and fifteenth century, the Armagnacs came into possession of other territories including the counties of Charolais, La Marche, Pardiac
Count of Pardiac
The Count of Pardiac was a title in the French nobility.It was held by:* Bernard d'Armagnac, Count of Pardiac * Jacques d'Armagnac, Duke of Nemours * Jean d'Armagnac, Duke of Nemours...
, Castres, the land of Nemours
Nemours
Nemours is a commune in the Seine-et-Marne department in the Île-de-France region in north-central France.-Geography:Nemours is located on the Loing and its canal, c...
elevated to a duchy, and the Carladez. After being attached to the Kings of France during the fourteenth century, the Counts of Armagnac sought to emancipate themselves (money titleDei gracia) from the Royal Trust in the fifteenth century and took an active part in the last struggles of feudalism in France. King 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....
broke their desire for independence by force and the Armagnacs would never recover from their defeat. They declined and became extinct in the sixteenth century.
The House of Armagnac's most famous member was Bernard VII, Count of Armagnac and Rodez, Constable of France, leader of the Armagnacs opposed to the Burgundians during the Hundred Years War.
The House of Armagnac is from the lineage of the former Dukes of Gascony
Duke of Gascony
The Duchy of Vasconia , later known as Gascony, was a Merovingian creation: a frontier duchy on the Garonne, in the border with the rebel Basque tribes...
known since the eighth or ninth century.
- Counts of Armagnac : d'argent au lion de gueules
- Counts of Armagnac and Rodez : écartelé, aux 1 et 4 d'argent au lion de gueules, aux 2 et 3 de gueules au lion ou lion léopardé d'or
- Counts of Pardiac, La Marche, and later Dukes of Nemours : écartelé, aux 1 et 4 d'argent au lion de gueules, aux 2 et 3 de gueules au lion ou lion léopardé d'or au lambel d'azur sur le tout
Origins
Garcia II Sanchez of GasconyGarcía II Sánchez of Gascony
García II Sánchez , called the Bent, was the duke of Gascony from sometime before 887 to his death....
(†930), Duke of Gascony
Duke of Gascony
The Duchy of Vasconia , later known as Gascony, was a Merovingian creation: a frontier duchy on the Garonne, in the border with the rebel Basque tribes...
, divided the duchy between his three sons:
- Sancho IV Garcés of GasconySancho IV Garcés of GasconySancho IV Garcés was the Duke of Gascony from 930 to his own death in 950 or 955...
(† 955), Duke of Gascony - William Garcés of FézensacWilliam Garcés of FézensacWilliam García was a Count of Fézensac. He was the second son of García II of Gascony and Amuna....
(† 960) received the County Fézensac. - Arnold I of AstaracArnold I of AstaracArnold I García was the first Count of Astarac from 926.Arnold was the youngest son of García II Sánchez of Gascony and Amuna. When García died, his duchy was divided between his heirs. The eldest Sancho inherited Gascony itself, while the second, William, inherited Fézensac...
received Astarac.
The Count of Armagnac
William Garcés of FézensacWilliam Garcés of Fézensac
William García was a Count of Fézensac. He was the second son of García II of Gascony and Amuna....
detached from his land the County of Armagnac, to give to his younger son Bernard
Bernard I of Armagnac
Bernard I , called the Suspicious, was the first Count of Armagnac.He was the second son of William Garcés of Fézensac. When William died in 960, he divided his county up, giving Fézensac to his eldest son Odo, Armagnac to Bernard, and Gause to the youngest son Fredelon.For his many sins, Bernard...
, who founded the first house of Armagnac. Bernard II, younger son of Bernard I, was briefly Count of Biscay—a title which he inherited from his mother—but was deposed by his cousin Guy Geoffroy Guillaume VIII, Duke of Aquitaine
Duke of Aquitaine
The Duke of Aquitaine ruled the historical region of Aquitaine under the supremacy of Frankish, English and later French kings....
. In 1140 the elder branch of Fézensac ended, which benefited the counts of Armagnac: a legacy that initiated the power of the family.
Heritage of the Count of Rodez
Following the acquisition through marriage of the County of Rodez between the end of thirteenth century and the early fourteenth century, the counts of Armaganac, John IJohn I of Armagnac
John I of Armagnac , son of Bernard VI and Cecilia Rodez, was Count of Armagnac from 1319 to 1373. In addition to Armagnac he controlled territory in Quercy, Rouergue and Gévaudan...
and John II, came closer to the court of France.
John I married his daughter, Joanna of Armagnac
Joanna of Armagnac
Joan of Armagnac was a French noblewoman of the powerful Armagnac family, being the eldest daughter of Count John I of Armagnac and his wife Beatrice of Clermont...
to John, Duke of Berry
John, Duke of Berry
John of Valois or John the Magnificent was Duke of Berry and Auvergne and Count of Poitiers and Montpensier. He was the third son of King John II of France and Bonne of Luxemburg; his brothers were King Charles V of France, Duke Louis I of Anjou and Duke Philip the Bold of Burgundy...
, who then married his daughter, Bonne of Berry
Bonne of Berry
Bonne of Berry was the daughter of John, Duke of Berry and Joanna of Armagnac. Through her father, she was a granddaughter of John II of France.-First marriage:...
to Bernard VII of Armagnac, who then married his daughter, Bonne d'Armagnac
Bonne d'Armagnac
Bonne of Armagnac was the daughter of Bernard VII, Count of Armagnac and constable of France, and of Bonne of Berry.-Marriage:...
to Charles d'Orléans. At the death of Louis d'Orléans
Louis of Valois, Duke of Orléans
Louis I was Duke of Orléans from 1392 to his death. He was also Count of Valois, Duke of Touraine , Count of Blois , Angoulême , Périgord, Dreux, and Soissons....
, he succeeded him in the war against the Burgundians, becoming the head of the party that became that of the Armagnacs. To increase his power, he dispossessed the cadet branches of the family, recovering the Fezensaguet and Pardiac, but failed with Comminges. He died in 1418, leaving two sons:
- John IVJohn IV of ArmagnacJohn IV was a Count of Armagnac, Fézensac, and Rodez from 1418 to 1450. He was the son of Bernard VII of Armagnac, Count d' Armagnac, of Fézensac, Pardiac, and Rodez; and the brother of Bernard of Armagnac, Count of Pardiac, of La Marche and Duke of Nemours...
, Count of Armagnac and Rodez. - Bernard, Count of Pardiac, head of a cadet branch that will later inherit by marriage Nemours and La Marche.
The Armagnac and the Burgundians
From the assassination of Louis d'OrléansLouis of Valois, Duke of Orléans
Louis I was Duke of Orléans from 1392 to his death. He was also Count of Valois, Duke of Touraine , Count of Blois , Angoulême , Périgord, Dreux, and Soissons....
in 1407 to the Treaty of Arras
Treaty of Arras
There have been several treaties of Arras:* the Treaty of Arras , between Charles VII of France and Philip the Good of Burgundy* the Treaty of Arras , between Louis XI of France and the governments of the Low Countries...
in 1435, the House of Armagnac supported French interests against the Dukes of Burgundy allied with the English. The Armagnacs represented the armed wing of France.
The Armagnac struggle for independence against Capetian power
After serving the Capetians during the fourteenth century and the beginning of the fifteenth, the Armagnacs were openly seeking to emancipate themselves. They assumed that the role they played during the Hundred Years War gave them greater rights than the rest of the nobility. They had not counted on the pugnacity of King Louis XI.The Defeat and End of the Armagnacs
At the end of fifteenth century, the Armagnacs were claiming sovereign rights (coin money, take the qualification Counts by the grace of God), incurring the wrath of King Louis XILouis 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....
. In 1473, Jean V of Armagnac
Jean V of Armagnac
John V of Armagnac , the next-to-last Count of Armagnac of the older branch, was the controversial son of John IV of Armagnac and Isabella of Navarre, an emblem of 15th century aristocratic violence, treachery and indiscipline, a wildman from one of the most powerful virtually independent...
was besieged and killed in Lectoure by French troops led by Cardinal Jean Jouffroy Archbishop of Albi, who murdered the count in front of his wife, pillaged and burned everything, and left alive only the Countess Jeanne de Foix (daughter of Count Gaston de Foix).
The Countess was stripped of her jewels and dragged, even though she was seven months pregnant, into the castle of Buzet-sur-Tarn
Buzet-sur-Tarn
Buzet-sur-Tarn is a commune in the Haute-Garonne department in southwestern France.-Population:-References:*...
which had been turned into a state prison. There King 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....
ordered the extinction of the House of Armagnac. Cardinal Jouffroy ordered the apothecaries and the soldiers to force the unfortunate Countess to drink a potion to destroy her unborn child. Jeanne de Foix's child was stillborn in April 1473. Jeanne died 10 February 1476.
Jacques d'Armagnac
Jacques d'Armagnac, Duke of Nemours
Jacques d'Armagnac, duke of Nemours was the son of Bernard d'Armagnac, count of Pardiac, and Eleanor of Bourbon-La Marche....
, Duke of Nemours and John V of Armagnac, Count of Armagnac, were both targets of King Louis XI's
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....
deadly vengeance against the House of Armagnac. They were two of the last three grandsons and male heirs of Bernard VII, Count of Armagnac.
The only male survivor of the House of Armagnac was, Charles I of Armagnac
Charles I of Armagnac
Charles d'Armagnac, born 1425, died June 3, 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. After his brother John V's ambitions against the king of France,...
. Charles I of Armagnac
Charles I of Armagnac
Charles d'Armagnac, born 1425, died June 3, 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. After his brother John V's ambitions against the king of France,...
, Count of Armagnac, Viscount Fezensaguet was born in 1425 and died without issue 3 June 1497 in Castelnau-de-Montmiral
Castelnau-de-Montmiral
Castelnau-de-Montmiral is a commune in the Tarn department in southern France.- Demography :-History:While traces of activities dating back to the Bronze Age such as dolmens and oppidums can be seen in the nearby forest La Grésigne, the village was founded as an albigensian bastide in 1222 by...
at the age of 72 years. Charles I of Armagnac
Charles I of Armagnac
Charles d'Armagnac, born 1425, died June 3, 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. After his brother John V's ambitions against the king of France,...
was particularly troublesome and King Louis XI had him confined in prison for thirteen years, from 1472 to 1485. With King Louis XI having disposed of the House of Armagnac, Alain d'Albret occupied the county of Armagnac.