Jean Guiton was born in La Rochelle

La Rochelle

La Rochelle is a city in western France and a seaport on the Bay of Biscay, a part of the Atlantic Ocean. It is the capital of the Charente-Maritime department.The city is connected to the Île de Ré by a bridge completed on 19 May 1988...

 where he followed the occupation of ship-owner

Ship-owner

A shipowner is the owner of a merchant vessel . In the commercial sense of the term, a shipowner is someone who equips and exploits a ship, usually for delivering cargo at a certain freight rate, either as a per freight rate or based on hire...

.

Having been nominated Admiral of the fleet of La Rochelle, Jean Guiton fought the Naval battle of Saint-Martin-de-Ré

Naval battle of Saint-Martin-de-Ré

The Naval battle of Saint-Martin-de-Ré took place on 27 October 1622, between the Huguenot fleet of La Rochelle under Jean Guiton, and a Royal fleet under Charles de Guise....

 against Royal forces on 27 October 1622.

He later participated to the uprising of Soubise

Benjamin de Rohan, duc de Soubise

Benjamin de Rohan, duc de Soubise , was a French Huguenot leader.The younger brother of Henri de Rohan, he inherited his title through his mother Catherine of Parthenay. He served his apprenticeship as a soldier under Maurice of Nassau in the Low Countries...

 in 1625, leading to the Capture of Ré island

Capture of Ré island

The Recovery of Ré Island was accomplished by the army of Louis XIII in September 1625, against the troops of the Protestant admiral Soubise and the Huguenot forces of La Rochelle, who had been occupying the Island of Ré since February 1625 as part of the Huguenot rebellions.-Background:The...

 by Royal forces that same year.

He became mayor of La Rochelle and, during the 1627-1628 Siege of La Rochelle

Siege of La Rochelle

The Siege of La Rochelle was a result of a war between the French royal forces of Louis XIII of France and the Huguenots of La Rochelle in 1627-1628...

, he organized an energetic resistance to the troops of king Louis XIII

Louis XIII of France

Louis XIII was a Bourbon monarch who ruled as King of France and of Navarre from 1610 to 1643.Louis was only eight years old when he succeeded his father. His mother, Marie de Medici, acted as regent during Louis' minority...

. The scene is still visible today in the City Hall (Hotel de Ville) of La Rochelle, where a marble table with a chip made by his dagger is on display.

Then, Richelieu offered him leadership in the royal fleet and he fought Spain. One of his daughters married the son of the famous Protestant admiral Abraham Duquesne

Abraham Duquesne

Other topics that could fall under Duquesne can be found at Marquis Duquesne Abraham Duquesne, marquis du Bouchet was a French naval officer, who also saw service as an admiral in the Royal Swedish Navy. He was born in Dieppe, a seaport, in 1610, and was a Huguenot...

, Abraham Duquesne-Guiton.

Like many other Rochelais (people from La Rochelle), Jean Guiton was a Huguenot

Huguenot

The Huguenots were members of the Protestant Reformed Church of France during the 16th and 17th centuries. Since the 17th century, people who formerly would have been called Huguenots have instead simply been called French Protestants, a title suggested by their German co-religionists, the...

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