Peter of Luxembourg, Count of Saint-Pol
Encyclopedia
Peter of Luxembourg was a son of John of Luxembourg, Lord of Beauvoir and his wife Marguerite of Enghien
Marguerite of Enghien
Marguerite d'Enghien, suo jure Countess of Brienne and of Conversano, suo jure Heiress of Enghien, and Lady of Beauvois , was a wealthy noblewoman from the County of Hainaut in her own right, having inherited the counties of Brienne and of Conversano, and the Lordship of Enghien from her father...

. His inheritance included the counties of Brienne, Conversano
Conversano
Conversano is an ancient town and comune in the province of Bari, Apulia, southern Italy. It is located 30 km south-east of Bari, 7 km from the Adriatic coast, at 219 m above sea-level....

 and Saint-Pol
County of Saint-Pol
The county of Saint-Pol was a county around the French city of Saint-Pol-sur-Ternoise on the border of Artois and Picardy, formerly the county of Ternois....

.

Family

Peter had succeeded his father John of Luxembourg, Lord of Beauvoir and mother Marguerite of Enghien
Marguerite of Enghien
Marguerite d'Enghien, suo jure Countess of Brienne and of Conversano, suo jure Heiress of Enghien, and Lady of Beauvois , was a wealthy noblewoman from the County of Hainaut in her own right, having inherited the counties of Brienne and of Conversano, and the Lordship of Enghien from her father...

. They had co-reigned as Count and Countess of Brienne from 1394 to her death in 1397.

John was a fourth-generation descendant of Waleran I of Luxembourg, Lord of Ligny, second son of Henry V of Luxembourg
Henry V of Luxembourg
Henry V the Blond , called the Great, was the count of Luxembourg, Laroche and Arlon from 1247 to his death and the count of Namur between 1256 and 1264 as Henry III...

 and Margaret of Bar. This cadet line of the House of Luxembourg
House of Luxembourg
The House of Luxembourg was a late medieval German dynasty, which between 1308 and 1437 ruled the Holy Roman Empire, twice interrupted by the rivaling House of Wittelsbach.-History:...

 reigned in Ligny-en-Barrois
Ligny-en-Barrois
Ligny-en-Barrois is a commune in the Meuse department in Lorraine in north-eastern France.The town is in the arrondissement of Bar-le-Duc, beside the canal that links the Rivers Rhine and Marne, fifteen kilometres to the south east of Bar le Duc: it is the administrative seat of the canton ...

. This made Peter a distant cousin to John of Luxembourg, father of Charles IV, Holy Roman Emperor
Charles IV, Holy Roman Emperor
Charles IV , born Wenceslaus , was the second king of Bohemia from the House of Luxembourg, and the first king of Bohemia to also become Holy Roman Emperor....

 and Bonne, Duchess of Normany and Aquitaine
Bonne of Bohemia
Bonne of Luxemburg, Duchess of Normandy, Countess of Anjou and of Maine , was born Jutta , the daughter of John the Blind of Luxemburg, king of Bohemia and his first wife Elisabeth of Bohemia. She was the first wife of King John II of France; however, as her death occurred a year prior to his...

.

Peter was a sixth-generation descendant of John II, Duke of Brittany
John II, Duke of Brittany
John II was Duke of Brittany and Earl of Richmond, from 1286 to his death. He was son of Duke John I and Blanche of Navarre...

 and his wife Beatrice of England
Beatrice of England
Beatrice of England , also known as Beatrice de Dreux, was a Princess of England as the daughter of King Henry III of England and Eleanor of Provence...

, through their daughter, Marie.

Beatrice was a daughter of Henry III of England
Henry III of England
Henry III was the son and successor of John as King of England, reigning for 56 years from 1216 until his death. His contemporaries knew him as Henry of Winchester. He was the first child king in England since the reign of Æthelred the Unready...

 and his wife Eleanor of Provence
Eleanor of Provence
Eleanor of Provence was Queen consort of England as the spouse of King Henry III of England from 1236 until his death in 1272....

.

Henry was son of John of England
John of England
John , also known as John Lackland , was King of England from 6 April 1199 until his death...

 and his second wife Isabella of Angoulême
Isabella of Angoulême
Isabella of Angoulême was queen consort of England as the second wife of King John from 1200 until John's death in 1216. They had five children by the king including his heir, later Henry III...

.

Life

Peter succeeded his aunt Jeanne of Luxembourg
Jeanne of Luxembourg
Joan, Countess of Saint-Pol and Ligny , called the Demoiselle de Luxembourg, was the daughter of Guy of Luxembourg, Count of Ligny and Mahaut of Châtillon, Countess of Saint-Pol....

, Countess of Saint-Pol and Ligny, as Count of Saint-Pol in 1430. His younger brother John II of Luxembourg, Count of Ligny
John II of Luxembourg, Count of Ligny
John II of Luxembourg, Count of Ligny was a French nobleman and soldier, a younger son of John of Luxembourg, Lord of Beauvoir and Marguerite of Enghien....

, an ally of the English during the Hundred Years War, received 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...

 as his prisoner, and subsequently sold her to the English, for 10,000 livres.

On 8 May 1405, Peter married Margaret de Baux
Margaret de Baux
Margaret de Baux, Countess of Saint-Pol, of Brienne, and of Conversano, sometimes known as Margherita del Balzo , was a member of the noble del Balzo family of the Kingdom of Naples, which had its origins in Provence dating back to the 11th Century...

, daughter of Francesco del Balzo's third wife Sueva Orsini, a relation of Clarice Orsini
Clarice Orsini
Clarice Orsini was the daughter of Jacopo Orsini, Lord of Monterotondo and Bracciano, and his wife and cousin Maddalena Orsini. Born in the Papal States, she is most known as the wife of Lorenzo de' Medici , de facto ruler of the Florentine Republic...

 (wife of Lorenzo de' Medici
Lorenzo de' Medici
Lorenzo de' Medici was an Italian statesman and de facto ruler of the Florentine Republic during the Italian Renaissance. Known as Lorenzo the Magnificent by contemporary Florentines, he was a diplomat, politician and patron of scholars, artists and poets...

). Peter and Margaret had nine children:
  • Louis of Luxembourg, Count of Saint-Pol, de Brienne, de Ligny, and Conversano
    Louis de Luxembourg, Count of Saint-Pol
    Louis de Luxembourg, Count of Saint-Pol, of Brienne, de Ligny, and Conversano belonged to the Ligny branch of the House of Luxemburg and was Constable of France....

    , Constable of France
    Constable of France
    The Constable of France , as the First Officer of the Crown, was one of the original five Great Officers of the Crown of France and Commander in Chief of the army. He, theoretically, as Lieutenant-general of the King, outranked all the nobles and was second-in-command only to the King...

     (1418- 19 December 1475), married firstly, in 1435, Jeanne de Bar, Countess of Marle and Soissons
    Jeanne de Bar, Countess of Marle and Soissons
    Jeanne de Bar, suo jure Countess of Marle and Soissons, Dame d'Oisy, Viscountess of Meaux, and Countess of Saint-Pol, of Brienne, de Ligny, and Conversano was a noble French heiress and Sovereign Countess...

     (1415- 14 May 1462), by whom he had issue, and from whom descended King Henry IV of France and Mary, Queen of Scots. He married secondly, Marie of Savoy
    Duchy of Savoy
    From 1416 to 1847, the House of Savoy ruled the eponymous Duchy of Savoy . The Duchy was a state in the northern part of the Italian Peninsula, with some territories that are now in France. It was a continuation of the County of Savoy...

     (20 March 1448- 1475), by whom he had further issue. He was beheaded in Paris in 1475 for treason against 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....

    .
  • Jacquetta of Luxembourg
    Jacquetta of Luxembourg
    Jacquetta of Luxembourg was the elder daughter of Peter I, Count of St Pol, Conversano and Brienne and his wife Margaret de Baux...

     (1415/1416- 30 May 1472), married firstly in 1433, John, Duke of Bedford, and secondly, in secret, c.1436, Richard Woodville, 1st Earl Rivers
    Richard Woodville, 1st Earl Rivers
    Richard Woodville , 1st Earl Rivers, KG was an English nobleman, best remembered as the father of Elizabeth Woodville, wife of Edward IV....

    , by whom she had sixteen children, including Elizabeth Woodville
    Elizabeth Woodville
    Elizabeth Woodville was Queen consort of England as the spouse of King Edward IV from 1464 until his death in 1483. Elizabeth was a key figure in the series of dynastic civil wars known as the Wars of the Roses. Her first husband, Sir John Grey of Groby was killed at the Second Battle of St Albans...

    , Queen consort of King Edward IV of England
    Edward IV of England
    Edward IV was King of England from 4 March 1461 until 3 October 1470, and again from 11 April 1471 until his death. He was the first Yorkist King of England...

    . Every English monarch after 1509 descended from her.
  • Thibaud of Luxembourg, Seigneur de Fiennes, Count of Brienne, Bishop of Le Mans, (died 1 September 1477), married Philippa de Melun, by whom he had issue.
  • Jacques of Luxembourg, Seigneur de Richebourg (died 1487), married Isabelle de Roubaix, by whom he had issue.
  • Valeran of Luxembourg, died young.
  • Jean of Luxembourg, died in Africa.
  • Catherine of Luxembourg (died 1492), married 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...

     (24 August 1393- 26 December 1438).
  • Isabelle of Luxembourg, Countess of Guise (died 1472), married in 1443, Charles, Count of Maine (1414- 1472), by whom she had a daughter, Louise (1445- 1477), who in her own turn married Jacques d'Armagnac, Duke of Nemours
    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....

    , by whom she had six children.

Death

The 14th and 15th centuries were well known for the Black Death
Black Death
The Black Death was one of the most devastating pandemics in human history, peaking in Europe between 1348 and 1350. Of several competing theories, the dominant explanation for the Black Death is the plague theory, which attributes the outbreak to the bacterium Yersinia pestis. Thought to have...

, a deadly form of bubonic plague
Bubonic plague
Plague is a deadly infectious disease that is caused by the enterobacteria Yersinia pestis, named after the French-Swiss bacteriologist Alexandre Yersin. Primarily carried by rodents and spread to humans via fleas, the disease is notorious throughout history, due to the unrivaled scale of death...

 that eventually spread across the known world. Europe was badly hit by the pestilence, as a result of trading with countries with the plague; it soon grew to epidemic proportions, and would kill swiftly, and without discrimination as to gender, age or class. The plague had hit Luxembourg
Luxembourg
Luxembourg , officially the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg , is a landlocked country in western Europe, bordered by Belgium, France, and Germany. It has two principal regions: the Oesling in the North as part of the Ardennes massif, and the Gutland in the south...

, France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...

, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

 and Spain
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...

 in the 1340s when it caused the deaths of millions of people; and it continued to re-appear at intervals over the succeeding centuries. Peter was among its victims. He died at Rambures
Rambures
Rambures is a commune in the Somme department in Picardie in northern France.-Geography:Rambures is situated on the D180 and D110 crossroads, some southwest of Abbeville.Apples of the variety named Rambour originated here.-Population:...

 on 31 August 1433, aged 43 years, and was buried in the abbey at Cercamp, near Frévent
Frévent
Frévent is a commune in the Pas-de-Calais department in the Nord-Pas-de-Calais region of France.-Geography:A farming town situated in the valley of the Canche river, west of Arras, at the junction of the D946, the D939 and the D941 roads.-History:...

. His wife died 36 years later.
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