Hello one and all!
Many modern audiences have labelled the stories of Game of Thrones outlandish, but Middle Ages were rife with intrigue on par with the fantasy show (except of course for the some elements like dragons). One figure, Jeanne de Clisson (also known as Jeanne de Belleville), would not have looked out of place in such an epic tale.
The Bloody Lioness
Revenge is a powerful motivator, and there is no better illustration of that than Jeanne de Clisson. In August 1343 Lord Oliver de Clisson was executed by the French king without a public trial. De Clisson was an aristocrat from the French region of Brittany, an area vital in conflicts between England and France during the Hundred Years' War, and suspicion was rife over who could possibly be traitors to the French crown.
The beheading outraged many people, no more so than Lord Oliver’s wife, Jeanne de Clisson. According to the legend Jeanne sailed with her two young sons to Nantes to show them their fathers’ head, which was displayed at the gates of the settlement. She swore vengeance against the French king for the killing of her second husband, and sold off all of her lands and raised a small force of loyal men. She paid a visit to the castle of Galois de la Heuse in Brittany, a supporter of one of the men that was responsible for condemning her husband to execution. She was welcomed into the castle, then Jeanne and her men turned on everyone and slaughtered almost the whole garrison, leaving only a few survivors to tell the story.
Things were becoming increasingly dangerous in France though as she was condemned as a traitor to the French crown in 1343. So she used her funds to buy the three warships and outfitted them, painting them black and dying the sails red, and promptly sided with the English. For years she plied the English Channel, attacking French merchant vessels and decimated the crews. According to the stories, Jeanne personally beheaded any French nobles with an axe. It was this reputation that earned her the moniker La Lionne Saglante (the Bloody Lioness). Her later years were more peaceful, as she married her third husband, the English military commander Sir Walter Bentley in 1356. Jeanne settled in the castle of Hennepont, a coastal town in Brittany, where she died in 1359, at the age of 59 years old.
Thank you for reading!
Many modern audiences have labelled the stories of Game of Thrones outlandish, but Middle Ages were rife with intrigue on par with the fantasy show (except of course for the some elements like dragons). One figure, Jeanne de Clisson (also known as Jeanne de Belleville), would not have looked out of place in such an epic tale.
The Bloody Lioness
Revenge is a powerful motivator, and there is no better illustration of that than Jeanne de Clisson. In August 1343 Lord Oliver de Clisson was executed by the French king without a public trial. De Clisson was an aristocrat from the French region of Brittany, an area vital in conflicts between England and France during the Hundred Years' War, and suspicion was rife over who could possibly be traitors to the French crown.
The beheading outraged many people, no more so than Lord Oliver’s wife, Jeanne de Clisson. According to the legend Jeanne sailed with her two young sons to Nantes to show them their fathers’ head, which was displayed at the gates of the settlement. She swore vengeance against the French king for the killing of her second husband, and sold off all of her lands and raised a small force of loyal men. She paid a visit to the castle of Galois de la Heuse in Brittany, a supporter of one of the men that was responsible for condemning her husband to execution. She was welcomed into the castle, then Jeanne and her men turned on everyone and slaughtered almost the whole garrison, leaving only a few survivors to tell the story.
Things were becoming increasingly dangerous in France though as she was condemned as a traitor to the French crown in 1343. So she used her funds to buy the three warships and outfitted them, painting them black and dying the sails red, and promptly sided with the English. For years she plied the English Channel, attacking French merchant vessels and decimated the crews. According to the stories, Jeanne personally beheaded any French nobles with an axe. It was this reputation that earned her the moniker La Lionne Saglante (the Bloody Lioness). Her later years were more peaceful, as she married her third husband, the English military commander Sir Walter Bentley in 1356. Jeanne settled in the castle of Hennepont, a coastal town in Brittany, where she died in 1359, at the age of 59 years old.
Thank you for reading!
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