James I, Count of La Marche
Jacques I | |
---|---|
Father | Louis I, Duke of Bourbon |
Mother | Mary of Avesnes |
James I of Bourbon (1319 – 6 April 1362), was a French
Hundred Years War
He took part in several campaigns of the
In June 1347 he commanded an army on the Flemish border together with the Marshal Robert de Waurin . They marched to Béthune, the chief city of north-eastern Artois, which was still in French hands, though the countryside had been overrun by the Flemish. There they gathered together most of the French border forces including the Béthune garrison, Charles de Montmorency (1325-1381) from the sector around Lille and Charles de la Cerda with most of the men from Aire and Saint-Omer. On 13 June they attacked the Flemish camp at night. However the Flemings managed to regroup and launch a counter-attack before slipping across the border.
In 1349, he was created Captain-General of
In 1354 he was appointed
However, by the time John II's letters reached Pamplona, the capital of Navarre, Charles and his army had already embarked with a course for the Cotentin Peninsula in Normandy. When the news reached Paris on 4 June it therefore became necessary to prepare the defences of Normandy. Two armies were formed. The largest, of which the Constable was given command, was to be stationed at Caen. He was also appointed one of three conciliators who were to meet with Charles of Navarre as soon as he landed and explain the king's new position. Charles of Navarre arrived at Cherbourg 5 July and the negotiations opened soon after. The result was the Treaty of Valognes sealed on 10 September. Included among the provisions of the treaty was that seven of Charles' walled towns and castles in Normandy should be nominally surrendered to the Constable.
War in Toulouse
In autumn 1355 the Constable was in the south where he, together with
During the English return westward serious disagreements over strategy broke out in Toulouse. During the whole campaign Armagnac had insisted on avoiding battle at all cost, concentrating on defending the principal cities and river crossings, thus abandoning the countryside to the English. This was deeply frustrating to the people of Languedoc and also resented by James who longed for action. The last opportunity to stop the English was made at the river Save, but after watching the enemy for several days Armagnac on 21 November broke the bridges across the river and withdrew north. The Prince of Wales crossed the river the next day and on 28 November was back in English held territory. The French conduct of the defence was deeply unpopular in the south and although the Constable had not agreed to Armagnac's strategy and gave the King his own eye-witness account he could not escape the blame directed against the three commanders.
On 12 November 1355, the day following Edward III of England's return to Calais, after a largely fruitless raid into Picardy, James and the Marshal Arnoul d'Audrehem were behind an abortive proposal to settle the war in single combat between the two kings.
Battle of Poitiers
Weary of political intrigues, he resigned the constableship in May 1356, but fought at the
Death
The peace promised by the treaty proved illusory. While the English were at peace with France, the discharged mercenary companies found new employment by ravaging the countryside and holding whole cities for ransom. Soon after his return from captivity,
Marriage and children
In 1335, he married Jeanne of Châtillon,[4] daughter of Hugh of Châtillon, Lord of Leuze.
Their children:
- Isabelle (1340–1371), married Louis II, Viscount of Count of Vendôme(1364);
- Pierre II, Count of La Marche (1342–1362)[1]
- Jean I, Count of La Marche (1344–1393), married Catherine of Vendome[4]
- Jacques de Bourbon , Baron de Thury (1346–1417),[4] married (c. 1385) Marguerite, dame de Preaux, de Dangu and de Thury.
References
- ^ a b Thompson 1909, p. 527.
- ^ Sumption 1999, p. 479.
- ^ Villalon & Kagay 2017, p. 116.
- ^ a b c Potter 1995, p. 376.
- ^ Perry 2018, p. 146.
Sources
- Perry, Guy (2018). The Briennes:The Rise and Fall of a Champenois Dynasty in the Age of the Crusades, C. 950-1356. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-1107196902.
- Potter, David (1995). Keen, Maurice (ed.). A History of France, 1460–1560: The Emergence of a Nation State. New York: Macmillan. ISBN 978-0312124809.
- Sumption, Jonathan (1999). The Hundred Years War:Trial by Fire. Vol. II. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press.
- Thompson, James Westfall (1909). The Wars of Religion in France, 1559-1576. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press.
- Villalon, Andrew; Kagay, Donald (2017). To Win and Lose a Medieval Battle: Nájera (April 3, 1367), A Pyrrhic Victory for the Black Prince. Leiden: Brill. ISBN 978-9004343177.
Further reading
- Sumption, Jonathan, The Hundred Years War II: Trial by Fire, University of Pennsylvania Press, October 2001, ISBN 0-8122-1801-9