Barons of France

France

The kingdom of France, populated up until the Black Death of 1348-9 by 12-16 millions souls and including up to the Treaty of Brétigny (1360) the Ile-de-France together with the apanages of Normandy, Anjou, Bourbon, Champagne, Valois, Auvergne and Languedoc, plus a number of important fiefs such as the counties of Blois, Nevers and Foix, and (from 1349) Montpellier and the Dauphiné; diminished from 1354 by the growing activity and influence in the Cotentin and other parts of Normandy of the king of Navarre, Charles of Evreux, and by English conquests resulting in an enlarged duchy of Guyenne (essentially Gascony; will become the principality of Aquitaine) stretching from the borders of the great and at times pro-English duchy of Brittany to the Pyrenees (save for the neutral county of Béarn) and eastwards to embrace the Poitou, Limousin and Rouergue (on the border with the Languedoc); Ponthieu and Guines are also in English hands. The French re-conquest under Charles V and Du Guesclin progressively drives the English from the realm, leaving them (by 1370-80) the ports of Calais, Cherbourg, Brest, Bordeaux and Bayonne, and a much-reduced Aquitaine. Brittany returns to French allegiance from 1365 onwards (Treaty of Guérande).

Holy Roman Empire of Germany

John the Blind of Luxemburg, king of Bohemia (d. 1346)

John was born on 10 August 1296 as the eldest child of Henry VII, count of Luxemburg, who was later to become King of the Romans and Holy Roman Emperor, and Margaret of Brabant. He was named after his maternal grandfather, John I, duke of Brabant. He married his first wife, Elisabeth of Bohemia, on 31 August 1310. She was the heir of the kingdom of Bohemia, which passed on first to John and then to his eldest son, Charles. Elisabeth died in 1330 after bearing her husband several children. In 1334 John remarried to a Capetian princess, Beatrix of Bourbon, daughter of Duke Louis I of Bourbon, by whom he had a further son, Wenceslas. John was considered a paladin of chivalry in his day and his death at the battle of Crécy is legendary. Froissart nearly refers to John as ‘Charles of Bohemia’. In the ‘Rome’ redaction of Book I, however, he explains: ‘qui se nonma Jehans, et li auqun dient que il fu rebaptisiés a avoir nom Carles’ (§ 279).

Philip III of Évreux, king of Navarre (d. 1343)

Philip III (1306 - 1343), count of Évreux, king of Navarre jure uxoris; eldest son of Louis, count of Évreux, and Margaret of Artois. He married Jeanne II of Navarre. Froissart mistakenly calls him ‘Louis’ in Book I (§ 44), possibly confusing him with his youngest son. Some manuscript readings also refer to him as ‘Charles’.

John III, duke of Brabant (d. 1355)

William I (III) of Hainault, count of Hainault, Holland and Zeeland (d. 1337)

William I (III) (b. 1286, d. 1337), son of John II, count of Hainault, and Philippine de Luxemburg. He married Jeanne de Valois. Philippa of Hainault, the wife of king Edward III of England, was one of their daughters.

John of Hainault, lord of Beaumont (d. 1356)

John of Hainault (c. 1288 - 1356), lord of Beaumont. He was the second son of John II of Avesnes, count of Hainault and Holland, and Philippine of Luxemburg. He married Marguerite of Nesle, countess of Soissons. They only had one daughter, Jeanne, who was married to Louis I of Châtillon, count of Blois. Jeanne died before her father, and it was her sons who inherited the various lordships held by John of Hainault.

John III, duke of Brittany (d. 1341)

Eudes IV, duke of Burgundy (d. 1349)

Eudes was a younger son of duke Robert II of Burgundy and Agnes of France. He succeded as duke of Burgundy in 1315. He was married to Jeanne of France. Their only son, Philip, died before his father, in 1346. Eudes was therefore succeded by his grandson, Philip of Rouvre.

Guy I of Châtillon, count of Blois (d. 1342)

Charles II of Valois, count of Alençon (d. 1346)

Charles II (1297 - 1346 at the battle of Crécy), count of Alençon. Second son of Charles I, count of Valois and Anjou, and his first wife Marguerite of Anjou. He was the brother of king Philip VI of France. He married 1) Jeanne de Joigny 2) Maria de la Cerda.

Louis I of Nevers, count of Flanders (d. 1346)

Louis I (1304 - 1346 at the Battle of Crécy), count of Flanders, Nevers and Rethel; son of Louis de Flandre, count of Nevers and Rethel, and Marguerite de France.

Robert III of Artois (d. 1342)

Son of Philip of Artois and Blanche of Brittany. He married Jeanne, daughter of Charles I of Valois, half-sister of the French king, Philip VI of Valois. He died on 20 November 1342 at the siege of Vannes. His body was brought to London for burial in the church of the Dominicans.

Frederick IV, duke of Lorraine (d. 1328)

Duke of Lorraine between 1312 and his death, on 23 August 1328.

Edward I, count of Bar (d. 1336)

Edouard de Bar (1296 - 1336), count of Bar; son of Henri III de Bar, count of Bar, and Eleanor of England. He married Marie de Bourgogne.

John I of Flanders, count of Namur (d. 1330)

He was born in October or November 1276 as the eldest son of Guy of Dampierre, count of Flanders, and his second wife, Isabel of Luxemburg. John was knighted in 1297. He became margrave (or count) of Namur in 1298. He married his second wife, Marie of Artois, in 1310 and had eleven children from her. He died in Paris in early 1330, probably on 31 January.

Jean II of Chalon, count of Auxerre (d. 1362)

Louis I of Clermont, duke of Bourbon (d. 1342)

Louis I (1279 - 1342), duke of Bourbon; son of Robert, count of Clermont, and Beatrice of Bourbon. He married Marie of Avesnes in 1310.

William of Coucy (d. 1335)

Jean II of Châtillon, count of Saint-Pol (d. 1344)

Jean of Ponthieu, count of Aumale (d. 1340)

Jean III, lord of Harcourt (d. 1329)

Philip VI of Valois, king of France (d. 1350)

Philip was born in 1293 as the eldest son of Charles I, count of Valois and Anjou, and Margaret of Anjou. He was engaged to Jeanne of Burgundy, daughter of Duke Robert II of Burgundy in 1303 and married her in July 1313. In that year he became count of Maine. After his father’s death in 1325, he also became count of Valois and Anjou. He married his second wife, Blanche of Évreux, princess of Navarre, in 1350.

Notre-Dame cathedral of Rheims

Louis I of Nevers, count of Flanders (d. 1346)

Louis I (1304 - 1346 at the Battle of Crécy), count of Flanders, Nevers and Rethel; son of Louis de Flandre, count of Nevers and Rethel, and Marguerite de France.

Louis I of Nevers, count of Flanders (d. 1346)

Louis I (1304 - 1346 at the Battle of Crécy), count of Flanders, Nevers and Rethel; son of Louis de Flandre, count of Nevers and Rethel, and Marguerite de France.

Louis I of Nevers, count of Flanders (d. 1346)

Louis I (1304 - 1346 at the Battle of Crécy), count of Flanders, Nevers and Rethel; son of Louis de Flandre, count of Nevers and Rethel, and Marguerite de France.

Philip VI of Valois, king of France (d. 1350)

Philip was born in 1293 as the eldest son of Charles I, count of Valois and Anjou, and Margaret of Anjou. He was engaged to Jeanne of Burgundy, daughter of Duke Robert II of Burgundy in 1303 and married her in July 1313. In that year he became count of Maine. After his father’s death in 1325, he also became count of Valois and Anjou. He married his second wife, Blanche of Évreux, princess of Navarre, in 1350.

Philip VI of Valois, king of France (d. 1350)

Philip was born in 1293 as the eldest son of Charles I, count of Valois and Anjou, and Margaret of Anjou. He was engaged to Jeanne of Burgundy, daughter of Duke Robert II of Burgundy in 1303 and married her in July 1313. In that year he became count of Maine. After his father’s death in 1325, he also became count of Valois and Anjou. He married his second wife, Blanche of Évreux, princess of Navarre, in 1350.

Philip VI of Valois, king of France (d. 1350)

Philip was born in 1293 as the eldest son of Charles I, count of Valois and Anjou, and Margaret of Anjou. He was engaged to Jeanne of Burgundy, daughter of Duke Robert II of Burgundy in 1303 and married her in July 1313. In that year he became count of Maine. After his father’s death in 1325, he also became count of Valois and Anjou. He married his second wife, Blanche of Évreux, princess of Navarre, in 1350.

Louis I of Nevers, count of Flanders (d. 1346)

Louis I (1304 - 1346 at the Battle of Crécy), count of Flanders, Nevers and Rethel; son of Louis de Flandre, count of Nevers and Rethel, and Marguerite de France.

Count of Flanders

Philip VI of Valois, king of France (d. 1350)

Philip was born in 1293 as the eldest son of Charles I, count of Valois and Anjou, and Margaret of Anjou. He was engaged to Jeanne of Burgundy, daughter of Duke Robert II of Burgundy in 1303 and married her in July 1313. In that year he became count of Maine. After his father’s death in 1325, he also became count of Valois and Anjou. He married his second wife, Blanche of Évreux, princess of Navarre, in 1350.

Count of Flanders

Philip VI of Valois, king of France (d. 1350)

Philip was born in 1293 as the eldest son of Charles I, count of Valois and Anjou, and Margaret of Anjou. He was engaged to Jeanne of Burgundy, daughter of Duke Robert II of Burgundy in 1303 and married her in July 1313. In that year he became count of Maine. After his father’s death in 1325, he also became count of Valois and Anjou. He married his second wife, Blanche of Évreux, princess of Navarre, in 1350.

Froissart’s reference to a close blood relationship between King Philip VI of Valois and the count of Blois indicates that he is confusing Guy, count of Blois, who was count of Blois in 1328, with his son Louis, who became count after 1342 and whose mother Margaret was Philip VI of Valois’s sister.