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Pierre de Brézé (or de Brezé) (born c.1410)
Was a brave French soldier, bold adventurer and politician in the service of
King Charles VII. He had made his name in the English wars when in 1433 he
joined with Yolande queen of Sicily, the Constable Richmond and others, in
chasing from power Charles VII's minister Georges de la Trémoille He was
knighted by Charles of Anjou in 1434, and presently entered the royal
council. In 1437 he became seneschal of Anjou, and in 1440 of Poitou. He was married to
Jeanne de Bec Crespin.
During the Praguerie he rendered great service to the royal cause against
the *Dauphin Louis and the revolted nobles, a service
which was remembered against him after Louis's accession to the throne.
He fought against the English in
Normandy in 1440-1441, and in Guienne in 1442. In the next year he became
Chamberlain to Charles VII, and gained the chief power in the state through
the influence of Agnes Sorel, the Kings Mistress, superseding his early
allies Richmond and Charles of Anjou. The six years (1444-1450) of his
ascendancy were the most prosperous period of the reign of Charles VII. His
most dangerous opponent was the dauphin Louis, who in 1448 brought against
him accusations which led to a formal trial resulting in a complete
exoneration of Brézé and his restoration to favour. He fought in Normandy in
1450-1451, and became seneschal of the province after the death of Agnes
Sorel and the consequent decline of his influence at court.
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The battle
of
Montlhéry |
Castle of de Brézé |
Margaret of Anjou
grandchild of Queen Yoland |
He made an ineffective descent on
the English coast at Sandwich in 1457, and was preparing an expedition in
favour of Margaret of Anjou when the accession of Louis XI brought him
disgrace and a short imprisonment. In 1462, however, his son Jacques married
Louis's half-sister, Charlotte de Valois, daughter of Agnès Sorel. In 1462
he accompanied Margaret to Scotland with a force of 2000 men, and after the
battle of Hexham he brought her back to Flanders. On his return he was
reconciled with Louis XI and reappointed seneschal of Normandy.
He was succeeded as seneschal of
Normandy by his eldest son Jacques (c.1440-1490), Count of Maulevrier.
The best
contemporary account of Pierre de Brézé is given in the Chroniques of
the Burgundian chronicler, Georges Chastellain, who had been his secretary.
Chastellain addressed a Déprécation to Louis XI on his behalf at the
time of his disgrace.
He died in the battle
of Montlhéry on 16 July 1465.
Philippe Caroit
as
Pierre de Brézé
"de la mort
des braves. Le premier homme qui y mourut ce fut luy." The friend of Dunois
and Xaintrailles could have had no better end."
Philippe de Commines -
writer and diplomat in the courts of Burgundy and France
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Eric Dufay as
Dauphin Louis
who became Louis XI
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King Louis XI |
The Dauphin of France
(French: Dauphin de France)—strictly,
The Dauphin of Viennois (Dauphin de Viennois)—was the title
given to the heir apparent of the throne of France from 1350 to 1791, and
from 1824 to 1830.
Guy VIII Count of Vienne, had
a dolphin on his
coat of arms and had been nicknamed le
Dauphin (French for dolphin). The title of Dauphin de Viennois
descended in his family the LeVieux Princes of Ivetot until 1349, when
Humbert II sold his seigneurie,
called the Dauphiné, to King Philippe VI on condition that the heir of
France assumed the title of le Dauphin. The wife of the Dauphin was
known as la Dauphine.
The first French prince called
le Dauphin was Charles V. The title was roughly equivalent to the
English title Prince of Wales the Scottish title
Duke of Rothesay, or
the Spanish title Prince of Asturias.
The official style of a Dauphin of France, prior to 1461, was par la
grâce de Dieu, dauphin de Viennois, comte de Valentinois et de Diois
("By the Grace of God, Dauphin of Viennois, Count of Valentinois and of
Diois"). A Dauphin of France would unite the coat of arms of the Dauphiné,
which featured Dolphins, with the French fleurs-de-lys, and might
where appropriate further unite that with other arms.
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