User:Kansas Bear/Guy XV de Laval

Guy XV of Laval, originally François de Laval-Montfort, (born on 16 November 1435 in  Moncontour, died 28 January 1501), was the son of Guy XIV of Laval and Isabelle of Brittany. was a member of the high military nobility of the duchy of Brittany, then of the kingdom of France

Titles
Guy was count of Laval, baron of Vitré, viscount of Rennes, count of Caserta, Baron of Laz, from Acquigny and Crèvecœur, of Lohéac, of Montfort in Brittany, of  Gaël, lord of Tinténiac, of Bé cherel and Romillé, Bréal, Montreuil-Bellay, Saosnois, La Guerche, Gournay and Noyelles-sur-Mer. He succeeds his father in the counties of Laval, the viscount of Rennes, the barony of Vitré and Montfort in Brittany and other lands assigned to the elder of his house. He is often named under the titles of Count of Laval, Baron d'Acquigny and Crèvecœur, from 1489 to 1498.

Guy XV dates from Tours on February 27, 1486 (as), the appointment of Elie de Quincé, prior of the Rouaudière, to the charge of "ordinary chaplain, domestic and commensal, to serve with the other chaplains, servants, commensals of his hostel ". He qualifies as "son of the Earl of Laval, Count of Montfort, Sire of the Guerche, Aunais, d'Acquigny, and sign François, or take the titles of François, aisne son of the Comte de Laval, Count of Montfort, Lord of the Guerche, Louvoys and Acquigny "in letters of April 27, 1483

Royal duties and honors
Guy is governor of Melun in 1461, made Count of Montfort-sur-Risle by the King Louis XI of France between 1466 and 1468, and is Grandmaster of France in 1489 following the death of Antoine de Chabannes.

He was a Knight of the Order of the Crescent.

Marriage
On January 8, 1461 (as), take place at Tours, under the aegis of the king Louis XI, the matrimonial conventions between François de Laval and Catherine de Valois, daughter of  John II of Alençon .The wedding will be celebrated in September of the same year in Alençon, after dispensation of the Pope Pie II, given in March, in which it is said that they are parents  in duplici tertio and duplici quarto consanguinitatis gradibus 

Guy thus becomes the son-in-law of the "nice duke" of the battalions of Jeanne d'Arc and his second wife Marie d'Armagnac and the brother-in-law of [[Marguerite de Lorraine] ].

The Saosnois
At that time, François de Laval, while being lord of Montfort in Brittany, endowed by his wife of the land valoisienne of Saosnois, appanage of the county of Gavere and other places, however, was not yet lord of his own house, at most associate lord.

Louis XI, by marrying Catherine d'Alençon with the future Guy XV of Laval, had fixed his dowry to 3000 pounds of annuities, and obliged his father to give the lands and the barony of La Guerche in Brittany, the barony of Saosnois in Maine (between Beaumont-le-Vicomte and Alençon), with the lands and castellany of Peray, as well as the fiefs of Averton and Anthenaise.

Guy willingly agreed to receive, if necessary, such other property which would be assigned to him as a dowry thereafter, at the places and places of Peray and the country of Saosnois (included for a value of 900 livres in the pension of 3000). But in reality this stipulation will have no effect: using the title of Sire de Saosnois.

Origin
He is baptized under the name  'Francis'  by the Bishop of Rennes, Guillaume Brillet, and is sponsored by his uncle, François I de Brittany, and the Bishop of Nantes, Jean de Malestroit, Chancellor of Brittany. Pierre Le Baud who recorded this information, did not mention the name of the godmother.

Barely six years old, he is engaged to Françoise of Dinan. She was at the same time sought by Arthur of Montauban and by Gilles de Brittany, third son of the Duke John V of Brittany.

Françoise of Dinan is kidnapped in 1444 by Gilles of Bretagne, having at the same time as an accomplice, his brother the duke of Brittany François I of Brittany, and Catherine de Parthenay, mother of Francoise de Dinan, and even Guy's own father, Guy XIV, who, for a promise of twenty thousand crowns, had renounced the rights of his son. Another of the suitors of the heiress, Arthur de Montauban disappointed, then hatched a plot against Gilles who was arrested by order of his brother the duke and murdered in his prison in 1450. The same year, Françoise is in turn thrown into a dungeon in 1450. Without advice, without support, she renews in writing her commitment to the comte de Gavre, who is younger than she. His sister-in-law, the Duchess of Brittany, dreading the interested calculations of her husband; did not want to abandon him to Arthur de Montauban, murderer of Gilles de Bretagne. She then proposed the protection of Guy XIV de Laval, the father of Françoise's fiancé, widowed and 37 years old. Francoise d'Amboise led the duke to consent to this alliance. Guy XIV of Laval renounced to receive 20000 crowns which had been promised to him to induce him to withdraw from the marriage of his son with Francoise de Dinan. The latter, for her part, abandoned all pretensions to the dower which belonged to her as widow of Gilles de Bretagne. The Duke of Brittany then surrendered Châteaubriant which he had seized. We know that after having, for a fee, let Gilles de Bretagne break the engagement of his son Guy XV with Francoise de Dinan, in 1440, Guy XIV de Laval abused the young again age of this same son, to remove him a second time, his fiancée, then widow of Gilles de Bretagne, and to marry him to 45 years old in February 1451 in Vitre.

Near Louis XI
For  Art of verifying the dates , he had been brought up with the Dauphin Louis, son of Charles VII, and lived always in great intimacy with him. Step-son of Françoise de Dinan, (inspirer of the Treaty of Châteaubriant of 1487), close to the families de Rieux and House Rohan de Rohan He is also a cousin of the King of France, from whom he obtained a position in court.

Eldest son of Guy XIV, he followed the king in the expedition of Guyenne and attended the second seat of Bordeaux in 1453.

Public Good League
The War of the League of Public Good which takes place from April 1465 between France and Brittany will be a test for the strategy of the Laval family.

In Brittany, the conflict interacted with the question of the control of the Breton bishoprics, a major and important subject concerning the independence of the Duchy. Revolt of the princes against the policy of Louis XI who wants to break their will of independence, the  'league of the Public good'  is a revolt feudal against the royal authority, obliging the king to commit himself at the head of an army of faithful to bring back his vassals in the right way.

François de Laval chooses fidelity to the king Louis XI.

Royal honors
Louis XI, in consideration of his alliance with Catherine de Valois, named him, September 9, 1466, captain of Melun, and allowed him to scatter arms of France in his coat of arms.

The Count de Gavre assisted, with Pierre de Laval his third brother, with the  Estates General  held at Tours in 1467. They took their place among the princes. In 1467, by letters of November 19, to equal him to the princes of the blood, he granted him the privilege of preceding the chancellor and the prelates of the kingdom, as he had granted to the counts of Armagnac, Foix and Vendome.

The King assured the Count de Gavre a pension of £ 6000. We do not know the act by which François de Laval is invested as count of Montfort-sur-Risle, but we know that King Louis XI gives him this important fief in pledge of a loan of 10,000 ecus. This operation took place between September 9, 1466 and the month of February 1468, where, in his letters in favor of [[Francs-Archers de Laval, King of Archers and King of Crossbowmen at Laval, Louis XI calls him "Count de Montfort".

As indicated by Bertrand de Broussillon, during the period between 1467 and 1486, the character named "Count de Montfort" was none other than François de Laval, the eldest son of Guy XIV of Laval.

Comte de Montfort and Laval County
On the death of Charles IV of Anjou, Count of Maine, the last of the house of Anjou, these provinces returned to the crown by the law of appanage. Louis XI subsequently added, by letters patent sent in January 1482 from Thouars and intended for the Parliament of Paris "By the King. Noz amez and feaulx, we have by letters noz patents' '(dated Thouars, January 1482, National Archives, JJ209, ),' faictes and seinees in the form of a charter and for the causes contained in them, ratiffie and conferme the erection ja pieca makes by fire our very lord lord and father, that God absoille, of the baronnie of Laval in tale, and wanted and orders that the fairy tale is henceforth held and moving of us and of noz Royal successors because of the crown of France, and not of our fairy tale of Maine, of which it was held before. And with this we have unite and adjoint to the story of the chastellenie of Saint Ouain and Jevigne and their affiliations, and granted that henceforth the subtleties of this fairy tale and the members who detach and hold and hold them in nuesse and by no means may be agreed at trial only, in the first instance, by the seneschal of the said place in Laval, or his lieutenant at the place, or the subordinate judges of icellui seneschal, and that the appellations, which are to be lodged against him, be revoked. without any money in our court of parliament in Paris, as all these things and others are more applauded contained and declaimed in our letters patent, of which our very filth and nephew Francois de Laval, lord of Agaure, Count of Montfort ( Count of Montfort-sur-Risle), has the intention to require you the expedition and enterinement. And for what our pleasure is, for the other reasons contained in our letters, that the content in these issues comes out its full and complete effect, we ask you, order and enjoin that our letters let you read, publish and save, and that they send and enter into our court of parliament, so that all the contents of our society will be ours, and our cousin the tale of Laval, our nephew, and their successors tales of Laval, may lawfully and peacefully and perishable. Give to Thouars, the twenty-third day of January. LOYS. Berbisey. At noz amez and feaulx advise the people of our court of parliament in Paris. 'Recepte iiijta (the 4th) februarii M ° CCCC ° octuagesimo primo (1481 before Easter = 1482)' '". (National Archives, X1A 9318, fol.122, published by Joseph Vaesen and Étienne Charavay, "Letters of Louis XI", volume IX, (152-154), Librairie Renouard, Paris 1905), that of distracting the county of Laval from the county of Maine to be in the immediate movement of the crown, with power to name to all the royal offices which were in his district. It added the attribution of the knowledge of the names of the seneschal of Laval to the parliament of Paris.

By this charter called "the Great Charter of Distraction", the County of Laval was in the future, and perpetually, held and moving naked in faith and homage of the king, because of his crown, and not because of his Maine County. The capital city had a separate bailiwick, thus reported on the roles of the parliament, "Anjou, Maine, Laval, Perche, etc". The judge of this seat could qualify as bailiff and seneschal of Laval.

In 1482, so that there was no longer any jurisdiction for the judges of Maine, Louis XI established in Laval an election, a salt loft, and a judge exempts and royal cases.

On 2 September 1486, François de Laval was fifty, when his father died, and he became count of Laval and took the name of  'Guy XV' . Guy XV restored to Laval the Chamber of Accounts which, during his stay at Chateaubriant, his father had transported to that city.

French-Breton War
Charles VIII is at Laval Castle in May 1487, where he performs a fairly long stay.

Guy XV did not join him in Laval until August. It has been mentioned by several authors that the loyalty of Guy XV in this conflict was something undetermined, given natural military passivity. This statement, however, does not take into account the difficulties he encountered during this conflict. A large part of these affinities were Breton and by choosing the party of France, he attracted many antagonisms from his relatives. Guillaume de Jaligny, a chronicler claims that the count would have preferred neutrality and not take sides between France and Brittany. He quickly became aware of the victorious rise of France against Britain, and provided a rather discreet support for the King of France, while not cutting off his Breton ties. Thus, it opens, according to Bertrand d'Argentré, without a fight, on 1st September 1487, the gates of his Vitré, to the royal troops. D'Argentré affirms that he had left for instruction: "To enter from the night the François in his castle of Vitré by a poster, and by this means the fist masters of the city". This decision was taken against the will of the inhabitants and presented as a fait accompli.

He also tried to persuade his half-brother François de Laval-Montfilant to join the French. The position held by Guy XV of Laval was clearly recognized by the King, who did his best to protect the possessions of the Laval House. François de Laval-Châteaubriant, his brother, Sire de Chateaubriant, had not followed the same course. Led by the marshal of Rieux, his father-in-law, he had declared himself for the duke of Brittany, and had commanded the Breton rearguard at the Battle of Saint-Aubin-du-Cormier. The Comte de Laval succeeded in reconciling him with the King of France.

Of letters from Charles VIII remind his commander in chief that because of his loyalty, the possessions of the Comte de Laval must also be spared. terms of damage as much as possible. In 1488, Charles VIII gave Count Guy the government and enjoyment of the city of Dreux; and the following year, by letters dated February 3rd, 1488 (v. st.), he conferred upon him the office of grand master of the hotel. , vacant by the death of Antoine de Chabannes. They were rewards of fidelity which Guy XV had shown to this prince in the war of Brittany, begun in June, 1487, and ended in the month of August of the following year. Being Grant of the Ostel France was one of the most influential positions in the royal administration. It was a position sought for many years by the Comte de Laval and his role in the war in Britain allowed to exploit this appointment .. The power he obtained with such a position was such that it had been suggested to name him as Constable

In 1494, Guy XV was appointed lieutenant-general of Brittany by Charles VIII, and holds, in 1495, the states of Brittany as deputy of the king.

Devotion
Guy XV of Laval is at the origin:
 * the construction of the Saint-Vénérand de Laval church
 * the purchase of the land of the convent of the Jacobins of Laval.

He professed a singular devotion to Saint Francis of Assisi, and in 1494 decided to found a foundation in Laval for the nuns of that order who had committed themselves to the rule of Urban IV] (See: Laval Patience Monastery).

Before dying, the Countess of Angoulême sold his portion of Acquigny and Crèvecœur to Jeanne de Laval, who married in 1455  René Ier of Anjou, King of Jerusalem and from Sicily and Duke of Anjou. This queen of Sicily, lady of Acquigny and Crèvecœur, died without children, and instituted for her heir Guy XV of Laval her brother, who reunited in his hands all the parts of the barony of Acquigny

Succession and Death
May 27, 1498, at the coronation of Louis XII of France, Guy XV of Laval does not fulfill the functions of his office. He is absent at the coronation ceremony at Reims, and at the solemn entry of Louis XII in Paris. His abstention from the coronation of Louis XII seems to confirm what has been said of his early infirmities.

In 1498, Guy XV is the heir to his sister Jeanne de Laval, widow of René d'Anjou who has just died.

In 1499, Guy XV had a stroke of paralysis, of which he remained crippled in spirit and body.

The only son of Guy XV was still young and the succession came back to Nicolas de Laval, lord of Roche-Bernard Nicolas de Laval wants to take advantage of the whole inheritance and is in conflict with  Catherine de Valois-Alençon, wife of Guy XV, who disputes her as long as her husband lives. Besides, he did not have to wait long for the full enjoyment of it.

Guy XV dies at Laval Castle January 28, 1501 (n. His funeral was held at the Collegiate Saint-Tugal de Laval on February 15 only The chronicle in verse of Guillaume Le Doyen, indicates the following details:
 * (1501) And the twenty-first day
 * From January, came out of his tower
 * The soul of the good Guy de Laval,
 * Who never was disloyal
 * To the very noble flower of France ...
 * And in Sainct-Tugal
 * Fust worn in royal state.
 * First was the cardinal
 * From Lucembourg, pain and feal,
 * Evesque du Mans and pastour,
 * The Equestrian of Rennes, in tower
 * Abbez, priors and canons,
 * Cure and vicars and moynes,
 * Honestly
 * The body at his funeral.
 * And the given in charity
 * Of douzain s faicts for truth
 * To all those who wanted to take it,
 * Without excluding neither big nor lesser. He therefore mentions this double event in his  Annales , but does not mention on this occasion any intervention of the new count. Nicolas de Laval, son of his younger brother died of which he will be the tutor, will succeed him in 1501 under the name of Guy XVI de Laval.

Bibliophile
Like his uncle Louis de Laval-Châtillon, Guy XV is recognized as a bibliophile. We know of him some books: Boccaccio, Cases of noble men and women , with the arms of Guy de Laval and Catherine d'Alençon; Vincent de Beauvais,  Historial mirror  ; Boethius,  Prediction for 1486  whose arms are those of Guy de Laval, knight of the Order of the Crescent; Pierre Le Baud, "Chronicle of the houses of Laval and Vitré".

Catherine d'Alençon, the widow of Guy XV, died in 1505 at the castle of Montjean. She is buried at Saint-Tugal Collegiate of Laval