Alain d'Albret
Alain d'Albret (* 1440 ; † 1522 ), called the Great ( French le Grand ), was the 16th Lord of Albret , Vice Count of Tartas , 2nd Count of Graves and Count of Castres . He was the son of Jean d'Albret, Vice Count of Tartas, and his wife Catherine de Rohan. His maternal grandparents were Alain IX, Vicomte de Rohan, and Marguerite de Bretagne, Dame de Guillac. His paternal grandparents were Charles II. D'Albret, Comte de Dreux, and Anne d'Armagnac. He was thus grandson and in 1471 the heir of Charles II. D'Albret .
Skilful and characterless, greedy and not very conscientious, for half a century he was a bustling, albeit ineffective, politician who received attention at the European level. Alain could of his loyalty to King Louis XI. benefit from France by enlarging its territory. He married Françoise de Châtillon , who inherited the county of Périgord and the vice-county of Limoges into the marriage. He married his son Jean to Catherine of Navarre , heiress of the Counties of Foix and Bigorre and of the Kingdom of Navarre .
In connection with the Guerre folle (1485-1488) he was a candidate for the hand of Annes de Bretagne and thus for possession of the Duchy of Brittany . However, his intrigues did not lead to anything and he was defeated in 1487 - without being able to support the Duke of Brittany. The following year he led his troops across the sea to Brittany, but was again on the loser's side at the Battle of Saint-Aubin-du-Cormier . Although he continued to try to become an heir in Brittany, he also found it advantageous to hand over the city of Nantes to the royal army.
His daughter Charlotte married Cesare Borgia in 1500 . His son Jean died in 1516, so his inheritance went to his grandson, King Henry II of Navarre . Through his daughter Johanna III. of Navarre , Alain d'Albret is a great-grandfather of the French King Henry IV .
Marriages and children
Alain d'Albret was married to Françoise de Blois-Bretagne, Comtesse de Périgord and daughter of Guillaume de Blois-Bretagne, Vicomte de Limoges, from the marriage to Isabeau de La Tour, from 1456. He had several legitimate and illegitimate descendants:
Children from his 1456 marriage to Françoise de Blois-Bretagne, Comtesse de Périgord:
- Jean d'Albret , Comte de Penthièvre 1468-1516
- Amanieu d'Albret , Bishop of Pamiers, Cardinal † 1520
- Pierre d'Albret, Comte de Périgord
- Gabriel d'Albret, Seigneur d'Avennes † 1503
- Louise d'Albret, Viscountess de Limoges approx. 1470–1531
- Isabelle d'Albret ∞ around 1494 with Gaston II. De Foix-Candale
- Charlotte d'Albret, Dame de Chalus 1480–1514 ∞ Cesare Borgia
- Anne d'Albret
Children from the relationship with Mariette:
- Louis d'Albret
- François d'Albret
Child from relationship with Anne de Casteljaloux:
- Louis d'Albret, Bishop of Lescar † 1569
Children from relationships with unknown women:
- Rolet d'Albret
- Achille d'Albret
- Florette d'Albret
literature
- Achille Luchaire : Alain le Grand, sire d'Albret. L'Administration royale et la Féodalité du Midi (1440–1522) (1877) (new edition by Slatkine, Geneva, 1974)
Individual evidence
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Albret, Alain d ' |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | Lord von Albret, Vice-Count of Tartas, Count of Graves and Castres |
| DATE OF BIRTH | 1440 |
| DATE OF DEATH | 1522 |