Alix of Brittany (1243-1288)
Alix of Bretagne , Countess of Blois (also Alix of Blois , born June 6, 1243 in Sarzeau , † August 2, 1288 in Acre ), was a French noblewoman and crusader .
She was a daughter of Duke John I of Bretagne and the Blanche of Champagne and came from the Capetian branch of Dreux .
Alix married Count John I of Blois of the House of Châtillon on December 11, 1254 . Her dowry consisted of the gentlemen Brie-Comte-Robert and Pontarcy . In July 1264, Pope Urban IV called her husband to be taken to the cross to defend the last Christian territories in the Levant , which were oppressed by the Mameluks , but he did not comply. Instead, he and Alix founded La Guiche Abbey around 1277 , where their husband was buried after his death in 1279.
In 1287, Alix went to the Holy Land with a larger number of knights; it was one of the last great armed pilgrimages of the crusader era. To strengthen the city fortifications of Akon , the last important base of the Christians, she had a fortified tower built there at her own expense, named after her "Tower of the Countess of Blois" . She died a little later in this city. Her body was transferred to La Guiche Abbey.
From her marriage to John I of Blois, she left a daughter and heiress, Johanna von Blois (1258-1292), who married Prince Peter of France (1251-1284), Count of Alençon, in 1272 .
literature
- Christopher Marshall: Warface in the Latin East, 1192-1291. Cambridge University Press, 1994.
Web link
- Alix de Bretagne at fmg.ac (English)
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Alix of Brittany |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Alix from Blois |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | Countess of Blois, Dunois and Chartres |
| DATE OF BIRTH | June 6, 1243 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Sarzeau |
| DATE OF DEATH | August 2, 1288 |
| Place of death | Acre |