Gantonnet d'Abzac

Coat of arms of Gantonnet d'Abzac

Gantonnet d'Abzac († 1401 ) was a nobleman and military man from the Périgord , member of the d'Abzac family, who served as a connectable in Cyprus , Italy and finally in Provence.

Life

Hélias d'Abzac, called Gantonnet, is the youngest son of Guy d'Abzac, knight, Seigneur de La Douze , consul of Périgueux , Seneschal des Périgord, and Jeanne de La Pradelle, called Bertrande, Dame de Beauregard , sister of Raymond de La Pradelle, Latin Archbishop of Nicosia . He was Seigneur de Montastruc in Périgord. It is also known under the names d'Autissac and d'Auchizac.

His campaigns

His first deeds date back to 1365. At the end of June he took part in the sainct voyage d'oultre mer , the crusade against Alexandria . He went on board in Venice with the crusaders of Pierre I de Lusignan , King of Cyprus . Among them were the Papal Legate , Peter Thomas , Latin Patriarch of Constantinople , Guillaume III. Roger de Beaufort , Viscount de Turenne , Philippe de Mézières , Chancellor of the King of Cyprus, and Bureau de la Rivière , First Chamberlain to the King of France. After conquering the Egyptian port, the sacking of which lasted from October 10th to 13th, he traveled to Cyprus, where his uncle Raymond de La Pradelle was archbishop, and where he stayed until 1372: according to him, he was in a battle Famagusta was so badly injured that he was "unfit" for more than four years (see the section on will).

In June 1372 Otto von Braunschweig-Grubenhagen , who had left Asti , the capital of the Margraviate of Montferrat , which was besieged by Galeazzo II Visconti , came to Avignon to gain allies. Pope Gregory XII. preached a crusade against the Visconti family and formed a league which he placed under the command of Amadeus VI. subordinated to Savoy . In the course of the following month the Pope appointed Gantonnet d'Abzac as captain general of Vercelli in Lombardy et in tota marchia ipsus patriae usque ad fluvium vacatum lo Po . A year later, during a general offensive against the Visconti, Gantonnet seized the town of Arona on Lake Maggiore and sold it to the Holy See for 2,000 florins .

Remparts by Pertuis, Gantonnet d'Abzacs headquarters, drawing by Métois

Pontifical Captain and Vicar General Raimond de Turennes

In the early 1380s he entered Avignon in the service of Clement VII. During the Tuchineraufstands in Languedoc rhodanien he settled in 1382 - with the title of Commandant du Saint-Père pour le Pais de Saint-Esprit -in Pont-Saint-Esprit with a company of about 40 "lances" (ie lancers). The cruelty of his warfare, especially in the Cèze Valley, shocked everyone, so that Guillaume III. Roger de Beaufort, royal captain of the Sénéchaussée de Beaucaire , withdrew his command.

In March 1383, after the contract was signed in Alès , Gantonnet d'Abzac continued the war against the Tuchiners on its own. He plundered Masmolène and Tresques and made prisoners at the gates of Bagnols-sur-Cèze . The towns of Saint-Laurent-des-Arbres and Laudun submitted to the protection of the Tuniques Blanches and even attacked Saint-Geniès-de-Comolas , where the papal captain had assembled his troops.

During the War of Succession, which followed the death of Queen Joan of Naples († 1382), Countess of Provence, Gantonnet fought against the Union of Aix (1382-1387), in which the supporters of her nephew and murderer Karl von Durazzo gathered had. Clement VII gave him the military protection of Jean d'Agoult, Archbishop of Aix , until the city was subjugated in 1387.

1395 was Gantonnet d'Abzac Vicaire et Capitaine général es contés de Prouvence et de Foulcalquier of Raimond de Turenne , who was staying in his vice-county. From his headquarters in Pertuis he had all the Viscount's troops under his command. There he was still under the supervision of Guy de Pesteils , a cousin of Raimond who lived in Mison , near Sisteron , on the right bank of the Durance .

After the last companies of Raymond de Turenne withdrew from Provence in 1399, he returned to the Périgord. In 1401 he had settled in La Douze , the castle of his brother Adhémar, where he made his will on December 8th.

Gantonnet's will

This document is exceptional as it simultaneously describes the history of the Périgord, Provence and the Kingdom of Cyprus under the rule of the House of Lusignan . It is said to have been written under the dictation of "Hélie, also known as Abzac Gantonnet, knight, parishioner of La Monzie , diocese of Périgueux".

He says that he is physically and mentally weak, recommends himself to God, the Virgin Mary and the whole college [of the saints] that he should be buried in the cemetery of the Minorites of Périgueux , gives the Minorites eight times 20 denier (for) three Years for an anniversary fair, wants 12 wax torches of three livre each and 4 torches of eleven livre for his birthday.

Conflict with Nicolas Roger de Beaufort

Nicolas Roger de Beaufort , brother of Pope Gregory XI. and by Guillaume III. Roger de Beaufort seems to have been a “red rag” for Gantonnet d'Abzac. Their conflict dates back to 1376. In his will, Gantonnet explains: "In Avignon, in the hotel of Raimond de La Pradelle, the late Archbishop of Nicosia, my uncle, there was a certain amount of objects and money that the Sacquos had brought with them from Alexandria, which they had conquered, and which now belongs to the Saracens again, and from where, when it was taken from the Christians, a great number of objects had been taken away. The people of Pope Gregory came to said hotel and took a great number of objects with them when said Pope Gregory went to Rome went, Nicolas de Beaufort, knight, then Lord of Limeuil and now of Miramont, needed silver and gold and the Pope's treasurer had 1000 florins from me to keep, which he gave to Mr. Nicolas with my consent, said Mr. Nicolas to me at the I only received 100 francs, and when the time had passed and I couldn't have said 1000 florins from Nicolas, I did Asked the treasurer of Pope Clement in his presence and that of Nicolas, the treasurer said that he had given them to Nicolas, which the latter confirmed. Nicolas de Beaufort sent me to a place called Borrel, Diocese of Toulouse , to retake and keep this place occupied by his men, and he promised to reimburse me for whatever I will spend to keep this place. Then I went to Borrel and gave 400 gold francs and more for the place, for the repair of the walls, for food for the victims of the soldiers and guards who lived there, for which I received no refund. When I wanted to leave, the said Nicolas gave me 300 francs, which I gave to the soldiers. "

The Basilica di Sant'Andrea in Vercelli

Conflict with the papacy

After he described some financial differences with “Noble homme, Monseigneur” Raymond de Turenne, “Chevalier, now Comte de Beaufort and Vicomte de Turenne” and his father “Noble homme, Guillaume de Beaufort, Comte”, Gantonnet takes up his conflict with the Papacy of Avignon under the pontificate of Gregory XI. and Clemens VII .

“I used to be in the service of Pope Gregory of good memory in the city of Vercelli in Lombardy, whom the Pope, with the approval of the College, made me Captain General of the city and the area up to the Po River. And he promised to make me monthly payments for the guard of the city, which I kept for a long time and which I settled with the chamberlain of the house of our Holy Father, the Pope. When the report was ready, I pointed out to the eunuch that the Pope owed me 7,000 gold florins from the Apostolic Chamber, as can be seen very clearly on a sealed bull - over 7,000 florins - which the Kingdom of Cyprus received from the Pope's collector was determined.

I brought this instruction to the Kingdom of Cyprus in the company of the King of Cyprus. I had been wounded with several wounds outside the city of Famagusta, and from those wounds I was disabled in the Kingdom of Cyprus for more than four years. After that I was not cured or got better, but all along I had spent many deniers that I had left and I did not get more than 700 gold or silver florins that the Pope's collector in Cyprus gave with two Notes stating that the Cornaro , merchants in Venice, held the money and were owed over 1200 florins by Raymond de La Pradelle, Archbishop of Ostia and Patriarch of Nicosia, my uncle.

When I returned to Avignon, I requested this from Pope Clement, he referred me to the treasurer about the expenses, which I was doing and that the 700 florins of the Kingdom of Cyprus had not yet been calculated. But I had none of the 7,000 florins from the lead-sealed and sealed papal bull. Likewise that the sum of 2000 florins from the sale of the villa in Arona to the Pope had not been calculated. In total with you combing owes 100,000 florins. "

Conflict with Jean de Limeuil, son of Nicolas Roger de Beaufort

Gantonnet also appears to have been betrayed by Jean Roger de Beaufort, Sire de Limeuil and ardent supporter of the English party. He closes his will with the note:

“I point out that because of my illness, many people have used and kept my own seal when I could not use it, some with my permission and some not. This enabled them to create false certificates with recognitions, donations, commitments or commitments. I reject the seal and sealed letters except for those written by myself or by trusted witnesses. I have neither donated, sold or assigned my property to Montastruc-Bellegarde, nor my property to Jean de Beaufort, the Lord of Limeuil. I don't owe him anything and he hasn't asked me for anything. For the rest of my property I have appointed my beloved and very dear biological brother as a universal heir: Adémar d'Abzac, Demoiseau, who has to pay my debts. "

literature

• Testament de Gantonnet d'Abzac in: Louis de Mas Latrie , Histoire de l'Île de Chypre sous le règne des princes de la Maison de Lusignan , Paris, Imprimerie Impériale, 1862–1871.
• N. Valois, Raymond de Turenne et les Papes d'Avignon (1386-1408) , Annales du Bulletin de la Société d'Histoire de France, 1889.
• Abbé Albert Durand, Études historiques sur Saint-Laurent-les-Arbres en Languedoc , Mémoires de l'Académie du Vaucluse, Volume 12, 1893.
• Abbé Pierre Béraud, Uzès, son diocèse, son histoire , Uzès, 1949.

Remarks

1. ^ ^{A b} Nicolas Viton de Saint-Allais , Nobiliaire universel de France, ou recueil général des généalogies ... , p. 193/4.
2. ↑ See Testament de Hélie, alias Gantonnet d'Abzac , in: Bulletin du Périgord (November / December 1912).
3. ^ Cf. Vincent Challet, Au miroir du Tuchinat, relations sociales et réseaux de solidarités dans les communautés languedociennes à la fin du XIVe siècle , Cahiers de Recherches Médiévales, 2003 ( online )
4. ↑ The Union d'Aix was a reaction of the merchant bourgeoisie of the cities of Provence (except Marseille) and the small nobles against the second house of Anjou . Cf. Alain Venturini, La guerre de l'Union d'Aix (1383 - 1388) , in: La dédition de Nice à la Savoie , Actes du colloque international de Nice, Paris, 1988, and Noël Coulet, L'Union d ' Aix dans l'historiographie provençale XVIe - XVIIIe siècle , Provence Historique, 40, fasc. 162, 1990, and Genevièvre Xhayet, Partisans et adversaires de Louis d'Anjou pendant la guerre de l'Union d'Aix , Provence Historique, 40, fasc. 162, 1990.
5. ↑ They were in six garrisons (Pertuis, La Bastide-de-Samson, Vitrolles-en-Lubéron , Les Baux-de-Provence , Meyrargues , Roquemartine and Roquefure (to the west of Apt )). Between May and December 1395, Raymond de Turenne organized with only 200 armed men the “appatissement” (to be understood as “blackmail”) of more than 196 Provencal communities in a wide area, which includes Arles , Gordes , Monieux , Peyruis , Mezel, Brignoles , Six-Fours and Martigues is limited. See Régis Veydarier, Raymond de Turenne, la deuxième maison d'Anjou et de Provence: étude d'une rébellion nobiliaire à la fin du Moyen Âge , dissertation University of Montreal , 1994.
6. ↑ Testament de Gantonnet d'Abzac
7. ↑ Gantonnet d'Abzac indicates that these letters date from July 27, 1382.
8. ↑ The Château de Bellegarde in Lamonzie-Montastruc
9. ↑ Diminutive of dominus , title of a young nobleman who is not yet a knight (Petit Robert)