Johann I (Foix)

Coat of arms of John I of Foix-Béarn-Bigorre

Johann I ( French : Jean ) (* 1382 ; † May 4, 1436 in Mazères ) was Count of Foix , Vice-Count of Béarn , Marsan , Lautrec and Castelbon and Co-Lord of Andorra from 1412/28 until his death . From 1425 he was also Count of Birgorre . He was the eldest son of his predecessor Countess Isabelle and her husband Archambaud de Grailly .

First years

Johann lived hostage at the royal court of France from 1399, this was a condition of the crown in the Treaty of Tarbes, which was supposed to guarantee the loyalty of his family, who were previously in the service of England, to France. After Johann King Charles VI on April 24, 1406 . had paid homage, he took part in several campaigns against England under the leadership of the Connétable Louis de Sancerre as part of the Hundred Years War . So at the sieges of Bordeaux in 1404 and 1405, as well as at Blaye and Bourg from 1406 to 1407. In 1409 he accompanied King Martin I of Aragon to Sardinia , where Johann distinguished himself on May 30, 1409 in the battle of Sanluri .

Conflict in Aragon

After the King of Aragon died in May 1410 without an heir, Johann supported Duke Ludwig II of Anjou , who was married to Princess Jolanthe of Aragón , whose claims to the Crown of Aragon. Johann supported this pretender because his mother-in-law, the widow queen Violante von Bar , promised him that if her son-in-law succeeded in taking over the throne, he would hand over the property in Aragon to the Foix family. But that did not happen because the competitor of Anjou Prince Ferdinand of Castile prevailed in the compromise of Caspe on the Aragonese royal throne.

In the Hundred Years War

The assassination of the Duke of Burgundy, 1419

After John's father died on February 12, 1412, Johann took over his co-reign over Foix-Béarn together with his mother, in the same month he received the governorship of Languedoc and Guyenne from the king . In the following years Johann was drawn into the civil war of the Armagnacs against the Bourguignons , which between these parties for the reign of the underage King Charles VI. flared. First he fought against the Armagnacs and the Dauphin Charles VII. This fight was interrupted by the invasion of the English King Henry V in the summer of 1415, who won a crushing victory over the French army on October 25 of the same year in the battle of Azincourt in which Johann also fought. Then Johann changed to the Dauphin's party, which earned him the renewed appointment as governor of Languedoc and the Dauphiné . However, after the Dauphin's followers slain the Burgundian Duke Jean sans Peur on the bridge of Montereau on September 10, 1419 in his presence , an assassination attempt in which a brother of Johann von Foix was also killed, he moved back to the camp of Burgundy and became so too an ally of England. But already after the death of Henry V and the appearance of the Maid of Orléans , he again and finally submitted to the current King Charles VII in May 1423.

These frequent party changes are to be credited above all to Johann's opportunistic behavior, who primarily exploited the conflict between England and France for self-enrichment, he always switched to the side from which he expected the most political and economic gain at the time. As the sovereign of his Pyrenees principality, he took a neutral stance during the war, which was reflected in his motto ni anglais, ni français (neither England nor France).

Last years

John's last change of sides in 1423 should also pay off for him when King Charles VII enfeoffed him with the county of Bigorre in 1425. The House of Foix had been entitled to this for several generations, but this was also raised by other parties, such as the Counts of Armagnac. The Bigorre was of particular strategic importance for the House of Foix, as it enabled the gap between its dominant centers of Béarn and Foix to be reduced considerably.

In Aragon, too, Johann was able to assert his ownership claims, which had failed in 1411, when the disputed goods (Castellví de Rosanes and Martorell) were handed over to him on the occasion of his marriage to the daughter of the Count of Urgell in 1435.

Count Johann I died on May 4th, 1436 in Mazères.

Marriages and offspring

Johann I married Princess Jeanne (* 1382, † 1413), a daughter of King Charles III , on October 12, 1402 . of Navarre . At the time of the marriage, Jeanne was considered the heir to the Kingdom of Navarre , but she died before her father. You and Johann had no children.

In February 1422, he married Jeanne (* 1402, † 1433), a daughter of Connétable Charles I. d'Albret , who died in the Battle of Azincourt, in February 1422 . Your children were:

• Gaston IV. (* 1423, † 1472), successor as Count of Foix and Bigorre, Vice-Count of Béarn, Marsan and Castelbon and co-lord of Andorra
• Peter († 1454), Vice Count of Lautrec

In his third and last marriage he was married to Juana (* 1415, † after 1446), a daughter of Count Jaume II of Urgell . The couple had no children.

In addition, four illegitimate children are known of him:

• Isabelle († 1486), ⚭ May 11, 1443 Baron Bernard de Cauna
• Bernard, Lord of Gerderest, ⚭ Praxede de Caramany
• Jean, Baron de Moissens, Seneschal des Béarn
• Pierre, Abbot of Sainte-Croix in Bordeaux

Web links

• "Short biography of Johann I von Foix" (French)

predecessor	Office	successor
Isabelle	Count of Foix Vice Count of Castelbon 1412 / 28–1436	Gaston IV./XI./I./IV.
Isabelle	Vice Count of Béarn 1412 / 28–1436	Gaston IV./XI./I./IV.
Isabelle	Co-Prince of Andorra 1412–1436	Gaston IV./XI./I./IV.
French crown domain	Count of Bigorre 1425-1436	Gaston IV./XI./I./IV.