Mathieu (Foix)

Mathieu (* after 1363; † August 1398 ) was Vice Count of Castelbon since 1381 and also Count of Foix , Vice Count of Béarn , Marsan and Lautrec and Co-Lord of Andorra since 1391 .

He was the youngest son of Vice Count Roger Bernard IV of Castelbon and his wife Geraude de Navailles. After Mathieu's older brother Roger Bernard V died young, he inherited the paternal vicarage of Castelbon.

In 1390 Mathieu took part in the campaign of Duke Ludwig II of Bourbon against Tunisia ( see crusade against Mahdia ), which had to be broken off after the unsuccessful siege of al-Mahdiya . On the way back home, the army in Sardinia captured the city ​​of Cagliari for the Republic of Genoa .

Foix-Béarn coat of arms

After Count Gaston Fébus von Foix-Béarn died in 1391 , Mathieu was the last legitimate male member of the House of Foix. Mathieu was a second cousin of the dead count, but since Gaston Fébus had named the French crown as his heir in his will, his extensive property on the northern slope of the Pyrenees fell to King Charles VI. of France . For Mathieu, however, partisans appeared who registered a claim to the great inheritance for him. On the one hand, it was the bastard of the dead Count Yvain de Foix who had control of the count's residence at Orthez , as well as Mathieu's liege lord and future father-in-law, King John I of Aragon , who wanted to prevent the French authority from increasing in the Pyrenees. The Duke of Berry's influence on the king was also won over to Mathieu's cause after he received a high financial allowance. After several negotiations, King Charles VI was. finally ready to use Mathieu in the claimed inheritance and for his part renounced his rights on December 20th in Tours . So Mathieu came into the possession of the county Foix , the vice-counties of Béarn , Marsan and Lautrec as well as the co-dominion of Andorra . While he had to pay homage to the King of France for Foix and Lautrec, he was able to take possession of Béarn and Marsan as a sovereign prince.

After Mathieu's father-in-law, King John I of Aragon, died in May 1396, he claimed the Aragonese throne on behalf of his wife, who was the king's eldest daughter. However, he could not enforce this claim after his army was defeated by Count Peter von Urgell . Instead, Martin I was crowned the new King of Aragon. He had all the properties that Mathieu owned in Aragon confiscated.

Count Mathieu did not have time to reconcile with Aragon , as he died in August 1398. He had been married to the Aragonese princess Juana since 1392, with whom he had no children. His older and only sister Isabelle thus inherited the entire Foix family.

Web links

• "Short biography of Mathieu von Foix" (French)

predecessor	Office	successor
Roger Bernard V.	Vice Count of Castelbon 1381–1398	Isabelle
Gaston III./X./III.	Count of Foix 1391-1398	Isabelle
Gaston III./X./III.	Vice Count of Béarn 1391–1398	Isabelle
Gaston III./X./III.	Co-Prince of Andorra 1391–1398	Isabelle