Notes |
- BIOGRAPHY
Jacques I de Bourbon, comte de La Marche, was born about 1321, the son of Louis I, duc de Bourbon, comte de Clermont, and Marie of Holland and Hainault. Jacques was comte de Ponthieu from 1351 to 1360, and comte de La Marche from 1356 to his death.
In 1335, he married Jeanne de Châtillon, the daughter of Hugues de Châtillon, seigneur de Leuze, de Condé, de Carency et de Buquoy, and Jeanne d'Argies, dame d'Argies et de Catheu. Jacques and Jeanne had four children, of whom their sons Jean and Jacques and daughter Isabelle would have issue.
In 1349 Jacques was created captain-general of Languedoc, and in 1354 he was created constable of France. Weary of political intrigues, he resigned his position as constable in May 1356, but fought at the Battle of Poitiers that year. He was taken prisoner by the English, and was released following the Treaty of Brétigny in 1360, which surrendered his county of Ponthieu to the English. However Jacques had succeeded his brother Pierre in La Marche after the latter's death at Poitiers.
The peace promised by the treaty proved illusory. While the English were at peace with France, the discharged mercenary companies found new employment by ravaging the countryside and holding whole cities to ransom. Soon after his return from captivity, King Jean 'the Good' commissioned Jacques to raise an army to put down the 'Free Companies'. He did so, but he was sharply defeated by them at the Battle of Brignais near Lyon on 6 April 1362, and both he and his eldest son Pierre were mortally wounded. He was succeeded by his second son Jean.
|