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- BIOGRAPHY
Jean I de Nesle, seigneur d'Offemont, was born about 1288, the son of Guy I de Clermont, seigneur de Breteuil et d'Offemont, and his second wife Marguerite de Thourotte, dame d'Offemont. He was the nephew of Raoul II-III de Clermont, seigneur de Nesle, the constable of France.
In 1326 Jean married Marguerite, dame de Mello. Their son Jean II and daughter Isabelle would have progeny.
As chamberlain of Philippe VI, king of France, Jean was actively involved in the government of the kingdom from 1344. That year he joined the Royal Council and became a key counsellor with Chancellor Guillaume Flotte and Archbishop Jean de Marigny. He became one of the two presidents of the Chamber of Accounts. As proof of the high regard in which he was held, in 1345 he received the honorary office of Grand-Queux de France.
In the absence of the king on the military campaign of 1345-6, Jean administered the kingdom along with Chancellor Flotte and Hugues d'Arcy, bishop of Laon.
The defeat at Crécy and the severe challenge to royal authority that followed undermined Jean's political career for a time. In December 1346 he left the presidency of the Chamber of Accounts along with other key advisors. Although less prominent, he nevertheless managed to keep his place on the Council, even after Philippe's son Jean, duke of Normandy, took power in 1348, crowned as King Jean II in 1350.
Jean died on 25 May 1352, aged 64.
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