John IV, Count of Armagnac

John IV
Count of Armagnac
Count of Armagnac
Coat of arms
Countship Armagnac
Predecessor Bernard VII
Successor John V
Spouse(s) Isabella d' Évreux
Noble family Armagnac
Father Bernard VII of Armagnac
Mother Bonne de Berry
Born (1396-10-15)15 October 1396
Rodez
Died 5 November 1450(1450-11-05) (aged 54)
L'Isle-Jourdain

John IV (15 October 1396 – 5 November 1450) was a Count of Armagnac, Fézensac, and Rodez from 1418 to 1450. He was the son of Bernard VII of Armagnac, Count d' Armagnac,[1] of Fézensac, Pardiac, and Rodez; and Bonne of Berry.

His father had taken the County of Comminges by force, but John IV could not prevent the second marriage of Marguerite to Mathieu de Foix in 1419. Subsequently they took the County of Comminges. In 1425, he recognized the King of Castile as overlord of Armagnac. The French king, occupied fighting the English, could not intervene, but did not overlook the affront. Later, John IV negotiated the marriage of his daughter Isabelle with Henri VI, but he backed off from this plan after threats from the king of France. In 1440, he took part in a revolt of the barons and the Dauphin of France, but the coalition was overcome by Charles VII, who pardoned the insurrectionists. He asked the Count of Armagnac to give up its kingly formula, but this last was refused.

Charles VII then asked the Dauphin to punish the recalcitrant John IV. Besieged in L'Isle-Jourdain, John IV was made prisoner and imprisoned in Carcassonne in 1443. He was pardoned three years later, but his counties were directed by royal officers, and he did not have any more noble capacities until his death.

Marriages and children

He married Blanche of Brittany (1395–1419), daughter of John IV, Duke of Brittany and Jeanne d' Évreux, on 16 June 1407[2] and had one child:

He married his second wife on 10 May 1419, shortly after the death of his first wife. His second wife was Isabella d' Évreux (b. 1395; † 1450), daughter of Charles III, king of Navarre and Eleanor of Castille.[1] They had five children:

Ancestry

References

  1. 1 2 Régine Pernoud and Marie-Véronique Clin, Joan of Arc: Her Story, transl. Jeremy duQuesnay Adams, (St. Martin's Press, 1999), 174.
  2. Arthur de La Borderie and Barthélemy Pocquet, Histoire de Bretagne, Vol. 4. (H. Vatar, 1906), 137.
Preceded by
Bernard VII
Count of Armagnac
1418–1450
Succeeded by
John V
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