Jeanne de Clisson (1300–1359), also known as Jeanne de Belleville and the Lioness of Brittany, was a French–Breton noblewoman who became a privateer to avenge her husband after he was executed for treason by King Philip VI of France. She crossed the English Channel, targeted French ships, and regularly slaughtered almost their entire crew. It was her practice to leave at least one sailor alive to carry her message of vengeance.
Jeanne Louise de Belleville, de Clisson, Dame de Montaigu, was born in 1300 in Belleville-sur-Vie (Belleville on the river Vie) in the Vendée in the Gâtine Vendéenne on the French side of the border with the Duchy of Brittany. She was a daughter of nobleman Maurice IV Montaigu of Belleville and Palluau (1263–1304) and Létice de Parthenay of Parthenay (1276–?).
As a seigneur family in the Bas-Poitou area, the de Montaigu family would have had direct or indirect business in winemaking, salt farming, and the merchant movements of these goods to and from markets as far as the Iberian Peninsula and up towards England. This would have included contacts with merchant shipping along the river Vie and along the coast of Poitou and Brittany with an island stronghold at Yeu.
Jeanne's father died when she was four years old and there are no known records indicating that her mother remarried. It also appears she was born from her father's second marriage, as some records suggest he was previously married to Sibille of Châteaubriant. This alliance had apparently produced a son, Maurice V Montaigu. In 1320(?), on the death of her half-brother Maurice V, Jeanne inherited the seigneury of Montaigu and that of Belleville, as he had no heirs.
In 1312, Jeanne, aged about 12 years old, married her first husband, 19-year-old Geoffrey de Châteaubriant VIII (died 1326), a Breton nobleman, who himself was already a widower to Alix de Thouars. They had two children:
Geoffrey IX (1314–1347), inherited his father's estates as Baron, died in the Battle of La Roche-Derrien
Louise (1316–1383), married Guy XII de Laval and subsequently inherited her brother's estate as Baroness.
In 1328, Jeanne married Guy de Penthièvre of the House of Penthièvre, widower of Joan of Avaugour and second son of the Duke of Brittany. Jeanne may have done this to protect her underage children.
The union was short-lived, as relatives of the ducal family – in particular, from the de Blois faction – laid a complaint with the bishops of Vannes and Rennes to protect their heritage, and an investigation was conducted on 10 February 1330, resulting in the marriage being annulled by Pope John XXII.
Guy then married into the de Blois faction to Marie de Blois, who was also a niece of Philip VI of France. Guy died unexpectedly on 26 March 1331, and his heritage passed to his daughter Jeanne of Penthièvre.
Marriage to Olivier IV de Clisson
In 1330, Jeanne married Olivier IV de Clisson, a wealthy Breton who held a castle at Clisson, a manor house in Nantes, and lands at Blain. Olivier was initially married to Blanche de Bouville (died 1329). Olivier had a son, Jean, from this first marriage, who would go on to inherit his mother's lands as the Lord of Milly, near Paris.
Jeanne, a recent widow herself of the Lord of Châteaubriant, controlled areas in Poitou just south of the Breton border from Beauvoir-sur-Mer in the west to Châteaumur in the southeast of Clisson. In the marriage contract, there is evidence of Jeanne ensuring that the inheritances of her children from her previous marriage were legally secured. Combining these assets made Jeanne and Olivier the seigneurial power (senior Lord of an area) in the border region of Brittany. Jeanne and Olivier eventually had five children:
Isabeau (1330-1343), born out of wedlock (shortly before marriage to Olivier), she eventually married John I of Rieux and therefore was mother of Jean II de Rieux
Olivier V (1336–1407), his father's successor, a future Constable of France, nicknamed "The Butcher"
Guillaume (1338–1345), died of exposure
Jeanne (1340–?), married Jean Harpedanne, Lord of Montendre IV's successor
Jeanne at one point took Olivier to court with regard to access to remuneration from his estates as had been agreed upon in the marriage contract. This case was heard by King Philip VI, who found in her favour, as witnesses confirmed such promises had occurred. It appears this issue was resolved amicably.