Gilbert Motier de La Fayette

This article is about Gilbert Motier de La Fayette (1380 1462). For Gilbert du Motier, marquis de Lafayette (6 September 1757 – 20 May 1834), see Gilbert du Motier, marquis de Lafayette.
Gilbert Motier de La Fayette
Other name(s) Gilbert III de Lafayette
Born 1380
Auvergne
Died February 22, 1462(1462-02-22) (aged 81)
Auvergne
Buried at Abbey of La Chaise-Dieu
Allegiance Kingdom of France
Years of service 1409-1449
Rank Marshal of France
Battles/wars

Hundred Years War

Spouse(s)
  • Dauphine de Montroignon
  • Jeanne de Joyeuse

Gilbert Motier de La Fayette (1380 22 February 1462) Lord of La Fayette, Pontgibaud, Ayes, Nébouzac, Saint-Romain and Montel de Gelat was a Marshal of France. He was an ancestor of Gilbert du Motier, Marquis de Lafayette.

Biography

He was brought up at the court of Louis II, Duke of Bourbon. He served under Marshal Boucicaut in Italy and on his return to France after the evacuation of Genoa in 1409 became seneschal of the Bourbonnais.[1]

He was the comrade of Joan of Arc. In the English wars he was with John I, Duke of Bourbon, at the capture of Soubise in 1413 and of Compiègne in 1415. The duke then made him lieutenant-general in Languedoc and Guienne. He failed to defend Caen and Falaise, for the dauphin (afterwards Charles VII.) against Henry V of England in 1417 and 1418, but in the latter years he held Lyons for some time against Jean, duke of Burgundy. A series of successes over the English and Burgundians on the Loire was rewarded in 1420 with the governor of Dauphiné and the office of marshal of France. He was chamberlain of the king, bailli of Rouen (1417), and Seneschal of Beaucaire and Nîmes.

Battle of Baugé

He and John Stewart, Earl of Buchan commanded the Franco-Scottish troops at the Battle of Baugé in 1422, though he did not, as has been sometimes stated, slay Thomas, duke of Clarence, with his own hand. In 1424, he was taken prisoner by the English at the battle of Verneuil, but was released shortly afterwards, and fought with Joan of Arc at the siege of Orléans, and the battle of Patay in 1429. He attended the coronation of Charles VII in Reims on 17 July 1429. He strengthened the defences and enlarged the keep of Château-Dauphin in Pontgibaud.

The marshal had become a member of the Grand Conseil of Charles VII, and with the exception of a short disgrace about 1430, due to the ill-will of Georges de la Trémoille, he retained the royal favour all his life. He took an active part in the army reform initiated by Charles VII from 1445 to 1448, and the establishment of military posts for the suppression of brigandage. He is among the negotiators and signatories to the Treaty of Arras, in 1435 and the treaty with the Duke of Somerset, in 1449. His last campaign was against the English in Normandy in 1449. It was he who received the surrender of the city of Rouen October 19, 1449.

He died on 23 February 1462. He was buried in the Abbey of La Chaise-Dieu.

Motto and Coat of Arms

Coat of Arms Motto
CUR NON ?
(Latin for "Why not?")

On his headstone, to the abbey of La Chaise-Dieu, one can read the motto "Merito". True to the spirit of the Middle Ages, he chose an anagram of his name, Motier.

Family

He was the son of William Motier La Fayette and Marguerite Catherine Brun du Peschin, dame de Pontgibaud.

He first married Dauphine de Monteith. He later, on January 15, 1423, wedded Jeanne de Joyeuse, daughter of Lord Randon de Joyeuse and Catherine Aubert, Lady Monteil Gelat. He had nine children by his second marriage, including:

  • Antoine (1474-1531) lord of Pontgibaud, Montel de Gelat, of Rochedagoux, knight, governor of Boulogne, seneschal of l'on-thieu and Grand Master of Artillery before 1515.
Antoine Motier de La Fayette, grand maître de l'artillerie

References

External links

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