John IV, Count of Armagnac

John IV
Count of Armagnac
Count of Armagnac
Coat of arms
Countship	Armagnac
Predecessor	Bernard VII
Successor	John V
Wife	Isabella d' Évreux
Father	Bernard VII
Mother	Bonne de Berry
Born	15 October 1396 Rodez
Died	5 November 1450 (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:

• Bonne (b. 1416; † before 1448)

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:

• Marie of Armagnac (b. 1420; † 1473), married in 1437 John II of Alençon (b. 1409; † 1476), Duke of Alençon; maternal great-grandparents of King Henry IV of France.
• Jean V of Armagnac (b. 1420; † 1473), Viscount of Lomagne, then Count d' Armagnac, of Fézensac and Rodez.
• Eléonore (b. 1423; † 1456), married in 1446 Louis II of Chalon-Arlay (b. 1389; † 1463), Prince d'Orange, Lord of Arlay and Arguel.
• Charles I, Count of Armagnac (b. 1425; † 1497), Viscount of Fézensaguet, then Count d' Armagnac, of Fézensac and Rodez.
• Isabelle (b. 1430; † 1476), Lady of the Four-Valleys.

Ancestry

Ancestors of John IV, Count of Armagnac

Bernard VI of Armagnac, Count of Armagnac               John I of Armagnac, Count of Armagnac                       Cecile de Rodez               John II of Armagnac, Count of Armagnac                             Jean de Clermont, Count of St. Charolais               Beatrice de Clermont, Dame de Charolais                       Jeanne d'Argies               Bernard VII of Armagnac, Count of Charolais, Count of Armagnac                                   Helie IX Talairand, Count of Périgord               Roger-Bernard I, Count of Périgord                       Brunissende de Foix               Jeanne de Périgord                             Bouchard VI of Vendôme               Eléonore de Vendôme                       Alix of Brittany               John IV of Armagnac                                         Philip VI of France               John II of France                       Jeanne of Burgundy               John, Duke of Berry                             John the Blind of Luxembourg               Bonne of Luxembourg                       Elisabeth of Bohemia               Bonne de Berry                                   Bernard VI of Armagnac, Count of Armagnac               John I of Armagnac, Count of Armagnac                       Cecile de Rodez               Jeanne of Armagnac                             Jean de Clermont, Count of St. Charolais               Beatrice of Clermont, Dame de Charolais                       Jeanne d'Argies

References

1. 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.