Jean de Vienne
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Jean de Vienne (1341, Dole - 1396, Nicopolis) was a French knight, general and admiral during the Hundred Years' War.
As a young nobleman, he started his military career at the young age of 9, and was made a knight at 21. Aged 24, he was made Captain-General for the Franche-Comté. He was the governor of Calais when the city was taken by the English king Edward III, and was taken prisoner.
In 1373, Charles V made him Amiral de France. He reorganised the Navy, started an important programme of construction, created a coast guard, navigation police, organised watches along the coasts, and attributed licences for building and selling of ships.
Jean de Vienne was one of the first to understand that naval operation only could do harm to England, and he conducted several expeditions to Rye and Wight.
Between 1381 and 1385, he fought against the Dutch, notably during the battle of Rosbec. In 1385, he landed in Scotland with 180 ships to invade England, but was forced to retreat.
After Charles VI succeeded his father Charles V to the Throne of France, the Navy tended to decay, since Charles VI did not share his father's concern for naval affairs. Probably disappointed, Jean de Vienne joined the crusade of King Sigismund of Hungary against the Turks. He was killed during the battle of Nicopolis, in Bulgaria.
Several ships of the French Navy were named after Jean de Vienne; among them:
- a La Galissonniere class cruiser: completed 1937, scuttled at Toulon in november 1942
- the F70 type frigate FS Jean de Vienne (D643), completed 1984 and currently in service
