Jeanne Hachette

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Jeanne Laisné (1456 - ?) was a French heroine known as Jeanne Fourquet and nicknamed Jeanne Hachette ('Jean the Hatchet').

We have no precise information about her family or origin. She is known solely for her act of heroism which on 27 June 1472 saved Beauvais when it was on the point of being taken by the troops of Charles the Bold, duke of Burgundy. The town was defended by only 300 men-at-arms, commanded by Louis de Balagny.

The Burgundians were making an assault, and one of their number had actually planted a flag upon the battlements, when Jeanne, axe in hand, flung herself upon him, hurled him into the moat, tore down the flag, and revived the drooping courage of the garrison. In gratitude for this heroic deed, Louis XI instituted a procession in Beauvais called the Procession of the Assault, and married Jeanne to her chosen lover Cohn Pilon, loading them with favours.

See Georges Vallat, Jeanne Hachette (Abbeville, 1898).

[edit] References

• This article incorporates text from the Encyclopædia Britannica Eleventh Edition, a publication now in the public domain.