Jean de Montaigu (1363–1409), Bâtard de France, was an illegitimate son of Charles V of France, and an advisor to his father and also to his half-brother, Charles VI. His mother was Charles V's Italian maîtresse-en-titre, Biette de Cassinel, wife of Gerard de Montaigu the Elder.[1] Jean was given his mother's husband's surname despite being recognized as the king's bastard.
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His mother was Biette de Cassinel or Biota Cassinelli (c. 1340 – around 1380), called la belle Italienne ("the beautiful Italian woman"), the mistress of the regent, Charles, le dauphin, later King of France as Charles V (called "the Wise"). His mother was the first official mistress of a French monarch. She was the daughter of François Cassinel (died 1360), a sergeant in the Royal Army, and great-granddaughter of Bettino Cassinelli, who had immigrated from Italy to Paris. Biette was married to Gerard de Montaigu the Elder, and Charles had married Joan of Bourbon in 1350, but that did not prevent them from entering into a relationship.
Charles had been obligated to rule France as its regent since 1356, when his father, King John II, was captured by the English during the Battle of Poitiers. His father was freed in 1360 with the Treaty of Brétigny, and Charles was able to retire from the immediate responsibility. He was in this more leisurely situation when he turned to Biette Cassinel. In 1363 she bore him a son, Jean, who was given her husband's surname (de Montaigu), but Charles, who publicly acknowledged his relationship with Biette, recognized his son: Jean de Montaigu was awarded the title Bâtard de France.
In 1364 the political situation changed once again when Charles' brother Louis of Anjou, who had gone in 1360 as a hostage for the costs borne payments to London, escaped from captivity. King John was then forced to return to England as a hostage. Charles entered in as regent for a second time and was a short time later king as John II died in April 1364 in London. Moreover, since his son, John, in the meantime had also died, he found himself obligated to provide for the preservation of the dynasty. He turned again to his wife, from whom he received more children since June 1366, including then in December 1368 the longed-for heir, the future Charles VI.
It is likely that Biette Cassinel used her relationship with Charles to benefit herself and her family. Her brother Ferry Cassinel was bishop of Lodève in 1375, later bishop of Auxerre, and eventually Archbishop of Rheims.
Jean had two brothers or half-brothers:
Jean de Montaigu made a career at the royal court, which he led under Charles VI, his half-brother, to the head of the government. Biette's sons were married, as her uncle in the church service and were eventually - long after her death - bishop of Paris and archbishop of Sens.
In 1380 Biette made her last public appearance at the funeral of Charles V.
Duke John the Fearless arrested his opponent Jean de Montaigu and other "malefactors and false traitors", and Montaigu was beheaded on 17 October 1409 in front of a large crowd in Paris.[2]