John IV, Count of Armagnac

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, of Fézensac, Pardiac, and Rodez; and the brother of Bernard of Armagnac, Count of Pardiac, of La Marche and Duke of Nemours. His mother was Bonne of Berry, niece of Charles V of France.

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 V, Duke of Brittany and Jeanne d' Évreux, on 16 June 1407^[1] 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.^[2] 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 de Chalon (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

References