Crusader, Earl of Richmond, Duke of Bretagne and Peer of England and France

Discussion in 'Ancient Coins' started by seth77, Dec 11, 2018.

  1. seth77

    seth77 Well-Known Member

    Jean de Dreux inherited the title of Earl of Richmond after his father awarded it to him together with his role as Peer of England in 1268, which he took as John of Dreux. Through his marriage with Beatrice of England, the daughter of King Henry III that same year, he entered the British royal family.

    Richmond_in_England.jpg
    The Earldom of Richmond in the 13th to 14th centuries, via Wikipedia.


    Prior to his ascension to the title of Duke of Bretagne, at the death of his father, Jean le Roux, Jean participated in the Eight Crusade against Tunis (1270) alongside King Louis IX of France and afterwards followed Edward I "Longshanks" not-yet-King of England to Acre, where the small English host fought for most of 1271. As Peer of England, he was particularly close to Edward and after Edward's accession to the throne, he became one of his most loyal barons.

    In 1284 he returned to the continent to join King Philip III of France and Charles de Valois in the disastrous Aragonse Crusade of 1284-1285.

    pic_00_01.gif
    Duchy of Bretagne


    In 1286 he became Duke of Bretagne as Jean II and in the 1290s his allegiance started to shift from Edward to the French Crown. In 1296 he openly defied Edward and supported Philip IV of France against him. As a result, Edward confiscated his British domains and Philip made him Peer of France in 1297.

    His last years, Jean spent conducting campaigns for Philip in the Franco-Flemish Wars and fought alongside his knights and the French king himself at Mons-en-Pavele in August 1304.

    Returning to Lyon to star in the procession for the coronation of Pope Clement V in 1305, Jean died in a freak accident: so many people had come to watch the event and climbed in order to do so all walls and palisades alongside the procession, that one of the walls collapsed under the weight on Jean while he was leading the Pope. On November 18 1305 he succumbed to his wounds.


    His coinage is rather scarce and his most interesting type, with his titulature of Earl of Richmond is rare. This type had been previously attributed to Jean III, but in the light of new finds published by Jezequel (Bulletin de la Société Française de Numismatique n° 6, juin 2006 et journées numismatiques de Nantes des 2 et 4 juin 2006) it was reassigned to the reign of Jean II, around 1290, probably issued from the mint at Evran:

    jean.JPG

    + ' I ' DVX BRITANIE . ; Arms of Dreux family with a quarter of moucheture d'hermines, the arms of Bretagne.

    + COmES ° RIChEmVD ` ; Cross with n in 2nd quarter.

    Duplessy 89, Jezequel 86, not in Boudeau.
     
    Last edited: Dec 11, 2018
  2. Avatar

    Guest User Guest



    to hide this ad.
  3. FitzNigel

    FitzNigel Medievalist

    Very nice write-up, Seth! Thank you for sharing
     
  4. Orfew

    Orfew Draco dormiens nunquam titillandus

    Great writeup. I would love to find one of these.
     
  5. seth77

    seth77 Well-Known Member

    I wish you luck, they are quite rare.
     
  6. TheRed

    TheRed Well-Known Member

    That is a great coin Seth! Jean de Dreux sounds like quite the interesting person. To switch sides and defy his brother-in-law is a bold move.
     
  7. Alegandron

    Alegandron "ΤΩΙ ΚΡΑΤΙΣΤΩΙ..." ΜΕΓΑΣ ΑΛΕΞΑΝΔΡΟΣ, June 323 BCE

    Thanks for the cool write-up @seth77 ... and very nice coin! Wow, kinda a Benedict Arnold to Washington from modern US History...
     
    +VGO.DVCKS likes this.
  8. Orfew

    Orfew Draco dormiens nunquam titillandus

    Perspective is everything in this case. Benedict Arnold was considered a hero in Canada because he was loyal to the British crown.
     
    +VGO.DVCKS and Alegandron like this.
  9. Alegandron

    Alegandron "ΤΩΙ ΚΡΑΤΙΣΤΩΙ..." ΜΕΓΑΣ ΑΛΕΞΑΝΔΡΟΣ, June 323 BCE

    Very much AGREED! It is ALWAYS which frame / window that you are looking through!
     
    +VGO.DVCKS and Orfew like this.
  10. seth77

    seth77 Well-Known Member

    As far as I understand and despite Edward's fame as a wrathful overlord, the animosity wasn't as intense as one would think. Either him by the end of his reign or his son and heir Jean/John III of Dreux regained Richmond in full. John III was instrumental to Edward's Scottish campaigns and he is said to have been at Bannockburn alongside his retinue during Edward II's incursion. Also there in that ill-fated day was a certain Lord of Kingerby, by the name of William Disney. The ancestor of Walt Disney of Mickey Mouse fame.
     
    Last edited: Dec 12, 2018
    +VGO.DVCKS likes this.
  11. seth77

    seth77 Well-Known Member

    And the result after cleaning:

    jean2.jpg
     
  12. hotwheelsearl

    hotwheelsearl Well-Known Member

    Nice. I was just gonna say dunk that bad boy in lye!
     
    +VGO.DVCKS likes this.
  13. seth77

    seth77 Well-Known Member

    It's surprising how good silver alloys respond to acid solutions.
     
  14. hotwheelsearl

    hotwheelsearl Well-Known Member

    I agree. Sodium thiosulfate DESTROYS iron oxide on silver while leaving the silver alone
     
    +VGO.DVCKS likes this.
Draft saved Draft deleted

Share This Page