She sold off the entirety of her husband’s lands and her personal possessions to raise a small army of troops. Angry at King Philip VI for being such a colossal shithead and presumably for also cutting off her husband’s head, Clisson sold off every inch of her families land and bought the three biggest warships she could find. She packed up her things and enjoyed her twilight years in, of all places, Brittany. Jeanne de Clisson was born into an affluent French family in 1300 and spent most of her life as a noblewoman. It was, by all accounts, a successful marriage…at least, it was while it lasted. Driven by revenge for her husband's unlawful execution, Jeanne commanded a fleet of black ships and wielded a massive battle-axe, personally beheading any French nobleman she found. Lady pirates are even cooler. Her crew would kill any other survivors, but they would always leave two men alive to tell King Philip the Fortunate what had happened. First, she took her two sons to Nantes to show them their father’s severed head. The two of them retired to Brittany for the rest of de Clisson’s life. The castle resisted de Clisson’s assault for a time, but like everything else who squared off against Jeanne, it eventually fell. This is where the real story of Jeanne de Clisson begins: when she swore to avenge her husband’s murder. How do we know this? At this part in her life, de Clisson hadn’t turned into an avenging angel just yet, but already, people who betrayed her seemed to suffer unpleasant fates. According to legend, the few survivors of these massacres always told the same story. She painted them black, outfitted them with blood-red sails, hired crews of bloodthirsty marauders, and used the extra cash to bribe the Lords of Brittany not to sell her out to the King. Congreve was right. By all accounts Olivier was as close as I think you’re gonna get … He fought valiantly, but in 1342, English forces successfully overtook Vannes and held its leader, Olivier, hostage. Our credibility is the turbo-charged engine of our success. To make shit even worse for him, Philip the Fortunate couldn’t do much to stop this raiding fleet, either. After Jeanne got hitched to her hot knight hubby Walter, she decided that it was time for her to go into retirement. She personally whacked the commander and any noblemen on board, chopping off their heads and throwing the bodies overboard. With her husband gone, de Clisson couldn’t exactly count on anyone to look after her kids. With their money, Jeanne could begin phase two of her plan: All out carnage. Most of the French fleet had been annihilated by the English at the Battle of Sluys in 1340, and in 1343 he couldn’t exactly spare the troops, money, or supplies that would be necessary for an expedition to chase a trio of pirate ships all around the western coast of France. Over the years, people began to call her “The Lioness of Brittany” because of her vicious methods. The castle is said to be haunted by Jeanne de Clisson de Clisson dit Olivier V de Clisson 23 April 1336 23 April 1407 … Surprise, surprise, it didn’t take long for France and England to co-opt this land dispute for their own ends. Thanks for your help! Soon after Olivier’s triumphant return, the de Clisson patriarch received an invitation to a tournament outside of Brittany. As the most commanding mistress in the French court, she bettered the lives of many and became a beloved figure…. Strap in, it’s about to get nasty. With an axe to grind, Jeanne and her troops traveled through France, rallying other unhappy rich people and encouraging them to turn against the king. She was the one of the de Belleville family, who had ruled in the area for hundreds of years. It was a cold, gray, rain-soaked day towards the end of the year 1346 when the heavy wood-and-iron doors of the Lord’s keep were slammed open with a jarring amount of force. The fact that no evidence was presented to prove Olivier’s guilt only made her more convinced. Their castle still stands to this day, and, I don’t know, I wouldn’t mind spending a summer here: Unfortunately, life in paradise came crashing down to a pretty abrupt end pretty fucking quickly. De Clisson tied the knot with Olivier de Clisson, the man who would give her the surname by which she is known to this day. Jeanne was a woman of action, not just talk. She was fully born out of wedlock. We want our readers to trust us. Please submit feedback to contribute@factinate.com. Back in the 14th century, the average person had a very short lifespan, which meant that people started adulting at an appallingly young age. Olivier must be working with the enemy. After one last attack on a French ship, she made a daring escape to England, where she was welcomed into the English court like a hero. Then Philip wrote up a decree that Jeanne was a traitor like her husband, and he ordered her to be arrested and have all of her property confiscated. After the French government killed her husband, Clisson swore to avenge his death. Jeanne de Clisson’s husband was killed following a sham trial in 1343; however, this betrayal by the French nobility led Jeanne to take extraordinary action. De Clisson sacrificed her happiness to support her young children and unfortunately, that gamble didn’t pay off. Crimson sails, red as blood, propelled the terrifying through the water with inescapable speed. Olivier’s captors had a plan: They’d contact Olivier’s boss, Charles de Blois, and demand that he pay a ransom to get his soldier back. Kyle Climans has been a published writer since 2011. The de Clisson clan got involved in the dispute, with utterly horrific consequences. Then she came. Four years later, she married Olivier III de Clisson, and they had 5 children: Maurice, Guillaume, Olivier, Isabeau (who died in 1343) and Jeanne. But they didn't have awesome nicknames like Jeanne de Clisson, the Lioness of Brittany. She got away with it, too, seeing her husband's honor posthumously restored, and died happily of natural causes. Jeanne de Clisson became a pirate out of revenge against the French for the death of her husband. Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned. Finally in 1356, after 13 years of piracy, Jeanne de Clisson retired and went to live in England. Husbands hiding things from wives, mothers from children, and generation from generation. Here, Tom Daly explains how her lust for revenge led her to become one of history’s most famous female pirates. Ein reicher bretonischer Edelfreier. From petty paybacks to insane acts of karma, these bitter people somehow found the most ingenious ways…. But in 1326, after over a decade of marriage, de Clisson got her first taste of tragedy. Before de Clisson left the bloodshed at Touffou, she had one final order. Upon laying eyes on three wooden behemoths that would make Poseidon shit himself, Clisson … In 1343, Olivier thought he was finally free. What a legend. Tragically, of de Clisson’s seven children, she had to bury five. With his huge army, de Blois thought he couldn’t lose–but he was wrong. They both hated the French king and everything he stood for. Olivier stopped sending troops to Philip the Fortunate, Philip got mad and had his guards arrest Olivier while the Lord of Clisson was attending a jousting tournament in Nantes. 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