Jean I de Grailly

Jean I de Grailly (died c. 1301) was the seneschal of the Duchy of Gascony from 1266 to 1268, of the Kingdom of Jerusalem from about 1272 until about 1276, and of Gascony again from 1278 until 1286 or 1287.

Jean was born on the shores of Lake Geneva in the County of Savoy. He probably travelled to England during the reign of Henry III of England in the entourage of Peter II of Savoy, who was uncle to Queen Eleanor of Provence. In 1262 he was already a knight in the household of Prince Edward, the king's heir and future King Edward I of England. In 1263 he had attained the status of a counsellor of the young prince. In 1266 he was rewarded for his services with the castle and viscounty of Benauges. He acquired the saltworks in Bordeaux and the right of toll at Pierrefite on the Dordogne as sources of income. He also received the lordship of Langon and was made seneschal of Prince Edward's fief of Gascony. In 1280 he founded the town of Cadillac to provide a port for Benauges.

In 1270 he accompanied Edward on the Ninth Crusade to Syria. He stayed behind in the Crusader kingdom as seneschal and only returned to Gascony sometime before or during 1276. He maintained an interest in the fate of Jerusalem for the remainder of his life, however. In October 1277 he was in England to warn now-king Edward of the conspiracy of the viscount of Castillon. In 1278 he was re-appointed to his old Gascon post.

In 1279, Jean travelled to Amiens and to England to negotiate the Treaty of Amiens, which ended the state of war between Edward of England and Philip III of France and returned the Agenais to English control. Only two weeks after the treaty, Jean de Grailly encouraged an inquiry to determine whether or not he Quercy was English territory. He was already appointed to the commission to oversee the return of the Agenais and his seneschal's duties were extended to the new region. Edward also ordered Jean not to pay the fouage, a tax demanded by the French king. He was granted royal letters to demonstrate the king's intention to pay the tax in a few years, after better harvests. In 1285 he even negotiated a treaty fixing the tariff on Bordeaux wine.

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