John Tristan | |
---|---|
Count of Valois | |
Born |
Damietta, Egypt |
8 April 1250
Died | 3 August 1270 Tunis, Tunisia |
(aged 20)
Burial | Basilica of St Denis |
Spouse | Yolande II, Countess of Nevers |
House | Capet |
Father | Louis IX of France |
Mother | Margaret of Provence |
John Tristan (8 April 1250 - 3 August 1270) was a French prince of the Capetian dynasty. He was jure uxoris Count of Nevers from 1265 to 1270, Count of Auxerre and Tonnerre (jure uxoris) and also Count of Valois and Crépy (1268–1270).
John was born in Damietta, Egypt. He was the sixth child and the fourth son of king Louis IX of France, called St. Louis after canonization, and Margaret of Provence. Moreover, he was the first of three children of this royal couple who were born during the Seventh Crusade. He was born at the Egyptian port town of Damietta which had been conquered by the crusaders in 1249. According to chronicler Jean de Joinville, an old knight acted as midwife during John's birth. Two days prior to his birth, the king was captured by the Mamluks which was the reason to name the child Tristan due to the triste occasion. He was baptised in the grand mosque of Damietta that had been re-consecrated into a church. One month later, Damietta had to be abandoned. John subsequently spent his childhood in the Holy Land where his siblings Peter (1251) and Blanche (1253) were born.
His father wished that John joined the Dominican Order, but John resisted this wish successfully. In 1266, he was married to Yolande II, Countess of Nevers (1247-1280), making him Count of Nevers, Auxerre and Tonnere. In 1268, John was made Count of Valois and Crépy on his own right by his father the king, a gift he received as paréage.