Louis de Luxembourg, Count of Saint-Pol | |
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Later portrait of Louis, Comte de Saint-Pol
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Spouse(s) |
Jeanne de Bar, Countess of Marle and Soissons Marie of Savoy |
Noble family | House of Luxembourg |
Father | Peter of Luxembourg, Count of Saint-Pol |
Mother | Margaret de Baux |
Born | 1418 |
Died | 19 December 1475 Paris |
Louis de Luxembourg, Count of Saint-Pol, of Brienne, de Ligny, and Conversano (1418 – 19 December 1475) belonged to the Ligny branch of the House of Luxemburg and was Constable of France.
Saint-Pol was the eldest son of Peter of Luxembourg and Margaret de Baux. His older sister Jacqueline, better known as Jacquetta of Luxembourg, married John of Lancaster, 1st Duke of Bedford, and Louis was initially a supporter of the Lancastrian cause in the English Wars of the Roses.
He was brought up by his uncle, John II of Luxembourg, Count of Ligny, who named Louis as heir to his estates. However, King Charles VII of France sequestrated the estates on John's death in 1441. As a result, Saint-Pol sought a rapprochement with the French king and duly had his inheritance restored to him. However, the county of Guise was claimed by Charles, Count of Maine. The affair was settled by an agreement that Saint-Pol's sister Isabelle would marry the Count of Maine and receive the disputed lands as her dowry.
Saint-Pol became a close friend of the Dauphin Louis, the future King Louis XI of France and fought with him in Flanders and in Normandy. However, in 1465 Saint-Pol broke with his friend, now King, to join with the King's brother, Charles, Duke of Berry in the League of the Public Weal. At the battle of Montlhéry, he commanded the van of Charles the Bold's army, yet later was made constable of France by Louis XI. The Treaty of Conflans ended the war, while Saint-Pol received the hand of the King's sister-in-law, Maria of Savoy.