Waléran (Luxembourg) de Luxembourg-Ligny (abt. 1355 - 1415)

Born about 1355 in Saint Pol sur Ternoise, Artois, Pas-de-Calais, France

Ancestors

Husband of Maud (Holland) de Courtenay — married about 1380 (to before 8 Jan 1391) in Windsor Castle, Berkshire, England

Husband of Bonne (Bar-le-Duc) de Luxembourg-Ligny — married 17 May 1393 in Bar le Duc, Duchy of Bar

Descendants

Died 19 Apr 1415 at about age 60 in Chateau d'Yvoy, Luxembourg, Holy Roman Empire

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Biography

Waléran III Luxembourg was a member of the aristocracy in Europe.

Waléran is a Germanic-origin given name, sometimes "Latinized" as Valéran in French. Its original meaning was "foreign crow" but its patron saint is "Valerian," of Roman origin.

Waléran III, Comte de Ligny et de St. Pol, was the eldest surviving son and heir of Guy de Luxembourg-Ligny, hereditary Count of Ligny en Barrois, in the French Province of Champagne, descendant of a minor branch of the House of Luxembourg, a medieval Duchy on the French border with the Holy Roman Empire and originally part of the Kingdom of Lothaire, a grandson of Emperor Charlemagne (ca. 900 CE). Guy had married Mahaut (Maude) de Châtillon, heiress of the Comté de St. Pol sur Ternoise in the French province of Artois (Pas-de-Calais), thereby adding the title: "Count of St. Pol" to his Arms.

Waléran was born during the early stages of the Hundred Years' War, which dominated western European life between 1337 and 1453. As a noble vassal of the King of France, he was expected to serve in the French army, supporting his liege lord with men, munitions and supplies, during the protracted conflict between France and England over who would rule Europe's western coastal areas from Flanders all the way down to Spain (excepting Brittany, which remained independent). He became a loyal servant to King Charles VI who ruled France 1380-1422 and even more a follower of "Jean sans Peur de Bourgogne," the king's cousin, Duke of Burgundy, and a major political force in contemporary French politics. Jean was the Comte d'Artois, and thus directly over Waléran III as Count de St. Pol (located in Artois).

As with most medieval conflicts, the Hundred Years' War was not an endless battle; during periods of peace, Western Europe's nobility, united by historic family ties and all speaking courtly French, visited each other and even inter-married. This was the case for young Count Waleran III de Luxembourg, who, having been a prisoner in England for 5 years (1374-1379), after his ransom and during Easter week 1380, married, as his 1st wife, Lady Mahaut (Maud) de Holand (aka Mahaut de Reus), the childless widow of Sir Hugh de Courtenay, 3rd Lord Courtenay, an English lord of French origins. She was the daughter of Sir Thomas de Holand and Jeanne de Kent. By her mother, she was the "sœur uterine" (half-sister) of English King Richard II. Lady Maud and Waléran III were married at Windsor Castle, Berkshire, England and had one daughter: ^[1]

1. Jeanne de Luxembourg-St Pol, b: ca. 1386 in England; married Antoine de Bourgogne (1384 † 1415), duc de Brabant et de Limbourg. She died in 1407; he died at the Battle of Azincourt.

Mahaut (Maud) de Luxembourg died shortly before 13 April 1392 and was buried at Westminster Abbey, in London, England, on 23 April 1392. Waléran, remarried on 17 May 1393, to Dame Bonne de Barr, of the Duchy of Barr, near Ligny en Barrois, France. They had no children. She passed away in 1400, most likely in St. Pol sur Ternoise, Artois, Pas-de-Calais, France, as that was Waleran III's main residence at that time.^[2]

As French King Charles VI suffered from fits of depression and madness, which grew worse after 1392, he relied more and more on his cousin, Jean 1er de Bourgogne. Jean, in turn, depended on Count Waleran III, who had returned to France after his 1st wife's death, and rewarded him lavishly. In 1404 he gave him charge over the royal "Water and Forests" ministry, on 29 October 1410 he appointed him Boutellier de France, placing him in charge of the royal household's wine-cellars and kitchens, including serving the king in person during royal feasts; and finally, on 5 March 1411, he made him "connétable de France," sometimes translated as "Constable" but in reality the equivalent of the English court's "Marshal," originally in charge of the royal stables, and, by extension, his household and even his armed cavalry.^[3]

During this time, Count Waléran, Captain of the Picard and Boulonnais armies, proved himself an exemplary fighter against the English, sacking the Isle of Wight off the English coast in 1403 and taking the Chateau de Merk (in the English-ruled enclave of Calais) by storm in 1405. He also fought "Armagnac" forces, enemies of Jean 1er de Bourgogne, in Normandy.

In 1413, Waléran III had to flee Paris when an anti-Burgundian coalition, "les Armagnacs," led by Charles d'Orleans, seized Paris and forced Jean 1er and his allies out of power. He moved north to his faithful Luxembourg lands, outside of the French conflict, and died on 19 April 1415 at his Chateau d'Yvoy, Luxembourg, Holy Roman Empire. This chateau was later dismantled and the village of Yvoy combined with its neighbor, "Carignan". Today it is known as "Carignan-Yvoy" and is in the Ardennes departement, in the Grand Est region of north-east France. Count Waleran III was buried on 22 April 1415 in the church of Notre-Dame de Carignan. ^[4]

Sources

1. ↑ Waleran de Luxembourg... article
2. ↑ Waleran de Luxembourg... article
3. ↑ Chroniques de Froissart, voir p.ex. références sous Saint-Pol (Comte de), Waléran(v.1355 - 1415); cited on Waléran III de Luxembourg article (in French) on Fr.Wikipedia
4. ↑ Carignan Ardennes article (in French) on Fr.Wikipedia

• ROYAL ANCESTRY by Douglas Richardson Vol. V page 423

• ROYAL ANCESTRY by Douglas Richardson Vol. III page 428 (9.v.)

• ROYAL ANCESTRY by Douglas Richardson Vol. II. p. 328

• Guy de Luxembourg BAR on Medieval Lands

• Maison de Luxembourg article (in French) on Fr. Wikipedia

Acknowledgements

• WikiTree profile De Luxembourg-83 was created through the import of export-BloodTree.ged on Aug 19, 2011 by Luiz Sergio Heinzelmann. See the Luxembourg-83 Changes page for the details of edits by Luiz Sergio and others.
• John fitz Geoffrey, entry in the database Medieval Lands: A prosopography of medieval European noble and royal families by Charles Cawley © Foundation for Medieval Genealogy, 2000-2017.