On This Day in History: August 2

Jeanne de Clisson becomes a pirate to get revenge

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You know that “Find someone who looks at you the way . . .” meme? Fuck that. Find someone who, if you are murdered, they will sell all their possessions to fund a mercenary fleet bent on revenge. Such is the story of Jeanne de Clisson, who swore vengeance upon the King of France for killing her husband, and turned murderous pirate.

--On This Day in History, Shit Went Down: August 2, 1343--

Born in 1300 in western France to a noble family, Jeanne was married at 12 to 19-year-old Geoffrey and bore two children. After 14 years of marriage, Geoffrey died, and she married a wealthy Breton named Olivier four years later. They had five children together. After 11 years of marriage to Olivier, the Breton War of Succession between the English and French began. Jeanne and Olivier sided with the French in favor of Charles de Blois as Duke of Breton.

Then, fuckery.

Olivier was a military commander defending the town of Vannes during the war, which was taken by the English in 1342. He was the only one ransomed free, for a surprisingly low sum, which led to de Blois alleging Olivier was a traitor.

The following year a truce was signed. Olivier and several other Breton lords were invited to a tournament on French soil, but King Philip VI violated the truce and had Olivier arrested. On August 2, 1343, with little evidence of treason he was found guilty, beheaded, and his corpse displayed in a grotesque fashion reserved for common criminals.

Jeanne was fucking pissed.

She sold everything, which was a lot, and used the funds to raise a force to attack the French in Brittany, a peninsula on the west coast of France. One such attack was against a garrison of de Bloise’s—her husband’s accuser—where all but one was massacred. The survivor was purposefully left alive to tell the tale and spread fear.

With help from the English king, Jeanne outfitted three warships, the flagship being named My Revenge. She would hunt French ships and kill all aboard except a few witnesses to tell what happened to King Philip. For 13 years she was a feared pirate in the English Channel, attacking not only French ships but towns in Normandy, putting them to the sword. Her viciousness earned her the nickname the Lioness of Brittany.

At the age of 56 she decided she’d had enough, married an English knight, and settled in Brittany for her remaining years.

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