Jean I de Gonto, Baron de Biron ( fr. Jean I de Gontaut ; 1502 - 1557 ) - French military leader, diplomat . The representative of the noble family Gonto Bironov , father and grandfather of the marshals of France . It was under Jean that the entry of members of the Gonto-Biron family into the close circle of the kings of France began [1] .
Jean was born in the family of Ponsa de Gonto , who distinguished himself with special concern for family ownership, the Biron castle , restored it after the major destruction of the Hundred Years War and added new buildings.
On May 10, 1514, 12-year-old Jean married Rene-Anne de Bonval , daughter of Baron de Bonval, seneschal and governor of Limousin .
As the eldest son, Jean entered military service at the age of 19 and took part in the siege of Parma during the Four-Year War . Thus, the beginning of the career of Jean de Gonto fell on the period of Italian failures of the Valois dynasty. He fought at Bicoccus , and his wounded man was captured by Pavia at the same time as King Francis I.
In the 1550s, Jean de Gonto served as lieutenant and captain in the pikemen detachments under Charles de Bourbon (Prince de La Roche-sur-Yon) and under the banner of Marshal Jacques d'Albon .
Later, during the reign of King Henry II , Jean de Gonto was able to demonstrate his abilities as a diplomat in Spain and Portugal, after which the king appointed him governor of Saint-Quentin when resuming hostilities with Spain.
During the battle of Saint-Quentin on August 10, 1557, Jean de Gonto was wounded and taken prisoner, where he died the same year at the age of 55. His body was sent to the family residence in the Perigordian Biron [2] .
Jean I de Gonto had a reputation as a "prudent and brave baron." Despite the tragic end, Jean de Gonto significantly strengthened the glory of the family Gonto-Biron, and his son Armand successfully enjoyed this authority in the years of the last Valois and the first years of Henry IV , becoming the first marshal of France in the Gonto-Biron family [3] .
Notes
- ↑ Cocula, 1999 , p. 18.
- ↑ Anselme de Sainte-Marie . His desire généalogique et chronologique de la Maison Royale de France, des pairs, des grands officiers de la Couronne & de la Maison du Roy . - 1728. - P. 125.
- ↑ Cocula, 1999 , p. nineteen.
Literature
- Anne-Marie Cocula. Visitor le château de Biron ou L'aventure de la longue histoire d'un lignage . - Sud-Ouest, 1999. - 32 p. - ISBN 9782879012636 .