Anne de Laval was a medieval French noblewoman. She was the daughter of Jeanne de Laval-Tinténiac and her second husband Guy XII de Laval (died 1412), governor of Britanny and baron of Laval (Jeanne's first husband had been Bertrand du Guesclin

Bertrand du Guesclin

Bertrand du Guesclin , known as the Eagle of Brittany or the Black Dog of Brocéliande, was a Breton knight and French military commander during the Hundred Years' War. He was Constable of France from 1370 to his death...

).

Titles

She was the hereditary dame

Dame (title)

The title of Dame is the female equivalent of the honour of knighthood in the British honours system . It is also the equivalent form address to 'Sir' for a knight...

 of Laval

Laval, Mayenne

Laval is a commune in the Mayenne department in north-western France.It lies on the threshold of Brittany and on the border between Normandy and Anjou. Its citizens are called Lavallois.-Geography:...

, hereditary baronne of Vitré

Vitré

Vitré may refer to communes in France:* Vitré, Ille-et-Vilaine* Vitré, Deux-Sèvres...

, hereditary countess of Rennes, of Châtillon, of Gavre, of Acquigny, of Aubigné, Courbeveille, hereditary dame of Tinténiac, of Bécherel and of Romillé. She inherited all these titles from the successive accidental deaths of her two brothers, Guy and Francois.

Family

On 22 January 1404, as daughter and sole heir of Guy XII de Laval, she married Jean de Montfort

Guy XIII de Laval

Guy XIII de Laval, born Jean de Montfort, was seigneur of Laval and of Kergorlay. His father was Raoul IX de Montfort and his mother Jeanne de Kergorlay....

, lord of Montfort and of Kergolay, and from them were descended several bishops and the greatest lords of Brittany

Brittany

Brittany is a cultural and administrative region in the north-west of France. Previously a kingdom and then a duchy, Brittany was united to the Kingdom of France in 1532 as a province. Brittany has also been referred to as Less, Lesser or Little Britain...

.

One of the conditions of the marriage was that any children born to it would bear the name and arms of Laval. (The same condition had already been applied to the marriage of Emma de Laval with Mathieu II de Montmorency.) Nevertheless, Jean de Montfort renounced the name and title he had been born with to take up the name of Guy XIII de Laval, better to associate himself with his wife Anne's power. Guy and Anne had 5 children:

• Guy XIV de Laval
  Guy XIV de Laval
  Guy XIV de Laval, François de Montfort-Laval, , comte de Laval, baron de Vitré and of La Roche-Bernard, seigneur of Gâvre, of Acquigny, of Tinténiac, of Montfort and Gaël, of Bécherel, was a French nobleman, known for his account of Joan of Arc...
  
  ,
• André de Lohéac,
• Louis de Laval,
• Jeanne de Laval (Dame de Campzillon), who in 1424 married Louis I de Bourbon-Vendôme
  Louis, Count of Vendôme
  Louis of Bourbon-La Marche , younger son of John I, Count of La Marche and Catherine de Vendôme, was Count of Vendôme from 1393 and Count of Castres from 1425 until his death....
  
  ,
• Catherine de Laval (Dame de Chauvigny) who married Guy de Chauvigny vicomte de Brosse