Eudes IV, Duke of Burgundy
Encyclopedia
Duke of Burgundy
Duke of Burgundy was a title borne by the rulers of the Duchy of Burgundy, a small portion of traditional lands of Burgundians west of river Saône which in 843 was allotted to Charles the Bald's kingdom of West Franks...
from 1315 until his death and Count of Burgundy and Artois between 1330 and 1347. He was the second son of Duke Robert II
Robert II, Duke of Burgundy
Robert II of Burgundy was duke of Burgundy between 1271 and 1306, inheriting the title from his brother Eudes of Burgundy, who had no male heirs. Robert was the third son of duke Hugh IV and Yolande of Dreux...
and Agnes of France
Agnes of France, Duchess of Burgundy
Agnes of France , Daughter of France by birth, was the youngest daughter of Louis IX of France and Margaret of Provence. She served as regent of Burgundy during the minority of her son.- Family :...
.
Life
Odo was closely related to the French royal family, the CapetiansHouse of Capet
The House of Capet, or The Direct Capetian Dynasty, , also called The House of France , or simply the Capets, which ruled the Kingdom of France from 987 to 1328, was the most senior line of the Capetian dynasty – itself a derivative dynasty from the Robertians. As rulers of France, the dynasty...
. His father was heir to a cadet branch (the House of Burgundy
House of Burgundy
The House of Burgundy was a cadet branch of the Capetian dynasty, descending from Robert I, Duke of Burgundy, a younger son of Robert II of France....
) of the Capetian dynasty
Capetian dynasty
The Capetian dynasty , also known as the House of France, is the largest and oldest European royal house, consisting of the descendants of King Hugh Capet of France in the male line. Hugh Capet himself was a cognatic descendant of the Carolingians and the Merovingians, earlier rulers of France...
. His maternal grandparents were Saint Louis IX
Louis IX of France
Louis IX , commonly Saint Louis, was King of France from 1226 until his death. He was also styled Louis II, Count of Artois from 1226 to 1237. Born at Poissy, near Paris, he was an eighth-generation descendant of Hugh Capet, and thus a member of the House of Capet, and the son of Louis VIII and...
and Margaret of Provence. His elder sister, Margaret was married to Louis X of France
Louis X of France
Louis X of France, , called the Quarreler, the Headstrong, or the Stubborn was the King of Navarre from 1305 and King of France from 1314 until his death...
and his younger sister, Joan
Joan the Lame
Joan of Burgundy , also known as Joan the Lame , was Queen consort of France as the first wife of Philip VI...
, was married to Philip of Valois
Philip VI of France
Philip VI , known as the Fortunate and of Valois, was the King of France from 1328 to his death. He was also Count of Anjou, Maine, and Valois from 1325 to 1328...
. He was thus an uncle of Queen Joan II of Navarre
Joan II of Navarre
Joan II was Queen of Navarre from 1328 until her death. She was the only daughter of Margaret of Burgundy, first wife of King Louis X of France...
.
He succeeded his elder brother, Hugh V
Hugh V, Duke of Burgundy
Hugh V of Burgundy was Duke of Burgundy between 1306 and 1315.Hugh was the eldest son of Robert II, Duke of Burgundy and Agnes of France. His maternal grandparents were Louis IX of France and Marguerite Berenger of Provence....
, in 1315. Odo defended the rights of his niece Joan of Navarre against Philip the Tall
Philip V of France
Philip the Tall was King of France as Philip V and, as Philip II, King of Navarre and Count of Champagne. He reigned from 1316 to his death and was the penultimate monarch of the House of Capet. Considered a wise and politically astute ruler, Philip took the throne under questionable...
, another uncle, after Louis X's death in 1316. In 1318, Odo married Philip's eldest daughter, Joan III, Countess of Burgundy (1308 – 1347). He thus allied himself with Philip, who had become king of France in the meantime.
On the death of his brother, Louis
Louis of Burgundy
Louis of Burgundy , Prince of Achaea and titular King of Thessalonica, was a younger son of Robert II, Duke of Burgundy and Agnes of France....
in 1316, Odo was pressed by the Angevins to sell his rights as King of Thessalonica and Prince of Achaea to Philip I of Taranto
Philip I of Taranto
Philip I of Taranto : of the Angevin house, was titular Emperor of Constantinople , despot of Epirus, King of Albania, Prince of Achaea and Taranto, and Lord of Durazzo....
. In 1320, he finally sold them to Louis, Count of Clermont
Louis I, Duke of Bourbon
Louis I de Bourbon, le Boiteux, the Lame was Count of Clermont-en-Beauvaisis and La Marche, and the first Duke of Bourbon.-Life:...
.
Odo was a loyal vassal of his brother-in-law, Philip of Valois, after he succeeded to the French throne as Philip VI. He belonged to Philip VI’s small circle of trusted advisors. He fought in many theatres of French warfare: the Low Countries
Low Countries
The Low Countries are the historical lands around the low-lying delta of the Rhine, Scheldt, and Meuse rivers, including the modern countries of Belgium, the Netherlands, Luxembourg and parts of northern France and western Germany....
, 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...
, Aquitaine
Aquitaine
Aquitaine , archaic Guyenne/Guienne , is one of the 27 regions of France, in the south-western part of metropolitan France, along the Atlantic Ocean and the Pyrenees mountain range on the border with Spain. It comprises the 5 departments of Dordogne, :Lot et Garonne, :Pyrénées-Atlantiques, Landes...
. He fought the Flemings and was wounded at the Battle of Cassel
Battle of Cassel (1328)
The Battle of Cassel was fought on 23 August 1328 by Philip VI, the King of France, and first ruler of House of Valois , against the peasant revolt in Flanders, led by Nicolaas Zannekin. The battle took place near the city of Cassel, 30 km south of Dunkirk in present-day France...
in 1328.
His wife inherited the domains of her mother in 1330: the county of Artois
Artois
Artois is a former province of northern France. Its territory has an area of around 4000 km² and a population of about one million. Its principal cities are Arras , Saint-Omer, Lens and Béthune.-Location:...
and the county of Burgundy, the so-called Free County
Franche-Comté
Franche-Comté the former "Free County" of Burgundy, as distinct from the neighbouring Duchy, is an administrative region and a traditional province of eastern France...
. Her claim to the County of Artois was challenged by Robert III of Artois
Robert III of Artois
Robert III of Artois was the son of Philip of Artois and Blanche of Brittany.In 1318 he married Joan of Valois , daughter of Charles of Valois, and had issue:* Louis...
, who at that time was a favourite of King Philip VI. The dispute ended abruptly when in December 1330 the documents used by Robert of Artois to support his claim was found to be forged on his instruction. Robert of Artois fled France, eventually receiving asylum from Edward III of England
Edward III of England
Edward III was King of England from 1327 until his death and is noted for his military success. Restoring royal authority after the disastrous reign of his father, Edward II, Edward III went on to transform the Kingdom of England into one of the most formidable military powers in Europe...
in 1334. As the relationship between England and France started the slide which eventually resulted in the outbreak of the Hundred Years War in 1337, Philip VI went looking for a cause by which he could with some justification seize Edward III's French possession. When Philip VI chose the act of harbouring the fugitive Robert of Artois it was at least partly to gain the support of the Duke of Burgundy, his sister the Queen and their many protégés who feared what Robert of Artois might accomplish in an alliance with Edward III.
In 1340, Odo first fought in Hainaut
County of Hainaut
The County of Hainaut was a historical region in the Low Countries with its capital at Mons . In English sources it is often given the archaic spelling Hainault....
where helped capture the town of Antoing
Antoing
Antoing is a Walloon municipality of Belgium located in the province of Hainaut. It consists of the former municipalities of Antoing, Maubray, Péronnes-lez-Antoing, Bruyelle, Calonne and Fontenoy.-History:...
and later defended Saint-Omer
Saint-Omer
Saint-Omer , a commune and sub-prefecture of the Pas-de-Calais department west-northwest of Lille on the railway to Calais. The town is named after Saint Audomar, who brought Christianity to the area....
in the battle there
Battle of Saint-Omer
The battle of Saint-Omer was a large action fought in 1340 as part of King Edward III's summer campaign against France launched from Flanders in the early stages of the Hundred Year's War. The campaign was launched in the aftermath of the battle of Sluys but proved far less successful for the...
against Robert III of Artois
Robert III of Artois
Robert III of Artois was the son of Philip of Artois and Blanche of Brittany.In 1318 he married Joan of Valois , daughter of Charles of Valois, and had issue:* Louis...
. During the summer the French government became aware of plans for an Anglo-Flemish army under Robert of Artois to attack on Saint-Omer. The Duke entered Saint-Omer 15 July with several thousands men-at-arms and begun preparing the defences of the city. The slow progress of the English army also allowed further reinforcements led by John I, Count of Armagnac
John I of Armagnac
John I of Armagnac , son of Bernard VI and Cecilia Rodez, was Count of Armagnac from 1319 to 1373. In addition to Armagnac he controlled territory in Quercy, Rouergue and Gévaudan...
to arrive. On 26 July Robert of Artois offered battle to the garrison of Saint-Omer. Contrary to orders some hotheads charged out. Their attack was beaten off, but their flight caused the Flemings to abandon their defensive works in pursuit. The Duke of Burgundy now decided to sally with the Count of Armagnac. During the battle the Duke got into a fierce fight with the English and Brugeois contingents and barely escaped back behind the walls. Meanwhile however the Count of Armaganc had scattered the enemy left flank. The loss of most of his Flemish troops forced Robert of Artois to flee back to Flanders.
He took part in the War of the Breton Succession as a partisan of Charles of Blois
Charles, Duke of Brittany
Charles of Blois , claimed the title Duke of Brittany, from 1341 to his death.Charles is the son of Guy I of Blois-Châtillon, count of Blois, by Margaret of Valois, a sister of king Philip VI of France. He was a devout man, who took piety to the extreme of mortifying his own flesh...
serving as advisor to John, Duke of Normandy
John II of France
John II , called John the Good , was the King of France from 1350 until his death. He was the second sovereign of the House of Valois and is perhaps best remembered as the king who was vanquished at the Battle of Poitiers and taken as a captive to England.The son of Philip VI and Joan the Lame,...
during the latter’s campaign in Brittany autumn 1341.
He was present at the coronation of Pope Clement VI
Pope Clement VI
Pope Clement VI , bornPierre Roger, the fourth of the Avignon Popes, was pope from May 1342 until his death in December of 1352...
at Avignon
Avignon
Avignon is a French commune in southeastern France in the départment of the Vaucluse bordered by the left bank of the Rhône river. Of the 94,787 inhabitants of the city on 1 January 2010, 12 000 live in the ancient town centre surrounded by its medieval ramparts.Often referred to as the...
19 May 1342.
He served together with the Duke of Normandy and the Chancellor of France, Guillaume Flote, as French ambassadors to a peace conference at Avignon summer 1344. The conference was however actively sabotaged by the English. Henry, Earl of Derby
Henry of Grosmont, 1st Duke of Lancaster
Henry of Grosmont, 1st Duke of Lancaster, 4th Earl of Leicester and Lancaster, KG , also Earl of Derby, was a member of the English nobility in the 14th century, and a prominent English diplomat, politician, and soldier...
who had been announced has the head of the English delegation, claimed once he arrived at Avignon to be there only in a private capacity for devotional reasons and the minor English officials who were officially there had no instructions.
In 1346, he was in Guyenne
Guyenne
Guyenne or Guienne , , ; Occitan Guiana ) is a vaguely defined historic region of south-western France. The Province of Guyenne, sometimes called the Province of Guyenne and Gascony, was a large province of pre-revolutionary France....
combatting the English
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
. Spring that year the French government decided to field its so far strongest army in the south-west. The Duke of Burgundy followed John of Normandy south together with a substantial number of northern nobles and such dignitaries as Raoul II of Brienne, Count of Eu
Raoul II of Brienne, Count of Eu
Raoul II of Brienne was the son of Raoul I of Brienne, Count of Eu and Guînes and Jeanne de Mello. He succeeded his father in 1344 as Count of Eu and Guînes, as well as in his post as Constable of France....
the Constable of France
Constable of France
The Constable of France , as the First Officer of the Crown, was one of the original five Great Officers of the Crown of France and Commander in Chief of the army. He, theoretically, as Lieutenant-general of the King, outranked all the nobles and was second-in-command only to the King...
, both Marshals
Marshal of France
The Marshal of France is a military distinction in contemporary France, not a military rank. It is granted to generals for exceptional achievements...
and the Master of Crossbowmen. In April Normandy laid siege to the town of Aiguillon which controlled the confluence between the Lot
Lot River
The Lot, , originally the Olt , is a river in France, right tributary of the Garonne. It rises in the Cévennes, flowing west through Quercy, where it flows into the Garonne near Aiguillon, a total distance of...
and the Garonne
Garonne
The Garonne is a river in southwest France and northern Spain, with a length of .-Source:The Garonne's headwaters are to be found in the Aran Valley in the Pyrenees, though three different locations have been proposed as the true source: the Uelh deth Garona at Plan de Beret , the Ratera-Saboredo...
. There they still remained in August when John of Normandy was urgently recalled to the north to help stop Edward III who had landed in Normandy. The French 1346 campaign in the south ended having accomplished nothing.
In September Edward III laid siege to Calais
Calais
Calais is a town in Northern France in the department of Pas-de-Calais, of which it is a sub-prefecture. Although Calais is by far the largest city in Pas-de-Calais, the department's capital is its third-largest city of Arras....
. As Artois became the main theatre of the war, relations between the Duke and King Philip VI plummeted. The Duke governed Artois on behalf of his wife, but the royal government increasingly disregarded local officials and even began making its own appointments. In December 1346 Philip suspended the Duke’s government altogether.
Perhaps his greatest legacy is seen in the subsequent Burgundian court of the Valois dukes, for Odo was a patron of the arts and the church and sponsored many young artists. He also endeavoured for good political connexions and by marrying a French royal princess assured the good relations with the neighbouring kingdom. The premature death of his son Philip made his four year old grandson the heir apparent. He succeeded Eudes IV as Philip I after Eudes died of the plague at Sens
Sens
Sens is a commune in the Yonne department in Burgundy in north-central France.Sens is a sub-prefecture of the department. It is crossed by the Yonne and the Vanne, which empties into the Yonne here.-History:...
.
Children
By his wife Joan III, Odo had six sons, most of whom died young:- a stillborn son (1322)
- PhilipPhilip of Burgundy, Count of AuvergnePhilip of Burgundy was Count of Auvergne and Boulogne and the only son and heir of Odo IV, Duke of Burgundy, and of Joan III, Countess of Burgundy. His mother was the daughter of King Philip V of France and of Joan II, Countess of Burgundy.He married Joan I, Countess of Auvergne and Boulogne, in c...
(1323–1346), Count of Auvergne - John (1325–1327 or 1328)
- three sons who died young, born in 1327, 1330, and 1335