Jacques de Lalaing was a Walloon

Walloons

Walloons are a French-speaking people who live in Belgium, principally in Wallonia. Walloons are a distinctive community within Belgium, important historical and anthropological criteria bind Walloons to the French people. More generally, the term also refers to the inhabitants of the Walloon...

 knight

Knight

A knight was a member of a class of lower nobility in the High Middle Ages.By the Late Middle Ages, the rank had become associated with the ideals of chivalry, a code of conduct for the perfect courtly Christian warrior....

 of the 15th century. He was originally in the service of the Duke of Cleves

Duchy of Cleves

The Duchy of Cleves was a State of the Holy Roman Empire. It was situated in the northern Rhineland on both sides of the Lower Rhine, around its capital Cleves and the town of Wesel, bordering the lands of the Prince-Bishopric of Münster in the east and the Duchy of Brabant in the west...

 and afterwards in that of the Duke of Burgundy, Philip III, the Good, gaining great renown by his prowess in the tiltyard.

The duke of Burgundy entrusted him with embassies to the pope

Pope

The Pope is the Bishop of Rome, a position that makes him the leader of the worldwide Catholic Church . In the Catholic Church, the Pope is regarded as the successor of Saint Peter, the Apostle...

 and the king of France

France

The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...

 (in 1451, Charles VII

Charles VII of France

Charles VII , called the Victorious or the Well-Served , was King of France from 1422 to his death, though he was initially opposed by Henry VI of England, whose Regent, the Duke of Bedford, ruled much of France including the capital, Paris...

), and subsequently sent him to put down the revolt of the inhabitants of Ghent

Ghent

Ghent is a city and a municipality located in the Flemish region of Belgium. It is the capital and biggest city of the East Flanders province. The city started as a settlement at the confluence of the Rivers Scheldt and Lys and in the Middle Ages became one of the largest and richest cities of...

, in which expedition he was killed. He was one of the first of European nobility to be killed by a gun. (The Golden Age of Burgundy, Joseph Calmette) His biography, Le Livre des faits de messire Jacques de Lalaing, which has been published several times, is mainly the work of the Burgundian herald and chronicler Jean Le Fevre

Jean Le Fevre

Jean Le Fevre was a Burgundian chronicler and seigneur of Saint Remy. He is also known as Toison d'or because he served as King of Arms to the Order of the Golden Fleece. Of noble birth, he adopted the profession of arms and with other Burgundians fought in the English ranks at Agincourt...

, better known as Toison d'or; the Flemish historiographer Georges Chastellain

Georges Chastellain

Georges Chastellain , Burgundian chronicler and poet, was a native of Aalst in Flanders. In spite of excessive partiality to the Duke of Burgundy, Chastellain's historical works are valuable for the accurate information they contain. As a poet he was famous among his contemporaries...

 and the herald Charolais

Charolais

Charolais is an area of France, named after the town of Charolles, and located in today's Saône-et-Loire département, in Burgundy.-History:The county of Charolais was acquired by Philip II, Duke of Burgundy in 1390...

also took part in its compilation.