Jeanne, Dame de Chateaudun (c. 1227- after 1252) was a French heiress and the wife of two French noblemen Jean I de Montfort

Jean I de Montfort

Jean I de Montfort , Comte de Montfort from 1241 to 1249, son of Amaury VI, comte de Montfort, and of Béatrice de Bourgogne.In March 1248 he married Jeanne de Châteaudun, dame de Château-du-Loir, daughter of Geoffroy VI, vicomte de Châteaudun, and of Clémence des Roches...

, and Jean de Brienne, Grand Butler

Butler

A butler is a domestic worker in a large household. In great houses, the household is sometimes divided into departments with the butler in charge of the dining room, wine cellar, and pantry. Some also have charge of the entire parlour floor, and housekeepers caring for the entire house and its...

 of France.

Family

Jeanne was born in France in about the year 1227, the eldest daughter and co-heiress of Geoffrey VI, Viscount de Chateaudun (1218- 6 February 1250 on Crusade), and his wife Clémence des Roches (died after September 1259). Her father also held the titles of seigneur of Chateaudun, Chateau-du-Loir, Mayet, Loupeland, Montdoubleau, and la Suze. In 1229, he participated in the Crusade

Albigensian Crusade

The Albigensian Crusade or Cathar Crusade was a 20-year military campaign initiated by the Catholic Church to eliminate Catharism in Languedoc...

 against the Albigenses in the Languedoc

Languedoc

Languedoc is a former province of France, now continued in the modern-day régions of Languedoc-Roussillon and Midi-Pyrénées in the south of France, and whose capital city was Toulouse, now in Midi-Pyrénées. It had an area of approximately 42,700 km² .-Geographical Extent:The traditional...

.
Her paternal grandparents were Geoffrey V, Viscount de Chateaudun and Alix de Freteval, and her maternal grandparents were William des Roches

William des Roches

William des Roches , seneschal of Anjou, was a knight in the service of the Angevin Kings of England, and King Philip II of France after 1202. Guillaume was born somewhere in Anjou, most likely at Longué-Jumelles....

, Seneschal of Anjou

Seneschal of Anjou

A seneschal was an officer of an aristocratic household assigned to manage the domestic affairs of the lord...

, and Marguerite de Sablé

Marguerite de Sablé

Marguerite de Sablé, Dame de Sablé , was a French noblewoman and one of the wealthiest heiresses in the counties of Anjou and Maine...

, daughter of Robert de Sablé

Robert de Sablé

Robert de Sablé was the Grand Master of the Knights Templar from 1191 to 1193 and Lord of Cyprus from 1191 to 1192.- Personal life :No exact record of his birth date exists, but it is believed he was relatively old at the time of his death. He was born to a respected military family in Anjou and...

 and Clémence de Mayenne. Jeanne had a younger sister Clémence de Chateaudun (after 1227- before 1 February 1259), who married Robert de Dreux, Viscount de Chateaudun (1217–1264). She had a brother Pierre de Chateaudun (died after 1251), who was a monk.

Marriages and issue

In March 1248 Jeanne married her first husband Jean I de Montfort, son of Amaury VI, count of Montfort and Beatrice of Burgundy, by whom she had one daughter:

• Beatrice de Montfort, Countess of Montfort-l'Amaury
  Beatrice de Montfort, Countess of Montfort-l'Amaury
  Beatrice de Montfort, Countess of Montfort-l'Amaury was the wife of Robert IV of Dreux, Count of Dreux , and the ancestress of the Dukes of Brittany from the House of Montfort-Dreux which derived its name from her title.- Family :Beatrice was born sometime between December 1248 and 1249, the only...
  
   (c. December 1248/1249- 9 March 1312), in 1260 married Robert IV of Dreux
  Robert IV of Dreux
  Robert IV of Dreux , Count of Dreux, Braine and Montfort-l'Amaury, was the son of John I of Dreux and Marie of Bourbon.Robert fought with Philip III of France in 1272 in his expedition to the Languedoc and was present at the capture of Foix....
  
  , Count of Dreux (1241–1282), they were the parents of six children, including John II, Count of Dreux and Yolande de Dreux, Queen consort of Alexander III of Scotland
  Alexander III of Scotland
  Alexander III was King of Scots from 1249 to his death.-Life:...
  
  .

In the year 1249, de Montfort died in Cyprus

Cyprus

Cyprus , officially the Republic of Cyprus , is a Eurasian island country, member of the European Union, in the Eastern Mediterranean, east of Greece, south of Turkey, west of Syria and north of Egypt. It is the third largest island in the Mediterranean Sea.The earliest known human activity on the...

, while participating in the Seventh Crusade

Seventh Crusade

The Seventh Crusade was a crusade led by Louis IX of France from 1248 to 1254. Approximately 800,000 bezants were paid in ransom for King Louis who, along with thousands of his troops, was captured and defeated by the Egyptian army led by the Ayyubid Sultan Turanshah supported by the Bahariyya...

. Jeanne married her second husband Jean de Brienne (1230–1296), Grand Butler of France, in 1251. She was his first wife. De Brienne was the son of John of Brienne

John of Brienne

John of Brienne was a French nobleman who became King of Jerusalem by marriage, and ruled the Latin Empire of Constantinople as regent.-Life:...

, King of Jerusalem, Emperor of Constantinople, and his third wife Berenguela of Leon

Berenguela of León

Berengaria of León was the third wife but only empress consort of John of Brienne, Latin Emperor of Constantinople.-Family:...

. A daughter was born to Jean de Brienne and Jeanne:

• Blanche de Brienne, Baroness Tingry (c. 1252- c.1302). In 1269, married William II de Fiennes, Baron of Tingry. They had at least three children, including Margaret de Fiennes, mother of Roger Mortimer, 1st Earl of March

Legacy

Jeanne died on an unknown date. There is a source which claims that she attained the title of Dame de Chateau-du-Loir in 1265. The title of Loupeland she passed on to her daughter Blanche.

Notable descendants of Jeanne de Chateaudun included Anne of Brittany

Anne of Brittany

Anne, Duchess of Brittany , also known as Anna of Brittany , was a Breton ruler, who was to become queen to two successive French kings. She was born in Nantes, Brittany, and was the daughter of Francis II, Duke of Brittany and Margaret of Foix. Her maternal grandparents were Queen Eleanor of...

, Joan of Kent

Joan of Kent

Joan, Countess of Kent , known to history as The Fair Maid of Kent, was the first English Princess of Wales...

, Elizabeth Woodville

Elizabeth Woodville

Elizabeth Woodville was Queen consort of England as the spouse of King Edward IV from 1464 until his death in 1483. Elizabeth was a key figure in the series of dynastic civil wars known as the Wars of the Roses. Her first husband, Sir John Grey of Groby was killed at the Second Battle of St Albans...

, and Anne Mortimer, making her the ancestress of all monarchs of England from Edward IV onward.

Her husband Jean de Brienne subsequently married Marie de Coucy

Marie de Coucy

Marie de Coucy was the daughter of Enguerrand III, Lord of Coucy and his third wife Marie de Montmirel . She was Queen consort of the Kingdom of Scotland.- Biography :...

 (c.1218- 1285), widow of King Alexander II of Scotland

Alexander II of Scotland

Alexander II was King of Scots from1214 to his death.-Early life:...

, but had no children by her.