Nielsen Hayden genealogy

Arnaud II de Roquefeuil

Male Abt 1290 - Bef 1366  (~ 75 years)


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  • Name Arnaud II de Roquefeuil  [1
    Birth Abt 1290  [2
    Gender Male 
    Death Bef 1366  [3
    Person ID I12638  Ancestry of PNH, TNH, and others
    Last Modified 28 Jan 2017 

    Father Raymond III de Roquefeuil 
    Mother Vaure d'Ebrard 
    Marriage Aft 1 May 1287  [2
    Family ID F7555  Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

    Family Jacquette de Combret,   b. Bef 1297   d. Aft 1361 (Age > 66 years) 
    Marriage 25 Jan 1316  [4
    Children 
    +1. Delphine de Roquefeuil
    +2. Arnaud III de Roquefeuil,   b. Abt 1325   d. Aft 3 Oct 1396 (Age ~ 71 years)
    Family ID F7548  Group Sheet  |  Family Chart
    Last Modified 28 Jan 2017 

  • Notes 
    • Seigneur de Roquefeuil, Baron de Puget. Contor de Nant. Seneschal of Perigord.

      From Leo van de Pas:

      Arnaud fought at the Battle of Cassel on 23 August 1328, in which the French led by Philippe IV decisively ended the peasants' revolt in Flanders. Arnaud then returned to Languedoc.

      In 1343 Arnaud personally declared war on Jaime III, king of Mallorca. Arnaud's young son Bernard had been entrusted to Jaime to learn skills at arms. At a state dinner Bernard spilled a cup on the king's white satin coat. Jaime furiously pushed his young page Bernard away with his hand, but as he was holding a knife he wounded Bernard, who later died from his wound.

      Arnaud was set on avenging the death of his son, and proposed an alliance against Jaime with Pedro IV 'le Ceremonieux', king of Aragón, who was himself determined to topple Jaime. When Pedro declined an alliance, Arnaud and his cousin the count of Armagnac gathered a large force of 700 to 1000 knights and 3000 foot soldiers, and Arnaud prepared to attack Jaime near Montpellier. He also considered equipping a fleet in order to take the war onto the island of Mallorca. Pope Clement VI arbitrated in the conflict, and in April 1349 Jaime was ordered to make public penance and to yield up to Arnaud a number of seigniories. Philippe VI, king of France, who was Jaime II's suzerain, and was in the process of reacquiring Montpellier from him (to which Arnaud considered that he also had a claim based on the nomination of his grandfather Arnaud I by his cousin Marie de Montpellier, dame de Montpellier, as a substitute to succeed her in the event that her infant son Jaime did not survive to gain the succession of Montpellier), opposed the settlement. Although disillusioned, Arnaud proudly declared: 'l'honneur me reste, cela suffit' ('My honour I retain, that is enough'). This became the motto of the Roquefeuil family. Late in 1349 Pedro IV drove Jaime out of Mallorca, reannexed the Balearic Islands to the crown of Aragón, and had Jaime murdered on 25 October. In 1350 Arnaud gained possession of the barony of Pouget (also spelt Puget or Poujet), with its seigniories Saint-Bauzille, Vendemain and Poujols.

      According to the annals of the house of Aragón, Arnaud was one of the principal counsellors of Jean II 'the Good', king of France, along with Louis d'Espagne, prince des Isles-Fortunées et comte de Talmon, Charles, comte d'Alençon, the dukes of Bourbon and Bourgogne and the comte d'Armagnac. In 1352 Arnaud and Jean de Lévis, ambassadors of Jean II 'the Good' to Pedro IV, king of Aragón, persuaded Pedro to recognise the acquisition of Montpellier by the French crown. In 1355 Arnaud and his forces fought Edward 'the Black Prince' in Languedoc.

      In 1356 Arnaud, in the company of Jean II, was captured by the English at the Battle of Poitiers. The Treaty of Brétigny in 1360 brought an end to their captivity when Jean was ransomed, and Arnaud was able to return to Languedoc. However when Jean's son Louis escaped from English captivity in 1364, Jean returned to England in accordance with the chivalric code, and died there later the same year.

      In 1361 Arnaud became by royal decree 'captain of the city of Montpellier', charged with its defence. In that or the following year he was killed, alongside his elder son Jean, while defending the city. Jean's death cut off a brilliant career like his father's, as he was the king's counsellor for Languedoc. Arnaud's contemporaries considered him one of the principal cavaliers of France. His wife Jacquette died about 1361. Arnaud was succeeded by his son Arnaud III.

  • Sources 
    1. [S38] Genealogy of the French in North America, by Denis Beauregard. Complete version, 2024.

    2. [S49] Genealogics by Leo Van de Pas, continued by Ian Fettes and Leslie Mahler.

    3. [S1441] Généalogie Ludovic Noirie: ascendances vers Charlemagne.

    4. [S380] French-language Wikipedia.