{{short description|13th-century French nobleman}} [[Image:Château de Benauges - vue aerienne.jpg|thumb|right|The {{ill|castle of Benauge|fr|Château de Benauge (Arbis)}}, which Jean acquired in 1266.]] '''Jean I de Grailly''' (died c. 1301) was the [[seneschal]] of the [[Duchy of Gascony]] from 1266 to 1268, of the [[Kingdom of Jerusalem]] from about 1272 until about 1276, and of Gascony again from 1278 until 1286 or 1287.
==Early life== Jean was born on the shores of [[Lake Geneva]] in the [[County of Savoy]]. He probably travelled to England during the reign of [[Henry III of England]] in the entourage of [[Peter II of Savoy]], who was uncle to Queen [[Eleanor of Provence]]. In 1262 he was already a knight in the household of Prince Edward, the king's heir and future King [[Edward I of England]]. In 1263 he had attained the status of a counsellor of the young prince. In 1266 he was rewarded for his services with the castle and {{ill|viscounty of Benauges|fr|Vicomté de Benauges}}. He acquired the saltworks in [[Bordeaux]] and the right of toll at [[Pierrefite]] on the [[Dordogne]] as sources of income. He also received the lordship of [[Langon, Gironde|Langon]] and was made seneschal of Prince Edward's fief of Gascony. In 1280 he founded the town of [[Cadillac, France|Cadillac]] to provide a port for Benauges.
==Ninth Crusade== In 1270 he accompanied Edward on the [[Ninth Crusade]] to [[Syria]]. He stayed behind in the Crusader kingdom as [[Officers of the Kingdom of Jerusalem|seneschal]] and only returned to Gascony sometime before or during 1276. He maintained an interest in the fate of Jerusalem for the remainder of his life, however. In October 1277 he was in England to warn now-king Edward of the conspiracy of the viscount of [[Castillon-la-Bataille|Castillon]]. In 1278 he was re-appointed to his old Gascon post.
==Europe== In 1279, Jean travelled to [[Amiens]] and to England to negotiate the [[Treaty of Amiens]], which ended the state of war between Edward of England and [[Philip III of France]] and returned the [[Agenais]] to English control. Only two weeks after the treaty, Jean de Grailly encouraged an inquiry to determine whether or not he [[Quercy]] was English territory. He was already appointed to the commission to oversee the return of the Agenais and his seneschal's duties were extended to the new region. Edward also ordered Jean not to pay the ''[[fouage]]'', a tax demanded by the French king. He was granted royal letters to demonstrate the king's intention to pay the tax in a few years, after better harvests. In 1285 he even negotiated a treaty fixing the tariff on [[Bordeaux wine]].
Jean also had to negotiate with the French court in [[Paris]] concerning the dating clauses of Gascon charters. The mutually acceptable formula resulting was: ''actum fuit regnantibus Philippo regis Francie, Edwardo rege Anglie, duce Aquitanie''. Jean travelled extensively, not only to Paris, but also to [[Fuenterrabia]] to negotiate with [[Alfonso X of Castile]]. On 2 January 1281 he was in [[Vienne, Isère|Vienne]] to witness an accord between [[Philip I of Savoy]] and [[Robert II of Burgundy]]. Later that year he was dispatched to [[Mâcon]] to advise [[Margaret of Provence]], the widow of [[Louis IX of France]]. Edward employed him extensively as his deputy in continental Europe.
Between 1280 and 1285 Grailly took part in the tortuous negotiations concerning the inheritance of the [[County of Bigorre]] after the death of the five-times married [[Petronille of Bigorre|Countess Petronilla]]. Eventually it was determined that the proper heiress was [[Joanna I of Navarre]]. The question of homage and featly, however, was put off, as the Joanna and her husband, [[Philip IV of France|Philip the Fair]], were both monarch and thus swore homage to none. Nonetheless the question of whether Bigorre was a feudatory of the Duke of Aquitaine or the King of France was to be an issue between the two monarch throughout the fourteenth century.
Jean de Grailly eventually fell short of funds for his activities, since his expenses need approval from the [[Exchequer]] before he could receive his salary. He took to exploitation and illegal exactions from the peasants, whose complaints eventually reached the ears of Edward I. He was removed from office sometime between June 1286 and Spring 1287, when the king and Queen [[Eleanor of Castile]], present in Gascony, set up an inquiry into his actions. The commission found him to have misappropriated monies in several municipalities. He was ordered to repay them, but these payments could be made from outstanding funds owed him. He himself returned to Savoy and left his Gascon lands to his son [[Pierre de Grailly|Pierre]].
==Last campaigns in the Levant== Jean went back to the [[Levant]] in the end of the 1280s. In 1289, he led a French regiment from [[Acre (city)|Acre]] to the besieged city of Tripoli, until the [[Fall of Tripoli (1289)|Fall of Tripoli]] in April 1289.<ref>Runciman, p.406</ref> Following the fall of Tripoli, Jean was sent to Europe by king Henry of Cyprus to warn European monarchs about the critical situation in the Levant.<ref>Runciman, p.408</ref> Jean met with [[Pope Nicholas IV]] who shared his worries and wrote a letter to European potentates to do something about the [[Holy Land]]. Most however were too preoccupied by the Sicilian question to organize a Crusades, as was Edward I too entangled in troubles at home. Only a small army of peasant and unemployed townfolks from [[Tuscany]] and [[Lombardy]] could be raised. They were transported in 20 Venetians galleys. They were led by [[Nicholas Tiepolo]], the son of the [[Doge (title)|Doge]] [[Lorenzo Tiepolo]], who was assisted by the returning Jean and [[Roux of Sully]].<ref>Runciman, p.409</ref>
Jean was present as the Commander of the French king's troops at the [[Siege of Acre (1291)|fall of Acre]]. Wounded, he was rescued during one point of siege by his fellow Savoyard [[Otho de Grandison]], once a faithful servant of Edward's as well, and escaped on ship to Cyprus. He returned afterwards to Savoy, where he died around 1301. His descendants continued to play a crucial role in Gascony over the next century.
==Notes== {{reflist}}
==References== *[[Margaret Wade Labarge|Labarge, Margaret Wade]]. ''Gascony, England's First Colony 1204–1453''. London: Hamish Hamilton, 1980. *Runciman, Steven, ''History of the Crusades III''
{{Authority control}} {{DEFAULTSORT:Jean I De Grailly}} [[Category:13th-century people from the Savoyard State]] [[Category:House of Grailly]] [[Category:Christians of Lord Edward's crusade]] [[Category:1300s deaths]] [[Category:Year of birth unknown]] [[Category:Seneschals of Gascony]] [[Category:Seneschals of Jerusalem]]