John Tristan, Count of Valois

For the 17th-century French buccaneer, see Jean Tristan (pirate).

John Tristan (8 April 1250 – 3 August 1270) was a French prince of the Capetian dynasty. He was jure uxoris count of Nevers from 1265 and of Auxerre and Tonnerre from 1268. He was also in his own right Count of Valois and Crépy, as an appanages of the crown, from 1268.

John Tristan
Count of Valois
Born	8 April 1250 Damietta, Egypt
Died	3 August 1270(1270-08-03) (aged 20) Tunis, Tunisia
Burial	Basilica of St Denis
Spouse	Yolande II, Countess of Nevers
House	Capet
Father	Louis IX of France
Mother	Margaret of Provence

Birth and childhood

John was born in Damietta, Egypt. He was the sixth child and the fourth son of King Louis IX of France, called St. Louis after canonisation, and Margaret of Provence. Moreover, he was the first of three children of this royal couple who were born during the Seventh Crusade. He was born at the Egyptian port town of Damietta which had been conquered by the crusaders in 1249.

According to chronicler Jean de Joinville, an old knight acted as midwife during John's birth. Two days prior to his birth, the king was captured by the Mamluks which was the reason to name the child Tristan due to the triste occasion. He was baptised in the grand mosque of Damietta that had been re-consecrated into a church. One month later, Damietta had to be abandoned. John subsequently spent his childhood in the Holy Land where his siblings Peter (1251) and Blanche (1253) were born.

Marriage

His father wished that John joined the Dominican Order, but John resisted this wish successfully. In 1266, he was married to Yolande II, Countess of Nevers (1247–1280), making him Count of Nevers, Auxerre and Tonnere. In 1268, John was made Count of Valois and Crépy on his own right by his father. Which was a gift he received as paréage.

Crusade

Two years later, John accompanied his father during the Eighth Crusade, which reached Tunis in July after setting out from Cagliari on Sardinia. But at Tunis the army suffered an outbreak of dysentery. John Tristan was one of the victims who died of it, and three weeks later, St. Louis also succumbed to the disease. Both bodies were transported to France and buried in the Basilica of St Denis.

John's marriage remained childless. His widow married again in 1272 with Robert III of Flanders; the county of Valois, his prerogative, returned to the Crown.

Ancestry

Ancestors of John Tristan, Count of Valois

16. Louis VII of France 8. Philip II of France 17. Adèle of Champagne 4. Louis VIII of France 18. Baldwin V, Count of Hainaut 9. Isabelle of Hainaut 19. Margaret I, Countess of Flanders 2. Louis IX of France 20. Sancho III of Castile 10. Alfonso VIII of Castile 21. Blanca Garcés of Navarre 5. Blanche of Castile 22. Henry II of England 11. Eleanor of England 23. Eleanor of Aquitaine 1. John Tristan, Count of Valois 24. Alfonso II of Aragon 12. Alfonso II, Count of Provence 25. Sancha of Castile 6. Ramon Berenguer IV, Count of Provence 26. Renier de Sabran 13. Garsenda of Forcalquier 27. Garsenda of Forcalquier 3. Margaret of Provence 28. Humbert III, Count of Savoy 14. Thomas I, Count of Savoy 29. Beatrice of Viennois 7. Beatrice of Savoy 30. William I of Geneva 15. Marguerite of Geneva 31. Beatrix of Faucigny

References

• Jackson-Laufer, Guida Myrl (1999). Women Rulers Throughout the Ages: An Illustrated Guide. ABC-CLIO. ISBN 9781576070918.
• Lesourd, Paul; Ramiz, Jean Marie (1969). On the Path of the Crusaders. Massada Press.
• Riley-Smith, Jonathan (2014). The Crusades: A History. Bloomsbury.
• Runciman, Steven (1999). A History of the Crusades. Vol. III. Cambridge University Press.
• Wood, Charles T. (1966). The French Apanages and the Capetian Monarchy, 1224-1328. Harvard University Press.