In the past I wrote about Bertrand du Guesclin (c. 1320-1380), one of France’s forgotten war heroes (who was actually Breton). But today I want to tell you an even more amazing life story, about a man who fought in the ranks of the French army (even though the king of France had beheaded his father) and who was responsible for driving another French king mad. This isn’t just a biography, it’s a journey that will take us from Brittany all the way to the Marais in Paris. Today we’ll talk about Olivier de Clisson (1336-1407), known as “the Butcher.” So let’s get started!
The Life Story of Olivier de Clisson
Olivier de Clisson was born at the Château de Clisson, which you’ll read about later, in 1336, into a “fighting family.” His father, Olivier de Clisson IV, served in the army of the king of France and fought alongside the Count of Blois during the War of the Breton Succession (1341-1365). When Olivier was 6, his father lost the city of Vannes to the English after a siege and was taken prisoner.
However, to the surprise of the king of France, Olivier de Clisson IV was released by the English not long after, for a relatively small ransom. This led the king to conclude that de Clisson had betrayed him, and after a hasty trial, his head was cut off, his body was hanged on the gallows at Montfaucon, and his head was mounted on a spike above one of the gates of the city of Nantes.
Olivier’s mother, Jeanne, fled to England together with him and the rest of the family, and made him swear to avenge his father’s death on the king of France. She didn’t just talk, she built, at her own expense, a fleet of three ships painted black with red sails, which she named “My Revenge,” and with them she began attacking French ships in the English Channel. Whenever she managed to capture a French ship, she would slaughter the entire crew except for one or two, whom she would send to the king of France to tell him what happened. A fighting family indeed, as we said.
In the end, his mother’s piracy career came to an end when her ships were sunk by the French fleet. Since she was on one of these ships together with her children Guillaume and Olivier, she had to cling to a piece of wreckage from the ship, and they floated on the water for five days until Bretons who supported the English rescued Jeanne and Olivier (her son Guillaume died of cold and lack of fresh water).
De Clisson Defeats the French, Then Joins Them
After years growing up in England, de Clisson joined the English camp that supported Count Jean de Montfort in his struggle for the ducal crown of Brittany. In 1365, Olivier de Clisson managed to defeat the Count of Blois at the Battle of Auray, even though his army was outnumbered. During the battle, Charles de Blois was killed, Bertrand du Guesclin was taken prisoner, and Jean de Montfort became Duke of Brittany, taking the name Jean IV.
Olivier de Clisson continued to serve the English in the following years, as their ambassador to the king of France and even as a military commander, when in 1367 he defeated Bertrand du Guesclin at the Battle of Nájera in Castile and took him prisoner for a second time. But it was precisely then that his relationship with the English and the Duke of Brittany began to sour. It had all started a few years earlier, when the new Duke of Brittany decided to grant the forest and château of Gavre, which de Clisson coveted, to an English nobleman. On this, de Clisson diplomatically remarked, “I would rather serve the devil than have an English neighbor” (an interesting statement, since my neighbors on Guernsey happened to be lovely people).
Relations with England continued to deteriorate slowly over the following years, while relations with France actually grew stronger, until in 1370 de Clisson decided to switch to the French side in exchange for lands in Normandy and the château of Josselin, which greatly angered the king of England and the Duke of Brittany.
Honey, the King Has Lost His Mind
During the 1370s, Olivier de Clisson fought alongside his former rival Bertrand du Guesclin against the English. His cruelty when it came to handling prisoners (he liked to personally torture them and cut off various body parts) led du Guesclin to give him the nickname “the Butcher,” a title that stuck with him until the day he died.
In 1380, King Charles V of France and Bertrand du Guesclin both died, and the new king of France, Charles VI, decided to appoint de Clisson as Constable of France (a position roughly equivalent to minister of defense or chief of staff). During the 1380s, relations between Olivier de Clisson and the Duke of Brittany, which hadn’t been great to begin with, deteriorated further. In 1387, the Duke of Brittany took advantage of de Clisson’s arrival at the parliament of Vannes to kidnap him, stuff him into a sack, and throw him into the water. But luckily for the constable of the French army, the duke’s own servants refused to go through with it, and after a stint in a Breton jail, de Clisson was ransomed and released by the king of France.
In 1392, de Clisson was attacked in Paris by Pierre de Craon. Luckily for him, the armor he was wearing saved him from certain death, and de Craon fled Paris toward Brittany to seek refuge with the duke, who had apparently ordered the assassination. King Charles VI of France was furious about the assassination attempt and set out with Olivier and a large army to punish the Duke of Brittany.
As the army passed through a forest near the city of Le Mans, a man came out and shouted at the king that he was being betrayed and should turn back. A short while later, one of the king’s attendants dropped a lance, and the noise startled the king, who flew into a rage and began attacking his own soldiers. In the end, the men around him managed to subdue him, and he fell to the ground and lay motionless for a long time. Eventually the king woke up and slowly came back to himself, but this was the first in a series of bouts of mental illness that continued for the rest of his life and earned him the nickname “the Mad.”
Back to Brittany
De Clisson’s enemies at the court of the king of France (and he had plenty of them) took advantage of the king’s madness and accused him of corruption. At trial, de Clisson was fined a huge sum of money and stripped of his position as constable. De Clisson, seeing this as an affront to his honor, refused to hand back the constable’s sword and fled to the Château de Josselin, where he barricaded himself. Luckily for him, in 1394 the king of France decided to grant de Clisson the right to carry the constable’s sword (even though he no longer held the position itself).
Luck kept smiling on Olivier de Clisson, and in 1396 he managed to reach a peace agreement with the Duke of Brittany that ended a conflict of about 30 years. In the following years he continued to stir Breton politics and even nearly became regent for the young Duke Jean V (Jean IV died in 1399). At the same time, de Clisson kept accumulating money and property, and when he died in 1407, his fortune was estimated at the equivalent of about 180 million euros in today’s money. Not bad for a butcher…
A Tour of France in the Footsteps of Olivier de Clisson
As you’ve read, Olivier de Clisson amassed quite a bit of money and power during his lifetime, so it’s no surprise that his “architectural fingerprints” are still found in France, even though more than 600 years have passed since his death. Here are a few places connected to him that are well worth visiting when you’re traveling in France.
The Town of Clisson
This is a small, charming town located about 40 minutes’ drive from Nantes that gave its name to the Clisson family. Here you’ll find the château where Olivier de Clisson was born, which began construction as early as the 13th century. You can visit the château, but I’ll be honest with you: since parts of it were destroyed, there isn’t a whole lot to see, and I recommend simply looking at it from the bridge over the Sèvre river, from the château’s courtyard.
In my opinion, Clisson’s beauty comes less from its medieval past and more from what happened there in the 19th century. During the first half of that century, the Cacault brothers built a series of neo-Renaissance buildings in the Tuscan style, replacing older structures that had been destroyed during the French Revolution.
The finest example of this architecture is the Garenne Lemot (the name can be translated as “Lemot’s hunting lodge”). It’s a gorgeous Italian-style villa, located not far from the eastern exit of Clisson. There you’ll find a lovely garden, interesting sculptures, and even rotating art exhibitions.
Another thing Clisson is known for are the wineries located a very short distance away, where they produce Brittany’s famous Muscadet wine. If you’d like to visit them and taste the famous Breton wine, feel free to click on the following link.
And one last thing: if you’d like to stay not far from Clisson, I recommend staying in Nantes. If you decide to do that, you can find excellent hotels in my article Hotels in Nantes, or excellent apartments in the article about Vacation Rentals in Nantes.
Hôtel de Clisson in Paris
Of the Hôtel de Clisson, built in the 14th century, only two towers and a gate remain, facing the rue des Archives in the 3rd arrondissement of Paris. This mansion, known today as the Hôtel de Soubise, has a fascinating history, which you can read about in my article Hôtel de Soubise: When Lovers Started Flying. You can also see the gate and the two towers on my walking tour of the 3rd arrondissement.
If you’d like to stay near the Hôtel de Soubise, I recommend checking out Recommended Hotels in the 3rd Arrondissement. If you’d rather have an apartment, feel free to check out Recommended Apartments in the 3rd Arrondissement.
Josselin
Olivier de Clisson was responsible for building the towers of the Château de Josselin, though the name is more closely associated with the Rohan family, who inherited it from de Clisson’s descendants. The Basilique Notre-Dame-du-Roncier, on the other hand, is directly linked to him, since that’s where he’s buried. His tomb and that of his wife are among the most magnificent in Brittany, second perhaps only to the tomb of Francis II, Duke of Brittany, which was built by Anne of Brittany.
If you’d like, after visiting the church, you’re welcome to climb its bell tower (the entrance is behind the main entrance) and take in a stunning view of Josselin and its surroundings, as you can see in this drone footage.
If you’d like to get to Josselin, I highly recommend staying at the Manoir de la Chausée, a lovely château located about a half-hour drive from there.
Want to Read More About Olivier de Clisson’s Mother?
As you read in this article, Olivier de Clisson’s mother was a fascinating historical figure. In this article, which focuses mainly on her son Olivier, I only touched on her story briefly. If you’d like to dig deeper and get to know her better, feel free to read Dr. Orna Liberman’s article Jeanne de Belleville: A Lioness in Love, Thirsty for Revenge.
Related reading