Black Ship, Red Sails: A Small Tale of Revenge

Black Ship, Red Sails: A Small Tale of Revenge August 2, 2015

jeanne-de-clisson

It was on this day in 1343 that the French nobleman Oliver de Clisson was convicted of treason and beheaded, his head hung on the gates of Paris. Many saw the trial trumped up, and the conviction and execution an act of injustice for which the king was directly responsible.

No one more so than his wife, Jeanne de Clisson. She took her children to Paris and showed them their father’s head, returned to her estates, sold them, raised an army and began her own reign of revenge. When her army faced defeat she fled to England, where she was given a commission as a privateer. She raised a small fleet of three warships, painted the ships black, outfitted them with red sails and for the next thirteen years attacked French vessels, usually killing everyone except a witness or two to report this was a gift for the French king. Her fleet also attacked some towns on the mainland of France, apparently to the same purpose. And conclusion…

Eventually she remarried and settled in a castle in Brittany in territory held by allies. She died there in 1359.

Apparently no one bothered her or her family…


Browse Our Archives

Follow Us!