CRAON

. A town and castle in northwestern Anjou, Craon (Mayenne) gave its name to one of the most important families of northwestern France. Like many other such families, the lords of Craon can be traced to a castellan of the mid-11th century. They served the counts of Anjou and by the 13th century were hereditary seneschals of Anjou and lords of Chantoce, Ingrande, Sable, Briole, and Chateauneuf-sur-Sarthe. They intermarried with the great seigneurial families of neighboring regions, such as the Clisson, Lusignan, and Laval. Amaury IV (d. 1373) was the last male member of the senior line. His sister Isabelle, who succeeded him, was the wife of Louis I, lord of Sully, and their daughter, Marie, married Guy VI de La Tremoille, bringing with her an inheritance that made the fortune of her husband’s family. Cadet lines in the 14 th century included the viscounts of Chateaudun, the lords of La Suze, and the lords of La Ferte-Bernard. The last male heir of each of these lines died at Agincourt in 1415. The inheritance of the La Suze line passed through a woman to Gilles de Laval, lord of Rais and marshal of France. The line of La Ferte-Bernard produced the Pierre de Craon whose scandal-ridden life included a bungled attempt to assassinate his second cousin, Olivier de Clisson, constable of France, in 1392. This act triggered the ill-fated royal expedition against Brittany during which Charles VI had his first attack of mental illness.

John Bell Henneman, Jr.

[See also: CLISSON; RAIS, GILLES DE]

Bertrand de Broussillon, Arthur. La maison de Craon, 1050—1480:etude historique, accompagnee du cartulaire de Craon. 2 vols. Paris: Picard, 1893.

Charles, Robert. Histoire de la Ferte-Bernard. Paris: Menu, 1876.