View source for Peter II, Count of Alençon

{{short description|14/15th-century Count of Alençon and Count of Perche}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=August 2021}}
{{ infobox noble
| name =
| image = Blason province fr Alençon.svg
| image_size = 125px
| caption = Peter II's [[coat of arms]], per the [[Armorial of the Capetian dynasty]].
| noble family = [[House of Valois|Valois-Alençon]]
| father = [[Charles II of Alençon]]
| mother = [[Maria de la Cerda]]
| spouse = Marie Chamaillard, Viscountess of Beaumont-au-Maine
| birth_date = 1340
| birth_place =
| death_date = {{death date and age|1404|9|2|1340||df=y}}
| death_place = [[Argentan]], [[Duchy of Normandy|Normandy]], [[Kingdom of France|France]]
}}
[[File:Blason ville fr Chambellay (Maine-et-Loire).svg|thumb|125px|Coat of arms of the counts of Perche.]]
'''Peter II of Alençon''', called '''The Noble''' (1340 &ndash; 20 September 1404; {{Langx|fr|Pierre II d'Alençon}}, or ''Pierre de Valois''), was [[Count of Alençon]] from 1361 and [[Count of Perche]] from 1377. He was the son of [[Charles II of Alençon]] and [[Maria de la Cerda]].{{sfn|Autrand|1994|p=859}}
==Biography==
Peter II of Alençon (French: ''Pierre d'Alençon'') was born in 1340 to [[Charles II of Alençon|Charles II, Count of Alençon and Perche]] and his wife, [[Maria de la Cerda]], Countess of Alençon. Upon his father's death in 1346, Peter's elder brother, [[Charles III, Count of Alençon|Charles]], inherited the title of "Count of Alençon".
Knighted in 1350, Peter was one of the hostages exchanged for [[John II of France|King John]] after the [[Battle of Poitiers (1356)|Battle of Poitiers]], and did not return to France until 1370.{{sfn|Cosneau|1889|p=48}} He and his younger brother, [[Robert of Alençon]], [[Count of Perche]], campaigned against the English in [[Aquitaine]]. In 1371, the French took [[Limoges]], but failed to capture [[Usson, Puy-de-Dôme|Usson]].{{fact|date=December 2021}}
In 1361, Peter's elder brother, [[Charles III, Count of Alençon]], renounced his counties{{sfn|Siguret|2000|p=240}} and became a [[Order of Preachers|Dominican]] friar, choosing [[Couvent des Jacobins de la rue Saint-Jacques]] in Paris.{{sfn|Dompnier|2006|p=32}}<ref group=Note name=Note01/> [[Philip of Alençon|Philip]], the eldest of Charles's younger brothers, had become [[bishop of Beauvais]] in 1356,{{sfn|Siguret|2000|p=240}} and so their mother obtained permission from [[John II of France|King John II of France]] to divide the counties between the remaining brothers, Peter and [[Robert of Alençon|Robert]]. Peter received [[Alençon]], and became [[Count of Alençon]], while [[Perche]] was assigned to Robert, who became [[Count of Perche]].{{sfn|Siguret|2000|p=241}}
In 1372, Peter bought the town, [[château]], and surrounding lands of [[Argentan]], one of the most important towns in [[Normandy]], for 6,000 livres in gold. Peter later moved his court to Argentan, as it was a fortified hilltop town about {{convert|15|mi|km}} north of [[Alençon]].{{sfn|Jager|2005|p=19-22}}<ref>{{cite web |last1=Lambert |first1=Fran |title=Normandy and 'The Last Duel' |url=https://en.normandie-tourisme.fr/normandy-and-the-last-duel/ |website=Normandy Tourism |access-date=19 September 2023}}</ref>
Upon the death of his younger brother, [[Robert of Alençon]], [[Count of Perche]] in 1377, Peter also inherited his title of [[Count of Perche]], including the lands of [[Perche]] and fortresses at [[Bellême]] and [[Exmes]], as Robert had no surviving issue. The inheritance was approved by [[Charles V of France|King Charles V of France]].{{sfn|Jager|2005|p=19-22}}
Peter subsequently fought under [[Bertrand du Guesclin]] in [[Brittany]]; was wounded before [[Hennebont]]; and took part in an expedition against [[William I of Guelders]] in 1388.{{fact|date=December 2021}}
==Marriage and issue==
On 10 October 1371, at the age of 31, Peter married Marie Chamaillard, Viscountess of [[Beaumont-sur-Sarthe|Beaumont-au-Maine]] (c. 1350&ndash;18 November 1425), the daughter of William (Guillaume) II Chamaillard, seigneur ([[viscount]]) d'Anthenaise (c. 1320&ndash;1391) and Lady Marie de Beaumont-Brienne. The Chamaillard family was a powerful noble family, originally from [[County of Anjou|Anjou]]. Marie Chamaillard was heiress to the seigneury of [[Pouancé]], including [[Pouancé Castle]], and four other fiefs, adding them to the fiefs already owned by her husband.{{sfn|Jager|2005|p=19-22}}
The couple had eight children, though their birth order is disputed:<ref group=Note name=Note02/>
# [[Marie of Alençon]] (29 March 1373 or 21 Mar 1374&ndash;1417 or 1418), born at the Château d'Essay in [[Essay, Orne]]. She married  [[John VII of Harcourt]], Count of [[House of Harcourt|Harcourt]] and [[Count of Aumale|Aumale]], son of John (Jean) VI, Count of [[House of Harcourt|Harcourt]] and [[Count of Aumale|Aumale]], and his wife, [[Peter I, Duke of Bourbon|Catherine de Bourbon]], the sister of [[Joanna of Bourbon|Joanna of Bourbon, Queen of France]], on 17 March 1389 or 1390.{{sfn|Hirschbiegel|2014|p=679}} Marie died before 1417 or 1418 at the [[Cordeliers Convent]]. Had issue.
# Peter (Pierre) (1374&ndash;1375), born at the Château d'Argentan in [[Argentan]]. Per Cagny's ''Chronique d'Alençon'', the infant Pierre "was poorly governed by the women who looked after him and by his nurse", and died as a result. He was buried at [[Perseigne Abbey]].
# John I (Jean I) (1375&ndash;1376), born at the Château d'Argentan in [[Argentan]]. He was buried at [[Perseigne Abbey]].
# Marie d'Alençon (1376&ndash;1377), buried at [[Perseigne Abbey]].
# Jeanne of Alençon (c. 1372 or 1377&ndash;6 August 1403), born at the Château d'Essay in [[Essay, Orne]], and died at the Château d'Argentan in [[Argentan]].{{sfn | Cagny | Moranvillé | 1902 | pp=10–19}} No issue.
# [[Catherine of Alençon]] (1380&ndash;22 or 25 June 1462, Hôtel d'Auxerre, Paris), born at the Château d'Verneuil in [[Verneuil-sur-Avre]], [[Eure]]. She firstly married in April 1411 to Peter d'Évreux, Infante of [[Navarre]] and [[Count of Mortain]] (1366&ndash;1412), at the Château d'Alençon in [[Alençon]]; and married secondly to [[Louis VII, Duke of Bavaria|Louis VII, Duke of Bavaria-Ingolstadt]] (1365&ndash;1447) on 1 October 1413 in [[Paris]]. On 29 August 1404, per the last will and testament of her father, Catherine became the heiress to the Château d'Exmes in [[Exmes]]; the viscounty of [[Saint-Sylvain, Calvados|Saint-Sylvain]] and [[Le Thuit, Eure|Thuit]]; as well as the two seigneuries of [[Saint-Loyer-des-Champs]] and [[Aunou-le-Faucon]].<ref group=Note name=Note03/> No surviving issue.
# Marguerite of Alençon (1383 &ndash; aft. 4 Sep 1404), born at the Château d'Argentan in [[Argentan]]. She became a nun at [[Argentan Abbey]]. No issue.
# [[John I of Alençon]] (Jean I) (9 May 1385&ndash;1415),{{sfn|Autrand|1994|p=859}} born at the Château d'Essay in [[Essay, Orne]]. In 1396, he married [[Marie of Brittany, Lady of La Guerche|Marie of Brittany]] (1391–1446), daughter of [[John IV, Duke of Brittany]] and [[Joan of Navarre, Queen of England|Joan of Navarre]]. In 1404, upon his father's death, he succeeded him as [[Count of Alençon]] and [[Count of Perche|Perche]]. He was made [[Duke of Alençon]] in 1414. Had issue.
He also had one illegitimate son with Jeanne de Maugastel, Dame de Blandé, the wife of Pierre Cointerel, Count of [[Aunou-le-Faucon]] and Viscount of [[Perche]] under Peter:{{sfn|Anselme de Sainte-Marie|1733|p=271}}
# Peter,  "Bastard of Alençon" (French: ''Le Bâtard d'Alençon'') (c. 1375&ndash;d. aft. January 1422), Lord of [[Aunou-le-Faucon]]{{sfn|Jager|2005|p=19-22}}<ref group=Note name=Note03/>
==In popular culture==
In the 2021 film ''[[The Last Duel (2021 film)|The Last Duel]]'' directed by [[Ridley Scott]], he is portrayed by actor [[Ben Affleck]].<ref>{{cite web |last1=Romano |first1=Evan |title='The Last Duel' Is Ben Affleck at His Most Chaotic |url=https://www.menshealth.com/entertainment/a37975825/the-last-duel-ben-affleck/ |website=Men's Health |access-date=19 September 2023}}</ref>
==References==
{{reflist}}
==Notes==
{{reflist|group=Note|refs=
<ref name=Note01>Jager lists the year of Robert's inheritance as 1367, but Siguret lists it as 1361.</ref>
<ref name=Note02>Some sources list this birth order, while other sources, such as Moranville and Père Anselme, list a different birth order.</ref>
<ref name=Note03>The title "seigneur" (Lord) of [[Aunou-le-Faucon]] appears to be disputed. The testament of Pierre II, Comte d'Alençon, dated 29 Aug 1404, bequeathed Aunou-le-Faucon to his daughter, [[Catherine of Alençon]]. However, Père Anselme also lists Pierre Cointerel as "Count of Aunou-le-Faucon and Viscount of Perche", with Cointerel's adopted son - Peter (Pierre), the "Bastard of Alençon" (French: ''Le Bâtard d'Alençon'') (c. 1375–d. aft. January 1422), the illegitimate son of Count Pierre by Cointerel's wife, Jeanne de Maugastel - succeeding both Cointerel and his biological father as "''seigneur'' (Lord) of Aunou-le-Faucon". Other documents also list [[John I of Alençon]] (Jean I), the only surviving legitimate son of Count Pierre, also contesting his father's bequeathment of certain lands to his sister, Catherine, possibly including Aunou-le-Faucon.</ref>
}}
==Sources==
*{{cite book |last=Anselme de Sainte-Marie |first=Augustin |title=Histoire Généalogique Et Chronologique De La Maison Royale De France, Des Pairs, Grands Officiers De La Couronne & De La Maison Du Roy: & Des Anciens...De Leurs Familles |year=1733   |language=French }}
*{{cite book |last=Autrand |first=Francoise |title=Charles V: Le Sage |publisher=Fayard |year=1994   |language=French }}
* {{cite book | last=Cagny | first=Perceval de | last2=Moranvillé | first2=Henri | title=Chroniques de Perceval de Cagny | publisher=Librairie Renouard, H. Laurens, successeur | publication-place=Paris | year=1902 |url=https://archive.org/details/chroniquesdeperc00cagnuoft | oclc=1041787721 | language=fr}}
*{{cite book |title=Les grands traités de la guerre de cent ans  |first=Eugène |last=Cosneau |publisher=Alphonse Picard |language=French |year=1889 }}
*{{cite book |editor=Marie Viallon-Schoneveld|first=Bernard|last=Dompnier|chapter=Un point d'histoire lyonnaise dans un ''Consulto'' de Sarpi|title=Autour du Concile de Trente: actes de la table ronde de Lyon, 28 février 2003|publisher=Université de Saint-Etienne|year=2006|isbn=2862723940|language=French}}
*{{cite book |title=Étrennes: Untersuchungen zum höfischen Geschenkverkehr im spätmittelalterlichen Frankreich zur Zeit König Karls VI. (1380–1422) |first=Jan |last=Hirschbiegel |language=German |publisher=De Gruyter |year=2014  }}
*{{cite book |last=Jager |first=Eric |title=The Last Duel: A True Story of Crime, Scandal, and Trial by Combat |publisher=Crown |year=2005|isbn=978-0767914178 }}
*{{cite book |title=A History of France, 1460–1560: The Emergence of a Nation State |first=David |last=Potter |editor-first=Maurice |editor-last=Keen |publisher=Macmillan |year=1995 }}
*{{cite book |last=Siguret|first=Philippe|title=Histoire du Perche|publisher=Fédération des amis du Perche|year=2000|isbn=2900122279|language=French}}
{{s-start}}
{{s-hou|[[House of Valois]]||1340|20 September|1404|[[Capetian dynasty]]}}
{{s-bef| before = [[Charles III of Alençon|Charles III]] }}
{{s-ttl| title  = [[Count of Alençon]]
| years  = 1361 &ndash; 1404 }}
{{s-aft| rows   = 2 | after  = [[John I of Alençon|John I]] }}
{{s-bef| before = [[Robert of Alençon|Robert]] }}
{{s-ttl| title  = [[Count of Perche]]
| years  = 1377 &ndash; 1404 }}
{{s-end}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Peter 02 of Alencon}}
[[Category:1340 births|Peter II of Alençon]]
[[Category:1404 deaths|Peter II of Alençon]]
[[Category:House of Valois-Alençon]]
[[Category:Counts of Alençon|Peter II]]
[[Category:Counts of Perche]]
[[Category:14th-century peers of France]]
[[Category:15th-century peers of France]]
{{Europe-noble-stub}}