Jeanne de Divion
Jeanne de Divion (c. 1293–6 October 1331) was a French forger.
Jeanne was the daughter of the impoverished noble Havet de Divion and Sara Louchard, and married the knight Pierre de Broyes.[1] She was known for her knowledge of astrology, and made a scandal by living openly with her lover, Thierry Larchier d'Hirson.[1] When d'Hirson, then the Bishop of Arras, died, he left Jeanne 3000 livres.[1] The executor of his will, Mahaut, Countess of Artois, paid the inheritance but later challenged it as being based on an adulterous liaison with a bishop, and obtained the restitution.[1]
In 1331, Robert III of Artois used a forgery created by Jeanne attesting to the will of his father as a means to reclaim the County of Artois from his aunt, the same Mahaut, Countess of Artois.[1] This deception was discovered, and Robert lost any hope of acquiring Artois.[1] Jeanne was condemned and burned at the stake for forgery on 6 October 1331,[1] at the Place aux Pourceaux in Paris.[2]
In fiction
Jeanne de Divion is a minor character in Les Rois maudits (The Accursed Kings), a series of French historical novels by Maurice Druon which includes a retelling of her forgery. She was played by Annie Bertin in the 1972 French miniseries adaptation of the series, and by Sophie Broustal in the 2005 adaptation.[3]
References
- Véron, Louis Désiré (1839). Revue de Paris (in French). pp. 192–207.
- Vivent, Jacques (1954). La Guerre de Cent Ans (The Hundred Years War) (in French). p. 47.
- "Les Rois maudits: Casting de la saison 1" (in French). AlloCiné. 2005. Archived from the original on 19 December 2014. Retrieved 25 July 2015.
Further reading
- Chareyron, Nicolas; Le Bel, Jean (1996). Le Maître de Froissart, Grand Imagier de la guerre de Cent Ans (in French). De Boeck Université.