Enguerrand de Marigny, Baron Le Portier (c. 126030 April 1315) was a French chamberlain and minister of Philip IV.

Early life

Normandy Normandy (; or ) is a geographical and cultural region in northwestern Europe, roughly coextensive with the historical Duchy of Normandy. Normandy comprises Normandy (administrative region), mainland Normandy (a part of France) and insular N ...

, of an old Norman family of the lesser baronage called Le Portier, which took the name of Marigny about 1200. Enguerrand entered the service of Hugues II de Bouville, chamberlain and secretary of king Philip IV, as a squire, and then was attached to the household of Queen Jeanne, who made him one of the executors of her will. He married her god-daughter, Jeanne de St Martin. In 1298 he received the custody of the castle of

Issoudun Issoudun () is a commune in the Indre department, administrative region of Centre-Val de Loire, France. It is also referred to as ''Issoundun'', which is the ancient name. Geography Location Issoudun is a sub-prefecture, located in the eas ...

Ministry

After the death of Pierre Flotte at

Courtrai Kortrijk ( , ; or ''Kortrik''; ), sometimes known in English as Courtrai or Courtray ( ), is a Belgian city and municipality in the Flemish province of West Flanders. With its 80,000 inhabitants (2024) Kortrijk is the capital and largest cit ...

in 1302 and de Bouville at the Battle of Mons-en-Pévèle in 1304, he became Philip's Grand Chamberlain and chief minister. In 1306 he was sent to preside over the exchequer of Normandy. He received numerous gifts of land and money from Philip as well as a pension from

Edward II of England Edward II (25 April 1284 – 21 September 1327), also known as Edward of Caernarfon or Caernarvon, was King of England from 1307 until he was deposed in January 1327. The fourth son of Edward I, Edward became the heir to the throne follo ...

. Possessed of an ingratiating manner, politic, learned and astute, he acted as an able instrument in carrying out Philip's plans, and received corresponding confidence. He shared the popular odium which Philip incurred by debasing the coinage. He acted as the agent of Philip in his contest with Louis, Count of Nevers, the son of Robert III of Flanders, imprisoning Louis and forcing Robert to surrender

Lille Lille (, ; ; ; ; ) is a city in the northern part of France, within French Flanders. Positioned along the Deûle river, near France's border with Belgium, it is the capital of the Hauts-de-France Regions of France, region, the Prefectures in F ...

Douai Douai ( , , ; ; ; formerly spelled Douay or Doway in English) is a city in the Nord (French department), Nord département in northern France. It is a Subprefectures in France, sub-prefecture of the department. Located on the river Scarpe (rive ...

and

Béthune Béthune ( ; archaic and ''Bethwyn'' historically in English) is a town in northern France, Subprefectures in France, sub-prefecture of the Pas-de-Calais Departments of France, department. Geography Béthune is located in the Provinces of Fran ...

. He obtained for his half-brother Philip de Marigny in 1301 the bishopric of Cambrai, and in 1309 the archbishopric of Sens, and for his brother Jean in 1312 the bishopric of Beauvais. Still another relative, Nicolas de Frauville, became the king's confessor and a cardinal. He addressed the Estates-General in 1314 and succeeded in getting further taxes for the Flemish war, incurring at the same time much ill will. This soon came to a head when the princes of the blood, eager to fight the Flemings, were disappointed by his negotiating a peace in September. He was accused of receiving bribes, and

Charles of Valois Charles, Count of Valois (12 March 1270 – 16 December 1325), was a member of the House of Capet and founder of the House of Valois, which ruled over France from 1328. He was the fourth son of King Philip III of France and Isabella o ...

denounced him to the king himself; but Philip stood by him and the attack was of no avail. The death of Philip IV on 29 November 1314 was a signal for a reaction against his policy. The feudal party, whose power the king had tried to limit, turned on his ministers and chiefly on his chamberlain.

Downfall

Enguerrand was arrested by Louis X at the instigation of

, and twenty-eight articles of accusation including charges of receiving bribes were brought against him. He was refused a hearing; but his accounts were correct, and Louis was inclined to spare him anything more than banishment to the island of

Cyprus Cyprus (), officially the Republic of Cyprus, is an island country in the eastern Mediterranean Sea. Situated in West Asia, its cultural identity and geopolitical orientation are overwhelmingly Southeast European. Cyprus is the List of isl ...

. Charles then brought forward a charge of sorcery which was more effectual. He was condemned at once and hanged on the public gibbet of Montfaucon, protesting that in all his acts he had only been carrying out Philip's commands (30 April 1315). Marigny founded the collegiate church of Notre-Dame d'Écouis near

Rouen Rouen (, ; or ) is a city on the River Seine, in northwestern France. It is in the prefecture of Regions of France, region of Normandy (administrative region), Normandy and the Departments of France, department of Seine-Maritime. Formerly one ...

in 1313. He was twice married, first to Jeanne de St Martin, by whom he had three children, Louis, Marie and Isabelle (who married Robert, son of Robert de Tancarville); and the second time to Alips de Mons.

In fiction

Marigny is a major character in '' Les Rois maudits'' (''The Accursed Kings''), a series of historical novels by Maurice Druon, which were adapted into a television

miniseries In the United States, a miniseries or mini-series is a television show or series that tells a story in a predetermined, limited number of episodes. Many miniseries can also be referred to, and shown, as a television film. " Limited series" is ...

1972 Within the context of Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) it was the longest year ever, as two leap seconds were added during this 366-day year, an event which has not since been repeated. (If its start and end are defined using Solar time, ...

and again in

2005 2005 was designated as the International Year for Sport and Physical Education and the International Year of Microcredit. The beginning of 2005 also marked the end of the International Decade of the World's Indigenous Peoples, Internationa ...

. He was portrayed by

André Falcon André Falcon (28 November 1924 – 22 July 2009) was a French film actor. He appeared in more than one hundred films from 1954 to 2008. Filmography References External links * {{DEFAULTSORT:Falcon, Andre 1924 births 2009 deaths ...

in 1972 and by Jean-Claude Drouot in 2005. Marigny is also referenced in the final chapter of The Hunchback of Notre-Dame as the first victim of Montfaucon, and a just man.

References

Citations

Bibliography

* Contemporary chroniclers in vols. xx. to xxiii. of D Bouquet, ''Historiens de la France'' * Pierre Clément, ''Trois drames historiques'' (Paris, 1857) * Charles Dufayard, ''La Réaction féodale sous les fils de Philippe le Bel'', in the ''Revue historique'' (1894, liv. 241272). {{DEFAULTSORT:Marigny, Enguerran de 1260s births 1315 deaths 13th-century French nobility 14th-century French nobility People executed by France by hanging People from Eure Philip IV of France 14th-century executions by France French people executed for witchcraft