Guy II de Pontailler

Guy II de Pontailler was a French nobleman, successor of Hugues de Pontailler, part of the noble family Champlitte-Pontailler of Burgundy. He was born in Burgundy in 1348 (or 1335) and died in 1392 (possibly on May 4). He was appointed marshal of the Duchy of Burgundy by duke Philip the Bold, then he took part in an expedition across the Saône against the Count of Montbéliard, then he fought in the Hundred Years' War. Guy II received the title of lord of Talmay, Fenay, Chevigny, Saulon-la-Rue, Saulon-la-Chapelle, Chailly, Champagny, Tart-le-Haut, Pontailler-sur-Saône and Heuilley-sur-Saône.

Biography Ancestry Guy III De Pontailler, son of Guy II and knight of the Golden Fleece (15th-century manuscript, BNF).Guy II de Pontailler was a direct descendant of Guillaume de Champlitte, who became Prince of Achaia after the Fourth Crusade and was the ancestor of the de Champlitte-Pontailler family, which held a very position in the Duchy of Burgundy for four centuries. Guillaume married Eustachie de Courtenay. His son, Guillaume II (1200-1271), inherited most of the family property, including the viscounty of Dijon, and the seigneuries of Pontailler-sur-Saône, Maxilly-sur-Saône, Vonges and Heuilley-sur-Saône.

Guy II de Pontailler was born of the union of Hugues de Pontailler (?-1385), lord of Talmay, Heuilley, Fenay, Chevigny, Saulon, Villeneuve and Chailly, with Jeanne de Chalon (?-1372).

He had a younger brother: Jean de Pontailler.

Marriages Guy II de Pontailler first married Marguerite de Blaizy (?-1367), he had two children with her: Guillemette (?-1401) and Jacques (?-September 28, 1396). After, he married Marguerite d'Anglure (1338-1402), daughter of Ogier VII d'Anglure, lord of Anglure, Saint-Chéron and Étoges, and later he married Marguerite de Conflans, born on March 23, 1369, and they had one child: Guy III de Pontailler (1382-1439).

On January 28, 1364, Guy de Pontailler was appointed marshal of the Duchy of Burgundy in a letter written by duke Philip and confirmed the following year:

"Philip II the Bold, Duke of Burgundy; Greetings to all those who will see these letters. We record this letter about January in the year 1363. By these presents, we accept and welcome in our Mareschal our beloved and loyal Knight Messire Guy de Pontailler to the rights, emoluments and profits accustomed as much as it will. Please be advised that we have granted full power, authority, and a special mandate to perform all duties and responsibilities associated with the position of our Marshal. We give this mandate to all our subjects, and request that the others obey and diligently listen to the said Messire Guy, and provide him with advice, comfort and assistance if required. In witness whereof we have set our seal to these letters. Given at Talant on the seventh day of January in the year of our Lord 1364. Thus signed, by Monseigneur le Duc, J. Blanchet. "The duke then asked him “to wage war for him”.

The position of Marshal of Burgundy had been vacant since 1361. ”.

Facts of arms The battle of Roosebeke, in which Guy II certainly took part. The same year, he took part in an expedition across the Saône against the Count of Montbéliard. He founded forty lancers and ten archers. He frequently traveled from Pontailler to Saugey or Laperrières, issuing orders to the companies stationed there not to harm the Duke's subjects. Marshal Guy II de Pontailler was constantly on the move, as he was the only one willing to take the risk of negotiating with the Routiers. In his words, "No man would dare go before them if I wasn't there." He led several successful attacks against these mercenaries, and in particular against one of their captains, Guillaume Pot. It was on this occasion that he took many prisoners, from whom he hoped to obtain a ransom (estimated at between two and 3,000 florins). However, these prisoners, housed in his hotel in Dijon, were claimed by the city's bailiff, Hugues Aubriot, who subsequently had them hanged. Guy II was not compensated, and so lost all hope of earning a substantial nest egg. This misfortune befell him again later, in 1368 or 1369, after the defeat of a mercenary captain by the name of Jacques Flour, captured with criminals by Guy II, who was hoping to obtain four to 5,000 francs in ransom. As the criminals were wanted by the bailiff of Autun, Guy II handed them over to him, without compensation. Jacques Flour was exchanged by the marshal for a Burgundian knight held prisoner by the English.

In 1364-1365, as part of the Hundred Years' War, Guy II laid siege to Villaines. According to Gabriel Dumay, he also made a pilgrimage to the Holy Land.

In the 1370s, Nicolas de Fontenay, seigneur de Saint-Liébaut, bailli de Troyes and ducal grand officer, succeeded Saladin d'Anglure, and took over the lands of Chennegy and Valcon from Guy de Pontailler, marshal of Burgundy, who was himself involved in metallurgy in the Saône Valley.

In August 1372, Guy de Pontailler presented Duke Philip, in whose company he was serving against the English in Guyenne, with a petition listing the military and material losses he had suffered during his eight years as marshal. ), was never reimbursed. Guy II's prestige was confirmed in 1381 when the Duke appointed him “Governor General” of the Duchy of Burgundy and the lands it held in the county.

In 1384, after the truce of Leulinghem, the Duke took military measures to ensure the security of the county of Flanders, acquired from Burgundy. He, therefore, appointed Guy de Pontailler and Jean, his younger brother, “governors of the country of Flanders”, in collegiality with one of Louis de Male's close advisors, a representative of a major Flanders lineage.

In 1385, alongside Admiral Jean de Vienne, he founded a chapel at Mont-Roland.

Guy II de Pontailler seems to have died in 1392. According to Bertrand Schnerb, he played an “essential role in the Burgundian government”. Indeed, it was Philip the Bold's principate that gave the Duchy of Burgundy “a long period of peace which, for the most part, lasted from 1369 to 1410: 42 war-free years which were Burgundy's good fortune”.

Coat of arms

Blazon:

“Gules, a golden lion armed and langued azure”.

Possessions

His two most important acquisitions were the seigneury of Heuilley-sur-Saône, from Guillaume de la Borde, esquire (1368), and part of the seigneury of Talmay, under the fief of Pesmes, from Guyot d'Aubigny (purchase of December 20, 1384, according to Gabriel Dumay).

Guy II had suffered heavy losses due to the Duke's enemies riding over his lands, particularly those located “across the Saône”.

Historiography Only one study on Guy II de Pontailler, entitled Guy de Pontailler, sire de Talmay, maréchal de Bourgogne 1364-1392 and dating from 1907, is relatively fictionalized. It is a memoir by the Société bourguignonne de géographie et d'histoire, written by Dijon scholar Gabriel Dumay.