About Raimond de Turenne
Lived 1352 – 1413 (aged 60–61). Raimond de Turenne was a French aristocrat.
Raymond-Louis Roger de Beaufort (1352–) was a French nobleman and military leader who was the viscount of Turenne (as Raymond VIII) from 1395. He belonged to the and was a grandnephew of Pope Clement VI and a nephew of Pope Gregory XI.
Biography Raymond served as a papal captain in the Comtat Venaissin and later in Italy, commanding troops in northern Italian campaigns. He accompanied Gregory XI on his return to Rome in 1376, an episode that preceded the outbreak of the Great Schism. During the schism, he opposed the Avignon Papacy and its principal political ally, the Angevin dynasty, after Duke Louis I of Anjou seized Pertuis, Raymond's principal seat.
The legal justification underlying his violent resistance was that Antipope Clement VII had defaulted on wages and loans owed to Raymond's family. From the late 1380s to the end of the century, Raymond waged a prolonged private war in Provence and neighboring regions against papal and comital authorities, notably Clement VII, Benedict XIII, and the regent Marie of Blois. Nonetheless, he supported Marie of Blois during the war against the Union of Aix.
Raymond rejected Angevin attempts to secure his allegiance through marriage and instead arranged the marriage of his only daughter, , to Marshal Boucicaut, a leading figure of the French crown. This choice reflected his determination to preserve his autonomy and rank rather than submit to dynastic subordination.
The chronicler accused Raymond of having "waged war on France for no reason, and [done] a lot of harm to the land". Because of the devastation caused by his campaigns, he became known as the "Scourge of Provence".
Raymond died around 1413, though the circumstances and place of his death remain unknown. His physical appearance was described by the Provençal historian , whose account later enabled historians to identify Raymond in a late-14th-century fresco in Santa Maria della Scala, Siena, where he appears among papal forces facing Juan Fernández de Heredia. This identification makes Raymond one of the rare Provençal nobles of his generation to be plausibly recognized in contemporary art.
Don’t just read it —
keep it.
Full-length biographies made to live with: read them, listen on the way to work, watch them tonight.
- E-book
- Audio
- Video
Instant download · yours to keep · every purchase keeps this site free
Important facts
People in Raimond de Turenne's life
Named in this biography and alive at the same time
Contemporaries
People whose lives overlapped Raimond de Turenne's
Frequently asked questions
Who was Raimond de Turenne?
French aristocrat
When was Raimond de Turenne born?
Raimond de Turenne was born in 1352 in Villeneuve-lès-Avignon.
When did Raimond de Turenne die?
Raimond de Turenne died in 1413.
What was Raimond de Turenne's occupation?
Raimond de Turenne was an aristocrat.
What nationality was Raimond de Turenne?
Raimond de Turenne was French.
Sources & further reading
· Wikipedia: Raimond de Turenne
· DBpedia: Raymond VIII of Turenne
Cite this page
APA: Biography.guide. (2026). Raimond de Turenne. https://biography.guide/raimond-de-turenne/
MLA: "Raimond de Turenne." Biography.guide, https://biography.guide/raimond-de-turenne/.
Chicago: "Raimond de Turenne." Biography.guide. https://biography.guide/raimond-de-turenne/.
Data last updated: 2026-09-20 · Spot an error? Report a correction.
Portrait: Wikimedia Commons · author & licence
Page generated 2026-09-27 04:58 UTC