Jeanne de Divion

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1861 illustration of Jeanne de Divion from Histoire de la prostitution chez tous les peuples du monde: depuis l'antiquité la plus reculée jusqu'à nos jours

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, Countess Mahaut 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, Countess Mahaut's nephew Robert used a forgery created by Jeanne attesting to the will of his father as a means to reclaim the County of Artois from Mahaut.[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[edit]

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 [fr] in the 2005 adaptation.[3]

References[edit]

  1. ^ a b c d e f g Véron, Louis Désiré (1839). Revue de Paris (in French). pp. 192–207.
  2. ^ Vivent, Jacques (1954). La Guerre de Cent Ans (The Hundred Years War) (in French). p. 47.
  3. ^ "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[edit]

  • Chareyron, Nicolas; Le Bel, Jean (1996). Le Maître de Froissart, Grand Imagier de la guerre de Cent Ans (in French). De Boeck Université.