A Short History of the World in 50 Lies

by Natasha Tidd

However, when Olivier was executed, Jeanne didn’t do what was expected – instead of using what little money was left to move away and live quietly, she vowed revenge on Charles of Blois and Philip VI. Jeanne sold everything that wasn’t nailed down and used the money to raise a small army. Her first target was a castle being managed by Galois de la Heuse, a friend of Charles of Blois. Allegedly, in the middle of the night, Jeanne appeared at the castle gates surrounded by her children and begged to be let in. Of course, the gates were opened for this poor woman in distress, at which point Jeanne’s army flooded in behind her. The castle’s occupants were slaughtered, their goods stolen, and – in what would become a marker for Jeanne – one survivor left alive to tell the story. As Jeanne continued her rampage across Brittany, she allied herself with Charles’s foe, John of Montfort. With the English now backing her, Jeanne had become an even bigger threat and French forces were sent to dispatch her. With the heat too high in France, Jeanne hot-footed it across the Channel to England. Edward III was well aware of Jeanne and her bloody vengeance spree and wanted to help her however he could; after all, any enemy of Philip VI was a friend to him.