tigrez vreizh

Known as the Lioness of Bretagne, Jeanne de Clisson (Janed Belleville in Breton, *1300 – †1359) sold off her remaining estates on this day in 1343 in order to raise funds for her Black Fleet, the flagship regaled with red sails called My Vengeance, and set to marauding raids on French sea trade in the English Channel.
Sworn to seek revenge for her third husband who was executed by Philip VI on rather baseless charges of treason, carried out in an ignoble fashion not befitting a man of his station, and for the property she was forced to forfeit, de Clisson launched a thirteen-year long reign of piracy her signature incursion being to mercilessly kill all the crew of the ships she boarded, save for one witness to tell the French king of her exploits.  Her fleet aided the English forces in the decisive Battle of Crécy that turned the course of the Hundred Years’ War in Edward III’s favour.