Louis de Laval

Louis de Laval (1411 – 21 August 1489) was a French nobleman, soldier, politician and bibliophile. Life A member of the House of Laval, Louis was born in 1411. He was the third son of the Baroness Anne de Laval and Baron Guy XIII. He inherited the lordship of Châtillon-en-Vendelais in the barony of Vitré. He also acquired the castle of Comper and the . When his elder brothers, Count Guy XIV de Laval and André de Lohéac, joined Joan of Arc's campaign in 1429, Louis stayed home with their mother. In 1431, he was made captain of Jugon by Duke John V of Brittany. He later served Duke Peter II and the Constable Arthur de Richemont. According to , he was one of Richemont's squires at his second wedding to Jeanne II d'Albret in 1442. He was a permanent member of Richemont's company between 1443 and 1445. Afterwards, Louis sought advancement at the royal court. King Charles VII appointed him governor of the Dauphiné in 1448 and of French-occupied Genoa in 1461. He was in Genoa when Louis XI succeeded Charles on the throne. When the War of the Public Weal broke out in 1465, he remained loyal to the crown. On 4 August 1465, he was named governor of Champagne. In a letter to the city of Reims, the king praised Louis as "a man of great conduct, wise and expert in warfare and other things."