Tanneguy III du Châtel (also spelt Tanguy; 1369–1449) was a Breton knight who fought in the Armagnac–Burgundian Civil War and the Hundred Years' War. A member of the Armagnac party, he became a leading adviser of King Charles VII of France, and was one of the assassins of Duke John the Fearless of Burgundy in 1419.
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Life
In 1415, he was provost of Paris, charged with keeping order in the city. During the civil war between the Armagnacs and Burgundians, he was one of the leaders of the Armagnac faction under Bernard VII, Count of Armagnac, Constable of France. He opposed the partisans of the Duke of Burgundy in their attempts to capture Paris. Alain de Coëtivy, bishop of Avignon, was a nephew of his.
He was a favourite of Dauphin Charles (later Charles VII), whom he saved by taking him out of Paris to safety at the Bastille, and then to Melun at the time of the coup d'état of Paris by the Burgundians led by captain Jean de Villiers de l'Isle-Adam during the night of 28–29 May 1418. With Jean Louvet, another of Charles VII's favourites, he was one of the main instigators of the assassination of John the Fearless, Duke of Burgundy by some Armagnac men-at-arms during his meeting with Charles on the bridge at Montereau on 10 September 1419.
From 1425, his influence waned as Arthur de Richemont's waxed. Also, in 1429, he used all his effort to convince the Dauphin to receive and welcome Joan of Arc – in effect, several of Charles VII's counsellors supported the principle of a rapprochement with Burgundy in order to present a united front against England, which could not have been achieved without du Chastel's efforts.
