Olivier IV, seigneur de Clisson

ON THIS DAY IN HISTORY – On 2nd August, 1343, Olivier de Clisson was found guilty of treason and beheaded at Les Halles in Paris, on the orders of King Philip VI. Oliver’s head was sent to Nantes and displayed on a pole outside the Castle of Bouffay. His wife, Jeanne de Clisson, enraged over her husband's execution, swore revenge on the King and the nobility. She sold their holding, bought a fleet of ships, and took to the sea as a pirate. She became known as the Lioness of Brittany and stalked the English Channel for French ships from 1343 – 1356. The ships that Jeanne purchased were painted all black on her command, and the sails dyed red. The 'Black Fleet' took to the waters and began hunting down and destroying the ships of King Philip VI, and were merciless with the crews. But Jeanne would always leave two or three of Philip's sailors alive, so that the message would get back to the King that the 'Lioness of Brittany' had struck once again.