Jean I de Grailly - Europe

Europe

In 1279, Jean travelled to Amiens and to England to negotiate the Treaty of Amiens, which ended the state of war between Edward of England and Philip III of France and returned the Agenais to English control. Only two weeks after the treaty, Jean de Grailly encouraged an inquiry to determine whether or not he Quercy was English territory. He was already appointed to the commission to oversee the return of the Agenais and his seneschal's duties were extended to the new region. Edward also ordered Jean not to pay the fouage, a tax demanded by the French king. He was granted royal letters to demonstrate the king's intention to pay the tax in a few years, after better harvests. In 1285 he even negotiated a treaty fixing the tariff on Bordeaux wine.

Jean also had to negotiate with the French court in Paris concerning the dating clauses of Gascon charters. The mutually acceptable formula resulting was: actum fuit regnantibus Philippo regis Francie, Edwardo rege Anglie, duce Aquitanie. Jean travelled extensively, not only to Paris, but also to Fuenterrabia to negotiate with Alfonso X of Castile. On 2 January 1281 he was in Vienne to witness an accord between Philip I of Savoy and Robert II of Burgundy. Later that year he was dispatched to Mâcon to advise Margaret of Provence, the widow of Louis IX of France. Edward employed him extensively as his deputy in continental Europe.

Between 1280 and 1285 Grailly took part in the tortuous negotiations concerning the inheritance of the County of Bigorre after the death of the five-times married Countess Petronilla. Eventually it was determined that the proper heiress was Joanna I of Navarre. The question of homage and featly, however, was put off, as the Joanna and her husband, Philip the Fair, were both monarch and thus swore homage to none. Nonetheless the question of whether Bigorre was a feudatory of the Duke of Aquitaine or the King of France was to be an issue between the two monarch throughout the fourteenth century.

Jean de Grailly eventually fell short of funds for his activities, since his expenses need approval from the Exchequer before he could receive his salary. He took to exploitation and illegal exactions from the peasants, whose complaints eventually reached the ears of Edward I. He was removed from office sometime between June 1286 and Spring 1287, when the king and Queen Eleanor of Castile, present in Gascony, set up an inquiry into his actions. The commission found him to have misappropriated monies in several municipalities. He was order to repay them, but these payments could be made from outstanding funds owed him. He himself returned to Savoy and left his Gascon lands to his son Pierre.