LAURENT D’ORLÉANS
(d. ca. 1325). A Dominican friar and confessor of King Philip III, Laurent completed the
Somme le roi in 1280 at the king’s request. Preserved in about a hundred manuscripts in
French, in translations into Flemish, English, Italian, Provençal, and Catalan, and in
several incunabula, this lengthy prose work is essentially a treatise on the vices and
virtues, drawing on Hugh of Saint-Victor, Guillaume Peyraut’s Summa virtutum, and the
anonymous Miroir du monde. It is divided into five sections, on the Ten Commandments,
the Twelve Articles of Faith, the Seven Deadly Sins, Virtue (in general), and a treatise on
the Seven Virtues derived from the Seven Gifts of the Holy Ghost. This final section,
twice as long as the other four combined, also includes a commentary on the Lord’s
Prayer.
William W.Kibler
[See also: MORAL TREATISES]
Edition being prepared for the Société des Anciens Textes Français series by E.Brayer.
Brayer, Edith. “Contenu, structure et combinaisons du Miroir du monde et de la Somme le roi.”
Romania 79 (1958):1–38, 433–70.
Langlois, Charles-Victor. La vie en France au moyen âge de la fin du XIIe au milieu du XIVe
siècle. 4 vols. Paris: Hachette, 1926–28, Vol. 4: La vie spirituelle.
LAVAL
. The lordship of Laval (Mayenne) in the county of Maine in northwestern France dates
from the mid-11th century. The male line of the original seigneurial family died out in
1213, and the heiress, Emma, married Mathieu II of Montmorency. Their son, Gui VII de
Laval, married Philippa, heiress to the important Breton lordship of Vitré, in 1239, thus
establishing the house of Laval-Montmorency as an important dynasty in Breton feudal
politics. Gui VII died in 1267 while accompanying Charles I of Anjou on his conquest of
the kingdom of Sicily. Gui VIII (r. 1267–95) and Gui IX (r. 1295–1333) served kings
Philip III and Philip IV on their military campaigns. The family’s position in Brittany
grew stronger when Gui X married Béatrix, daughter of Duke Arthur II, and his brother
Foulques married the heiress of the important barony of Rais (Retz). Gui X died in the
Battle of La Roche-Derrien in 1347. His daughter Béatrix married Olivier IV de Clisson,
future constable of France, while his two sons succeeded to the lordship successively as
Gui XI and Gui XII. The latter (d. 1412) was an important royal commander until Charles
V’s attempted confiscation of Brittany (1379), after which he served Jean IV and Jean V
of Brittany. The Montmorency male line died out with Gui XII, whose daughter Anne
married a prominent Breton, Jean, lord of Montfort, Gael, and Lohéac. He took the name
Gui XIII but soon died, leaving Anne to administer the family lands for their young son,
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