terrible defeat on the Burgundians and Charles met his death. His body was found in an
icy pond, half eaten by wolves. After his victory over Charles, Duke René rebuilt and
enlarged his ducal palace, which had largely fallen into ruins. The present palace, which
houses the Historical Museum of Lorraine, is a combination of Flamboyant and
Renaissance styles.
John Bell Henneman, Jr.
[See also: CHARLES THE BOLD; LORRAINE]
Cinq-centième anniversaire de la bataille de Nancy (1477): Actes du Colloque... Nancy, 22–24
septembre 1977. Nancy: Annales de l’Est, 1979.
Vaughan, Richard. Charles the Bold: The Last Valois Duke of Burgundy. New York: Barnes and
Noble, 1973.
NANTES
. A settlement has existed since the Bronze Age in southeastern Brittany at the tidal limit
of the Loire at its confluence with the Erdre. Condevincum was the civitas capital of the
tribe of Namnetes. Christianity arrived in the late 3rd century, when the town was also
enclosed by walls. The cathedral built by Bishop Felix (r. 549–82) is described in a poem
by Venantius Fortunatus. Under the Franks, Nantes was part of the March of Brittany,
whose most famous holder was the legendary Roland. In 843, the city was sacked by the
Vikings, then overrun by the Bretons. The Vikings returned from ca. 920 to 933, but
thereafter Nantes remained part of medieval Brittany.
In the 10th and 11th centuries, the counts of Anjou vied with those of Rennes for
control. Following the death of Count Mathias (1103), his brother Alain Fergent united
Rennes, Nantes, and the other Breton county, Cornouaille, as duke of Brittany (r. 1084–
1113). In Nantes, where the duke was later represented by a seneschal, provost, and
receiver, he shared rule with the bishop. Bishop Brice (r. 1112–39), adopting an
independent Gregorian stance, even sought confirmation of his episcopal rights from
Louis VI of France (1123). After the Plantagenêt period of domina-tion in Brittany (ca.
1156–1206), the bishops of Nantes reasserted their rights. Disputes with the duke were
frequent, arising particularly from the exercise of regal right during episcopal vacancies.
A compromise was reached in 1268, but under Guillaume de Malestroit (r. 1443–62) and
Amaury d’Acigné (r. 1462–77) the quarrel violently reerupted.
Until the Breton civil war (1341–65), the inhabitants had little say in government. But
the need to involve citizens in all aspects of administration during and after the war
allowed them to bargain for privileges. In 1420, Duke Jean V conceded that they could
elect ten or twelve bur-gesses and two proctors to represent them, and the community
was born. At the same time, the city was transformed physically: the Roman walls had
been extended in the early 13th century to enclose sixty-two acres; they were extensively
rebuilt again between 1436 and 1487.
Other major public works included the reconstruction after 1434 of the cathedral of
Saint-Pierre-Saint-Paul, built atop a 6th-century crypt that had been reconstructed in the
mid-11th. The cathedral houses the exquisite tomb of Duke François II and Marguerite de
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