Jean IV, Count of Armagnac
John IV, Count of Armagnac (15 October 1396 – 5 November 1450) ruled Armagnac, Fézensac and Rodez from 1418 to 1450. He was the son of Bernard VII of Armagnac and Bonne de Berry. After his father was murdered on 12 June 1418, John became count.
He helped retake the County of Comminges after Marguerite’s second marriage to Mathieu de Foix in 1419. In 1425 he recognized the King of Castile as overlord of Armagnac. With Charles VII busy fighting the English, John considered an alliance with England. In July 1437 he and King Henry VI of England signed a treaty saying Armagnac would not attack English subjects. He joined the Praguerie rebellion in 1440 against Charles VII but the revolt failed and he was pardoned; afterward, his counties were governed by royal officers. He even started negotiations for a marriage between one of his daughters and Henry VI in 1442, hoping to secure a strong alliance, but the plan did not go forward.
In 1444 he was besieged in L’Isle-Jourdain by the Dauphin Louis and was captured at Carcassonne. He was pardoned in 1447, but the royal authorities kept control of his lands.
John IV first married Blanche of Brittany on 16 June 1407; after Blanche’s death in 1419 he married Isabella d'Évreux, daughter of Charles III of Navarre, on 10 May 1419. They had several children, including Marie, Duchess of Alençon; John V of Armagnac; and Charles I of Armagnac. John IV died in 1450 at the age of 54.
This page was last edited on 3 February 2026, at 15:17 (CET).