Artus Gouffier, Lord of Boissy

Artus Gouffier

Tomb of Artus Gouffier, in the collégiate church at Oiron.

Artus Gouffier de Boissy (6 September 1474 – 13 May 1519 in Montpellier) was a French nobleman and politician. He was duke of Roannez and pair de France, count of Étampes, count of Caravaggio, baron of Passavant, of Maulévrier, of Roanne, of la Mothe-Saint-Romain, of Bourg-Charente and of Saint-Loup, lord of Oiron, of Villedieu-sur-Indre, of Valence and of Cazamajor.

Life

The eldest son of Guillaume Gouffier de Boisy, sénéchal of Saintonge, and of Philippine de Montmorency, he began his court career as a page to Charles VIII, who his father had served as preceptor. He accompanied Charles on the conquest of the Kingdom of Naples in 1495, as well as accompanying Louis XII of France to Italy.

He served as Grand Master of France from January 1515 and attempted to negotiate a lasting peace between France and the House of Habsburg at the time of his early death.

At the Château d'Oiron, Artus had construction works carried out, intended to make it the heart of the family's possessions. In addition to the construction of a gallery, he also started the construction of the Saint-Maurice collegiate church, right next to the castle, which was only completed after his death by his wife and which still houses his Tomb effigy today.

Marriage and children

He married in February 1499, Hélène d'Hangest, only daughter of Jacques de Hangest, seigneur de Genlis.
They had two daughters, Hélène and Anne, and one son :

• Claude Gouffier, his successor and Grand Squire of France.

Further reading

• Yves-Marie Bercé, « Artus Gouffier, grand maître de la Maison du Roi (vers 1472-1519) », Le Conseil du Roi de Louis XII à la Révolution, dir. Roland Mousnier, Paris, PUF, 1970, p. 207-230.
• Etienne Fournial, Monsieur de Boisy. Grand maître de France sous François Ier, Lyon, Presses universitaires de Lyon, 1996, 149 p.
• Arlette Jouanna, Philippe Hamon, Dominique Biloghi, Guy Le Thiec, La France de la Renaissance. Histoire et dictionnaire, Paris, Robert Laffont, 2001, article « Gouffier, famille », p. 851-854.
• Pierre Carouge, « Artus (1474-1519) et Guillaume (1482-1525) Gouffier à l’émergence de nouvelles modalités de gouvernement », Les conseillers de François Ier, dir. Cédric Michon, Rennes, Presses universitaires de Rennes, 2011, p. 229-253.