Olivier IV de Clisson

Olivier IV de Clisson was a Breton lord whose lands and loyalties placed him inside the conflict between the houses of Montfort and Blois. After fighting in the defence of Vannes, he came under suspicion of collaboration with the English. He was arrested during a truce, taken to Paris, condemned for treason and beheaded on 2 August 1343; his body was displayed and his head sent to Nantes.

His politically charged execution became a notorious episode of the Breton succession conflict and the immediate cause of Jeanne de Clisson’s hostility to the French crown. Olivier IV de Clisson was born in Duchy of Brittany and died in Les Halles, Paris, Kingdom of France.

In Gigi Griffis’ The Lioness, Jeanne de Clisson’s life is destroyed when her husband, Olivier IV de Clisson, is arrested for treason and executed on the orders of Philip VI.