Louis Malet de Graville
Louis Malet de Graville (c. 1440 – 30 October 1516) was a French military officer, Admiral of France, politician and art patron.
After the death of the king, he continued to serve during the regency of Anne of France and her husband Peter II, Duke of Bourbon.
Besides his political and military career, Louis organised modernisation and reconstruction efforts at his holdings, in an attempt to stimulate the economy following the devastation of the Hundred Years' War.
[2] The French branch established a motte-and-bailey castle at the estuary of the Seine in Normandy, at Graville [fr] (today part of Le Havre), by the 11th century.
[14] He was the second son of Jean VI Malet de Graville (died 1475), who was counsellor and chamberlain to King Charles VII and later Louis XI.
[15] Louis's father, Jean VI, had participated in the French attempt to secure the throne of England for Margaret of Anjou during the Wars of the Roses.
In 1472, possibly to negotiate with the rebellious Count John V, he undertook a trip to the County of Armagnac, a delicate journey indicating that Louis enjoyed a high degree of trust from the king early on.
[17] In 1475, he was promoted to the important post of head of the Gentilshommes ordinaires de la Maison du Roi [fr], i.e., the royal lifeguard.
[18] In 1476, he was entrusted another delicate assignment which he carried out successfully, namely to convince Charles IV of Anjou to cede part of his inheritance to the French king.
The same year, Louis was assigned to be one of the judges in the process against Jacques d'Armagnac, another central part of French politics at the time.
[19] He also participated in the military operations following the death of the Duke of Burgundy Charles the Bold in 1477, with the objective of securing former Burgundian lands for the French crown.
[21] During this time, Louis developed a close relationship with Anne, becoming a central member of the royal council and second in power only to the regents themselves.
He lost the governorship of Normandy, and a quiet agreement was made among several high-ranking members of court, including his earlier benefactor Anne of France, to not support the admiral.
His opposition appears to have been a mix of genuine concern about leaving France exposed to English and German incursions as well as part of a power-play in the court.
[31] In early 1494 he therefore retired to his châteaux at Malesherbes and Montagu [fr], and focused much of his energy on reconstruction projects and commissioning art.
[33] After the death of Charles VIII and the ascent to the throne of Louis XII, he participated in some of the Italian expeditions, and in 1504 was called upon to make a review of the finances of the realm.
[22] The youngest daughter of the couple, Anne de Graville (c. 1490–1540), was a writer, courtier, intellectual and book collector in her own right.
[44] Other conflicts, like the War of the Public Weal, had also brought destruction to the areas where Malet de Graville owned land.
[46][47] Against this backdrop, Louis undertook several projects to modernise his estates and try to stimulate the economy, though it was not necessarily an immediate reaction to wartime destruction from his side.
[49] Through various projects, starting from the 1480s, Malet de Graville aimed to confirm the ownership of his land, to increase its yield and his income, and to promote an image of himself as a benevolent lord, helping the population.
For example, the churches in Arpajon, Dourdan, Héricy, Malesherbes, Marcoussis and Milly-la-Forêt, all south of Paris, as well as that of Ingouville in Normandy, were repaired, rebuilt or enlarged thanks to support from Louis between 1470 and 1516.
[51] Malet de Graville furthermore engaged in updating the legal framework surrounding the estates, putting local managers in place and reorganising archives.
[55] The Entombment was made by a sculptor resident in Paris but probably from Antwerp, Adrien Wincart, based on designs by the Coëtivy Master [fr].
[63] That his library was remarkably rich in illuminated manuscripts of high quality has been recognised for a long time; the medievalist Antoine Le Roux de Lincy for example wrote enthusiastically about it as early as 1860.
[63] However, given the sumptuous decoration, large format and rich bindings of the books he commissioned, it was clearly also an expression of his art patronage.
