Alain I of Albret (Paperback)

High Quality Content by WIKIPEDIA articles Alain I of Albret (1440-1522), called "The Great," was a powerful French aristocrat. He was 16th Lord of Albret, Viscount of Tartas, the 2nd Count of Graves, and the Count of Castres. He was the son of Catherine de Rohan and Jean I of Albret. He was the grandson and heir of Charles II of Albret, and became head of the House of Albret in 1471.He was skillful, but also very fickle, greedy, and unscrupulous. During his half century of rule, he took a political course which was more agitated than effective, following his father's example, making him one of the most visible actors on the stage of Europe. Alain I initially benefited from his fidelity to King Louis XI of France, and thereby enlarged his principality. He married Franoise de Ch tillon, and this marriage brought him the inheritance of the county of Prigord as well as the viscounty of Limoges. He then seized Armagnac, and married his son John to Catherine of Navarre, heiress of the counties of Foix and Bigorre and of the Kingdom of Navarre.