Jean De la Fontaine (1500-1563)
1500--1563 (man)
Birth: about 1500 in the province of Maine near the Normandy border, France
Death: Together with his wife, Jean was murdered in his house 1563 in the city of Le Maus, Maine, France because of their religion. The drawing is of the very house of Jean de la Fontaine and his family, where they were murdered by Catholic troops in 1563. The fortified château at Sévilly, just outside the small town of Ste.-Sabine-sur-Longève in the Department of La Sarthe, France, is still standing. The house was identified through meticulous research by Paul Mason of West Sussex, England. Copy of the postcard is courtesy of Joe Fontaine. http://www.fontainemaurysociety.org/photos/photos.htm
Converted to a protestant ( Huguenot ) in 1535. At an early age his father Jacques got a commision for Jean in the court of Francis I, in what was called ,"Les Ordonnances du Roi". While he was at court and before 1535 he married his wife.
After he converted, his allegiance to the unpopular faith was known at court, he was retained because of his honorable conduct and rare abitlities, through the reigns of Francis I, Henry II,and the first two years of Charles IX minority.
When the Edit of Pacification was pronounced Jan. 17, 1562, Jean thinking the persecution of the Huguenots had ended, resigned his comission at court and retired to his paternal estates in the province of Maine. Here he,his wife, their oldest son and a valet were murdered.
Four children:
name unknown; born about 1545. Murdered with his parents.
Jacques (James in English); born about 1548.
Abraham; born about 1551.
name unknown; born about 1554.
To escape the attack and murder of the family members Jacques led his younger siblings to Rochelle, a protestant stronghold on the coast, where a shoemaker took them in. |  |
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