Random Magic -- Pirates! Pirate Queen -- #1 of 10 (re-post)

And here is the second re-created post ......   thank you for bearing with me!   No attempt at the YouTube video, sorry -- it was tricky enough to get it to work the first time.

Feature: Pirate Queens: #1 of 10: The Lioness of BrittanyThe Lioness of Brittany

One of the most bloodthirsty female pirates in history. Jeanne de
Clisson, nicknamed the Lioness of Brittany, was driven to piracy by a
desire for revenge.

At the age of 12, she was married off to 19-year-old Geoffrey de Châteaubriant. The marriage ended when Geoffrey died. Four years  later, Jeanne married again - this time, for love.  Then 30 years old, she selected Olivier III de Clisson as a bridegroom and they were reportedly content together. Olivier was a nobleman,
holding a castle at Clisson and manor house in Nantes.  In 1342, he joined his friend Charles de Blois in fending off English claimants to Brittany. However, during the Breton War of Succession, Olivier was accused of failing to hold a particular region against English forces. That summer (1343), he was attending a tourney in French territory - and he was arrested and carted off to Paris for trial. Fifteen former allies, including his friend Charles de Blois, found him guilty of treason.  Olivier was beheaded by order of King Philip VI, and his head was displayed on a pole outside the castle of Bouffay, in Nantes.  His widow, Jeanne, saw what had  happened to her partner, and that's when the story really picks up.

Enraged by her husband's betrayal and his hasty execution, she swore revenge on France, itself.   She sold off all that remained of her estate to raise enough money to buy three warships. The grieving widow had all three ships painted black, and the sails dyed blood red.  Then the 'Black Fleet' was unleashed upon the waters. The Lioness of Brittany hunted down and destroyed the ships of King Philip VI, and the men who crewed them. If she found French noblemen on board, she'd personally behead them with an axe.  The only men who escaped her wrath were two or three sailors from each ship, whom she left alive so that they could bring word to the king that the Lioness was still prowling the trade waters.  Although the 'Black Fleet' was much feared, the bloodthirsty Lioness did have a particular code of honor; there was only one law, and that law was immutable. The French king was responsible for the death of her beloved Olivier, so she spared the ships and crews of every other nation met on her way -- she only attacked French ships.


The main Rum + Plunder treasure hunt is open internationally!
Here’s a fun way to win something piratey and cool: Browse prizes  or join the hunt…

Bonus: Find even more pirate plunder with Little Pirate Prizes.
The Little Pirate Prizes are cute and cool -- but they're not marked,
so they could be ANYWHERE on the tour.

You're welcome to find some buried treasure, if you like: Follow the tour