John VIII, Count of Vendôme

John VIII de Bourbon (1425 – 6 January 1478) was Count of Vendôme from 1446 until his death. A member of the House of Bourbon, he was the son and successor of Louis, Count of Vendôme.^[1] As a courtier of King Charles VII of France, he fought the English in Normandy and Guyenne. He attached himself to King Louis XI, but was not in royal favor. He withdrew to the Château of Lavardin and completed its construction.

In 1454, he married Isabelle de Beauvau,^[2] daughter of Louis de Beauvau, Marshal of Provence^[3] and Marguerite de Chambley. They had:

Jeanne (1460-1487), married in 1477 to Louis of Joyeuse
Catherine, married Gilbert de Chabannes
Jeanne, married at first John II, Duke of Bourbon and later John III, Count of Auvergne^[4]
Renée, Abbess of Fontevraud
François, Count of Vendôme (1470–1495)^[5]
Louis, Prince of La Roche-sur-Yon^[2]
Catherine, married Engelbert, Count of Nevers^[6]
Isabelle, Abbess of la Trinité de Caen

Jean also had two illegitimate sons :

Louis, Bishop of Avranches^[7]
Jacques, Governor of Valois and the Vendomois (1455–1524) was the father of Catherine de Bourbon, paternal grandmother of Gabrielle d'Estrées, mistress of Henry IV of France. Also, Gabrielle is the third great aunt of Mathieu Amiot.

Ancestors

Ancestors of John VIII, Count of Vendôme

18. Hugues de Châtillon

9. Jeanne of Châtillon

19. Jeanne d'Argies

22. Jean II de Ponthieu, Comte d'Aumale

11. Jeanne of Ponthieu

23. Catherine d'Artois

1. Jean VIII de Bourbon, Count of Vendôme

25. Isabeau de Lohéac

26. Jean de Kergorlay

13. Jeanne de Kergorlay

27. Marie de Léon

3. Jeanne de Laval

31. Isabeau de Tinténiac

Antonetti, Guy (2000). "Les Princes Etrangers". In Bardet, Jean-Pierre (ed.). Etat et société en France aux XVIIe et XVIIIe siècles (in French). Presses l'Universite de Paris-Sorbonne.
Du Tillet, Jean (1994). Brown, Elizabeth A. R. (ed.). Jean Du Tillet and the French wars of religion: five tracts, 1562-1569. Binghamton University Press.
Favier, Jean (2008). Le Roi René (in French). Fayard.
Müller, Annalena (2022). From the Cloister to the State: Fontevraud and the Making of Bourbon France. Routledge.
Potter, David (1995). Keen, Maurice (ed.). A History of France, 1460–1560: The Emergence of a Nation State. Macmillan.
Ward, A.W.; Prothero, G.W.; Leathes, Stanley, eds. (1911). The Cambridge Modern History. Cambridge University Press.

John VIII, Count of Vendôme House of Bourbon Born: 1426 Died: 6 January 1477
Preceded by Louis	Count of Vendôme 1446–1477	Succeeded by François