Lords of Brancion's little histories
And also
The tops
The family of Brancion (also known as Gros family) counted several mighty lords and brave strapping lads! We know them since the 10th c.
They were Crusaders, bishops (like Liébaud III at the end of the 10th c., bishop of Mâcon) or priors in Cluny abbey like Josserand and his brother Bertrand in the 12th c.
Bernard on his donkey
Bernard I de Brancion, for his part, made pretty naughty things… he had remorse weighing on his soul! So he went to a pilgrimage in Rome. He died as he came back in Burgundy.
Before that, he quarrelled with Cluny abbey: he was very naughty, so the pope gave him an anathema (a religious disapproval). Upset, Bernard begged abbot of Cluny to remove this blame.
But the abbot couldn’t do it, he had to go to Rome for that. So Bernard died during this trip…
Few years later, the abbot, who was strolling in the Burgundian forest, suddenly came across Bernard, riding on a donkey!
His ghost said he made naughty things, but he wanted abbot of Cluny’s forgiveness to rest in peace…
Josserand in Crusade
Josserand IV went to the Crusade with his son and king of France saint Louis, in 1248. He died on the Holy Land, during the siege of Mansourah…
Josserand was a mighty lord, rich, powerful, “one of the best knight in the army”, said chronicler Joinville. We can see his recumbent figure in the small church of Brancion…
He and his son spent a fortune to go to Crusades, so this last one had to sell the castle to duke of Burgundy Hugues IV in 1259…
A Parisian place for Brancion!
Hey! Did you know in the 19th century, we still have a descendant of the Brancion family? A man called Rattier de Brancion, a colonel killed during battle of Sevastopol…
A place in Paris (15th arrondissement), porte de Brancion, was named after him!