From the circumstance, however, that the Prince's wife was
of inferior birth to himself, it is not impossible that the
personage referred to may be either Charles de Bourbon,
Prince of La Roche-sur-Yonne and Duke of Beaupreau, or John
VIII., Lord of Crequi, Canaples and Pontdormi, and Prince of
Poix. The former, who married Philippa de Montespedon, widow
of Rene de Montejan, and a lady of honour to Catherine de'
Medici when Dauphiness, took a prominent part in the last
wars of Francis I.'s reign, and survived till 1565. The
latter, generally known at Court by the name of Canaples,
was a gentleman of the chamber and an especial favourite of
Francis I. Brantome says of him in his _Homines Illustres_
that he was "a valiant lord and the strongest man of arms
that in those days existed in all Christendom, for he broke
a lance, no matter its strength, as easily as though it were
a mere switch, and few were able to withstand him." In 1525
the Prince of Poix married a Demoiselle d'Acigne or Assigny,
of _petite noblesse_, who in 1532 became a lady of honour to
Queen Eleanor.
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