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Count Geoffroi IV de La Tour-Landry (1320 – 1391) Author of “Livre du Chevalier de La Tour Landry”















Geoffroy was a bona fide knight of the highest chivalric order in medieval France. The Anjou nobleman presented his banner and retinue at all the battles he fought during the One Hundred Years War era.

He wrote Livre pour l’enseignement de ses filles du Chevalier de La Tour Landry out of concern for the chastity and sophistication of his three daughters who were coming of age as debutantes at the French royal court. Tragically, the similar version he wrote for his sons did not survive long after his death.

William Caxton (1420 – 1492), England’s first mechanical printer, printed his English translation of .The Book of the Knight of the Tower  for King Edward V (1470 – 1483; agnatic descendant of Henry II Plantagenet (1133 – 1189) 1st Plantagenet King of England and Ireland) in 1484. He is also historically renowned as being the first printed book publisher in England. It was one of the first books printed in English, with Geoffrey Chaucer (1343 – 1400) Father of English Language‘s Canterbury Tales likely being the first.

In 1493, the German edition, entitled Der Ritter vom Turn, was published in Basel, Switzerland. Marquard vom Stein, a member of one of the oldest Swabian aristocratic families, translated the French text for the benefit of his two daughters. Albrecht Dürer produced a series of wonderful woodcut illustrations. The only surviving copy is in the printed books collection of The Morgan Library & Museum in New York City.

The book was required reading for European school children as part of their standard educational curriculum during the Late Middle Ages and beyond.

Geoffroi’s son Charles was slain at the Battle of Agincourt – 25 October 1415. It could be said the flower of French chivalry forever perished that day whilst mired in the mud under the murderous rain of English arrows.

Either Charles or his grandson Pontus wrote the medieval prose roman .Pontus and Sidonia . Bibliophile Eleanor of Scotland (1433-1480) translated the French text into German. Her copy was widely circulated amongst the European nobility during her lifetime.

Around 1475, Margarethe of Savoy commissioned a magnificently illustrated edition of the original German translation. The digitalized version of the book is available for online viewing and download.

The first record of the Landry lineage (the surname is the second oldest in French history) in France appears with mention of a forebear who was recorded as being a military adviser of Clovis I Meroving (466 – 511) 1st King of Franks, 1st Christian Ruler of Gaul. Around 1060, Landricus Dunesis built the tower and fortress, later named Tour de la Landry, at Chemillé, Maine-et-Loire. It became the meeting place of the first Guild of Knights. Destroyed in the 11th century, the tower was later rebuilt.

Other notables of the Landry lineage include the following:

-Saint Landry, Bishop of Seez, born in the 5th Century ca.450.
-Bishop Saint Landry (Landericus) of Paris (died c. 661), founded Hôtel-Dieu de Paris, France’s first hospital.
-Saint Landry of Savoy was born around 1050 at Bonneval or Lanslevillard.
-Landri, Mayor of the Palace (539 A.D.) Another early historical account of a Landry can be found in the 6th century (593 A.D.), the person of “Landri”, “Mayor of the Palace”, military leader and advisor of Clotaire II. Clotaire II was a descendant of Childeric I (437-481 A.D.) who was the first king of the Franks.
-St Landry (Landericus), Bishop of Paris (650-661), third Landry recorded in history.
-St Landry, Bishop (Abbott) of Metz (or Landericus of Metz), fourth Landry recorded in history.
-Pierre Landry (1603-1701), employed by booksellers and engraved many frontispieces, portraits, and other subjects. His best prints are his portraits among which is one of Charles de Bourbon, Bishop of Roissons, done in 1660.
-Rene Landry l’aine (1618–), arrived in Acadia in 1640 from La Chausee, France, and married Perrine Bourg. The progenitor of one line of Landrys in Canada.
-Rene Landry le Jeune (1634 – 1693; my 11th great-uncle), progenitor of the Landrys of Maritime provinces in Canada and ultimately that of a large group of Landrys in Louisiana.
-Captain Pierre Joseph Landry (1770-1843), commander of a company in the 8th Louisiana Regiment in the War of 1812 (Battle of New Orleans) and accomplished woodcarver.
-Jean Traisimond Landry, born December 16, 1795, Ascension Parish, son of Joseph Landry and Anne Bujol. Second lieutenant, Seventh Regiment of Louisiana Militia, War of 1812.
-Colonel Joseph Octave Landry, born in St. Martin Parish, La. on February 11, 1834.
-Jean Traisimond Landry, elected Lieutenant Governor of Louisiana in 1845.
-Auguste Charles Phillipe Robert Landry (1846-?), his father was a surgeon of the Province of Quebec and one of the founders of Laval University.
-Joseph Paul Landry Sr. (1853-?), founder of Halfway Plantation in Terrebonne Parish, La., and owner of one of the first oil wells there in 1917 called the Wildcat.
-Luke Valcour Landry, Jr. (1873-1963), noted attorney and father of Gen. Robert B. Landry.
-Dr. Paul Bernard Landry, born in 1880 in Iberia Parish, La., practiced private and military medicine.
-General Robert B. Landry served on the White House Staff of President Harry S. Truman.
-Dr. Adrian A. Landry, physician and sugar plantation owner. Born December 4, 1873, in Paincourtville, La.
–Tom Landry, head coach of the Dallas Cowboys from 1960 to 1988.
-Bernard Landry, lawyer and former Premier of Quebec, Canada.
-Ali Landry, Miss USA (1996).

Related ancestral blog articles

comte Geoffroi VI de la Tour-Landry, author of The Book of the Knight of the Tower
Birth 1320 in Anjou, Isere, Rhone-Alpes, France
Death 1391 in France

20th great-grandfather LANDRY-BOURG-CYR-BRULE

paternal grandfather of wife of 17th great-grandfather ROCHECHOUART-CHABOT-LANDRY-BOURG-CYR-BRULE

husband of 4th cousin 19x removed ROUGE-LEON-MONTMORENCY-TURPIN-ROCHE GUYON-DE SILLY-ROHAN-DUGAST-LANDRY-BOURG-CYR-BRULE

Fab Pedigree

FamilySearch

Wiki

SOURCES

Family Tree Y-DNA Project: Landry
Related Family Tree Surnames of R1b-M269 (P312- U106-) DNA Haplogroup
Dynastie de Maillé la Tour-Landry
Landry Family Were Kin to Merovingians
The Landry Family Genealogy
Commune de La Tourlandry Wiki
Landry (surname) Wiki
WikiTree (Landry)
Origins of the Name “Landry”
Acadian-Cajun Genealogy: Landry
INTRODUCTION, BY THE LATE THOMAS WRIGHT
Chivalric Manuals: Written by Knights

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Le livre du chevalier de La Tour Landry pour l’enseignement de ses filles. Publi
The Book of the Knight of La Tour-Landry Compiled for the Instruction of His Daughters
The Book of the Order of Chivalry
The Booke of Thenseygnementes

The Patricians, A Genealogical Study – Ebook Editions US$5.95

Author at Harrod’s Deli – London

Steven Wood Collins (1952 – ) Antiquarian, Genealogist, Novelist

By Steven Wood Collins

I spent most of my life unaware of my ancestral heritage. Sure, I knew of the personal history of my more immediate relatives; but beyond that, I never had any inkling as to my ancestral heritage. Then one day many years ago my sister said to me, “I sometimes wonder about our family background.” And so my quest to discover our genealogical roots commenced.

I started building my family tree with the very basic relationships, going back in time from my grandparents, one ancestor at a time. That initial effort proved to be the hardest part of the pursuit, mainly due to my lack of expertise as a novice genealogical researcher. As I gained familiarity with the databases and how to efficiently mine them, my progress gained ever-increasing momentum. Today, The Patricians! tree (Ancestry.com) contains nearly 120,000 individuals, stretching over 135 generations, 5,800 of which are my direct ancestors in a genealogical sense.

During this trek back in time, I encountered fascinating figures in both history and obscurity. This blog contains many stories about their genealogical relationship to me (and many of you). By far and away, as a student of history, the historically obscure individuals are of particular interest to me. I cite Baron “Blue Beard” Montmorency-Laval de Rais (1405 – 1440) as an example of a historically maligned personage whose real contribution to history, as both a playwright and hero of France, has yet to be properly recognized. Another example is Earl Edward de Vere (1550 – 1604), who’s yet to gain widespread recognition as the actual author of the body of literary work wrongly ascribed to William Shakespeare (1564 – 1616).

My life-long interest in international economics and finance continues unabated. I primarily demonstrate this professional involvement as a contributor to the Long Room, the members-only international finance professionals' forum hosted by the Financial Times of London.

I'm an avid recreational scuba diver who enjoys traveling to exotic dive sites. My love of the sea and marine life gives me an unbounded appreciation and support of “green” issues, especially those devoted to the conservation of endangered species and coral reefs.

He continually posts results of his personal genealogical research to his Goodreads Authors Blog. Entitled The Patricians - The Ancestral Heritage of Steven Wood Collins, the work represents thousand of hours of his research efforts and related commentary.

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