HACHETTE, JEANNE, French heroine. Jeanne Laine, or Fourquet, called Jeanne Hachette, was born about 1454, and is known solely for an act of heroism which on June 27, 1472, saved Beauvais when it was on the point of being taken by the troops of Charles the Bold, duke of Burgundy. The town was defended by only 30o men-at-arms, commanded by Louis de Balagny. A Burgundian man-at-arms had actually planted a flag upon the battlements, when Jeanne, axe in hand, flung herself upon him, hurled him into the moat, tore down the flag, and revived the drooping courage of the garrison. Louis NI. instituted a pro cession in Beauvais called the Procession of the Assault, and married Jeanne to her chosen lover Colin Pilon, loading them with favours.
See Georges Vallat, Jeanne Hachette (Abbeville, 1898).