COEUR, JACQUES (c. 1395-1456), founder of the trade between France and the Levant, was born at Bourges, the son of a rich merchant. About 1429 he formed a commercial partnership with two brothers named Godard ; and in 1432 he was at Damascus, buying and transporting to France the wares of the Levant. Within a few years he placed his country in a position to contend not unsuccessfully with the great trading republics of Italy, and acquired such reputation as to be able to render material assistance to the knights of Rhodes and to Venice herself.
In 1436 Coeur was summoned to Paris by Charles VII., and made master of the mint. The country was at that time deluged with the base moneys of three reigns, charged with superscriptions both French and English, and Charles had determined on a sweep ing reform. Jacques Coeur inspired or prepared all the ordinances concerning the coinage of France issued between 1435 and 1451. In 1438 he was made steward of the royal expenditure ; in 1441 he and his family were ennobled by letters patent. In 1444 he was sent as one of the royal commissioners to preside over the new parlement of Languedoc. In 1445 his agents in the East negotiated a treaty between the sultan of Egypt and the knights of Rhodes; and in 1447, at his instance, Jean de Village, his nephew by mar riage, was charged with a mission to Egypt. The results were most important ; concessions were obtained which greatly improved the position of the French consuls in the Levant and laid the founda tions of the important French commerce in the Near East. In the same year Coeur took part in a mission to Amadeus VIII., former duke of Savoy, who had been chosen pope as Felix V. by the council of Basel. In 1448 he represented the French king at the court of Pope Nicholas V., and was able to arrange an agreement between Nicholas and Amadeus, and so to end the papal schism. From about this time he made large advances to Charles for carrying on his wars; and in 1449, after fighting at the king's side through the campaign, he entered Rouen in his train.
At this moment the great trader's glory was at its height. He had represented France in three embassies, and had supplied the sinews of that war which had ousted the English from Normandy. He was invested with various offices of dignity, and possessed the most colossal fortune that had ever been amassed by a private Frenchman. The sea was covered with his ships ; he had 300 factors in his employ, and houses of business in all the chief cities of France. He had built houses and chapels, and had founded colleges in Paris, at Montpellier and at Bourges. The magnificent house at Bourges remains to-day one of the finest monuments of the middle ages in France. He also built there the sacristy of the cathedral and a sepulchral chapel for his family. His brother Nicholas was made bishop of Lucon, his sister married Jean Bochetel, the king's secretary, his daughter married the son of the viscount of Bourges, and his son Jean became archbishop of Bourges.
In Feb. 145o Agnes Sorel, the king's mistress, suddenly died. Eighteen months later it was rumoured that she had been poisoned, and Jacques Coeur was accused of having poisoned her by Jeanne de Vendome, wife of Francois de Montberon, and an Italian, Jacques Colonna. There was not even a pretext for such a charge, but for this and other alleged crimes the king, on July 31, 1451, gave orders for his arrest and for the seizure of his goods, reserv ing to himself a large sum of money for the war in Guienne. Commissioners extraordinary, the merchant's declared enemies, were chosen to conduct the trial, and an enquiry began, the judges in which were either the prisoner's debtors or the holders of his forfeited estates. A conviction was indispensable, and after 2 2 months of confinement, he was condemned to do public penance for his fault, to pay the king a sum equal to about 1 ,000,000 of modern money, and to remain a prisoner till full satisfaction had been obtained; his sentence also embraced con fiscation of all his property, and exile during royal pleasure. For nearly three years nothing is known of him. It is probable that he remained in prison; it is certain that his vast possessions were distributed among the intimates of Charles.
In 1455 Jacques Coeur, wherever confined, contrived to escape into Provence. He was pursued ; but a party, headed by Jean de Village and two of his old factors, carried him off to Tarascon, whence, by way of Marseilles, Nice and Pisa, he managed to reach Rome. He was honourably and joyfully received by Nicholas V., who was fitting out an expedition against the Turks. On the death of Nicholas, Calixtus III. continued his work, and named his guest captain of a fleet of 16 galleys sent to the relief of Rhodes. Coeur set out on this expedition, but was taken ill at Chios, and died there on Nov. 25, 1456.
See the admirable monograph of Pierre Clement, Jacques Coeur et Charles VII. (1858, end ed. 1874) ; A. B. Kerr, Jacques Coeur