DUNOIS, JEAN (dun-was), called the Bastard of Orleans, Count of Dunois and Longueville, one of the most brilliant sol diers that France ever produced; born in Paris, Nov. 23, 1402, the natural son of Louis Duke of Orleans, brother of Charles VI., and was brought up in the house of that prince along with his legiti mate children. His first important mili tary achievement was the overthrow of the English at Montargis (1427). He next threw himself into Orleans with a small body of men, and bravely defended the place till the arrival of the famous Joan of Arc, whose religious enthusiasm combined with the valor of Dunois re stored the drooping spirits of the French, and compelled the English to raise the siege. This was the turning point in the fortunes of the French nation. In 1429 Dunois and the Maid of Orleans won the battle of Patay, after which he marched, with a small body of men, through the provinces then overrun by the English and took the fortified towns. The cap
ture and death of Joan of Arc arrested for a moment the progress of the French arms, but the heroism of Dunois was ir resistible. He took Chartres, the key of Paris, forced Bedford to raise the siege of Lagny, chased the enemy from Paris, and within a very short period deprived them of all their French conquests except Normandy and Guienne. In 1448-1450 he drove the English from Normandy, and in 1455 he had swept them from Guienne also, and permanently secured the free dom of France from all external pres sure. For his participation in the league of the nobles against Louis XI. he was deprived of all his offices and possessions, which were, however, restored to him under the treaty of Conflans (1465). He died Nov. 24, 1468.