Jean d'Arras (ca. 1387)

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Jean d'Arras (ca. 1387)

A French writer of the fourteenth century who compiled for his patron Jean, duke of Berry, the Chronique de la princesse in 1387 from popular stories about the fairy Mélusine. Mélusine was doomed to change into the form of a serpent every Saturday unless she found a husband who would never see her on Saturdays. She married Raymond of Poitiers of the house of Lusignan. He was rich and powerful, and Mélusine was instrumental in the building of the castle of Lusignan and other family fortresses. One Saturday her husband was overcome by curiosity and spied on her, whereupon she cried out and flew away in serpent form. Thenceforth, the cry of Mélusine was said to herald death in the family of Lusignan.

(See also Banshee )