Medieval
Mengin Le Clerc
c. 1310, after 1355
Lorraine, France
First documented Le Clerc of the line
⚭ Catherine de Gircourt
- Noble marriage
The earliest medieval Le Clerc generation of the canonical direct sequence; husband of Catherine de Gircourt and father of Colin Le Clerc, recorded in Lorraine in 1355.
Mengin Le Clerc, also recorded as Moingins dis li clers, stands at the beginning of the documented Leclaire history. Associated with Deyvillers in the Vosges, he appears in the Lorraine charter tradition through the middle decades of the fourteenth century, active in the years of the Hundred Years' War and the Black Death.
His earliest surviving act is dated 1355, when he sold to Jean de Nomeny two inherited portions from the estate of the late Philippin de Girecourt, écuyer, in the place of Folz beneath the castle of Faucompierre, for the sum of 26 small gold florins. The transaction places him within a documented world of property, inheritance, fortified places and local noble networks, acting on estates connected to the Gircourt family into which he married.
His marriage to Catherine de Gircourt, daughter of Jacques de Gircourt and Catherine de Haute-Pierre, joined the early Le Clerc family to the seigneurial network of Gircourt, Haute-Pierre, Toullon, Nomeny and Parroye. Through her the direct pedigree passes upward into the Haute-Pierre branch of the house of Parroye and, in the working reconstruction, to the comital house of Metz and the Carolingians.
His birth is placed about 1310, consistent with his activity in the 1340s and 1350s; he was living after 1355. A birth of c. 1355 cannot stand beside that activity and is not used here.
Today Mengin Le Clerc can be regarded as one of the foundational figures in the documented history of the Le Clerc de Pulligny lineage, the point at which surviving records first place the family within the landed society of medieval Lorraine.
Biographical Record
Parents+
His own parents are not presently established. The ancestry above him in the direct pedigree runs through his wife Catherine de Gircourt, and so through Jacques de Gircourt and Catherine de Haute-Pierre into the Toullon, Haute-Pierre and Parroye houses.
Spouse+
His wife was Catherine de Gircourt, also recorded as Catherine de Girecourt, born about 1320, daughter of Jacques de Gircourt and of Catherine de Haute-Pierre, daughter in turn of Thiébaud (Liébaud) de Toullon. Through her the pedigree continues through Marguerite de Haute-Pierre, Liébaud de Haute-Pierre (died 1281) and the three successive Alberts to Simon I de Parroye. Research history: an earlier version of this archive identified Mengin Le Clerc with Johann III von Mengen and consequently recorded his wife as Catherine de Bauffremont. That identification has been withdrawn. Catherine de Bauffremont is a different woman, wife of a different man, and is not an ancestor of this line.
Children+
From this union descend the entire documented Le Clerc, Leclerc and LeClaire pedigree of subsequent generations, beginning with their son Colin Le Clerc.
Historical Profile+
Mengin appears during the fourteenth century, a period shaped by plague, the Hundred Years' War, the schism of the Western Church and persistent political instability across the Duchy of Lorraine.
He should be described as the first known documentary figure in the Le Clerc line, appearing not as a peasant but as a man connected to property and lesser noble society. Through his wife Catherine de Gircourt he was linked to an established landholding network of the region.
Lorraine occupied a strategic position between the Kingdom of France and the Holy Roman Empire. Families such as the Gircourts, Pullignys and Le Clercs formed part of the local gentry that governed estates, administered justice and supported their feudal overlords.
Family Significance+
Mengin Le Clerc is the earliest ancestor to bear the Le Clerc name. His marriage to Catherine de Gircourt connects the Le Clerc family to the Gircourt, Haute-Pierre, Toullon and Parroye ancestry shown above him. With him the documented record of the Le Clerc surname, and therefore of the modern LeClaire, begins.
The territorial designation "de Pulligny", borne by his descendants for generations, indicates that the family's standing did not originate solely through marriage but was already established within the social structure of Lorraine.
Legacy+
Every subsequent generation of the House, the Sieurs de Pulligny, the Leclerc du Vivier, the Le Claire, Leclaire, Le Clair, Licklär and the modern LeClaire and Greenland-LeClaire, descends from Mengin Le Clerc and Catherine de Gircourt.
Sources & Evidence+
- Documented record, 1355 act of sale to Jean de Nomeny concerning inherited portions of the Girecourt estate at Folz beneath the castle of Faucompierre.
- Genealogical source tradition, registers of medieval Lorraine and notarial records of the Pulligny and Gircourt families.
Direct Line
18 generations to Brandon Noble LeClaire
Story Mode
Their chapter in the dynastyMengin Le Clerc belongs to the Late Middle Ages. Born around 1310 in Lorraine, France, First documented Le Clerc of the line. They stand at generation 1 of 19 in the documented bloodline that leads to the present House of Greenland-LeClaire.
Mengin appears during the fourteenth century, a period shaped by plague, the Hundred Years' War, the schism of the Western Church and persistent political instability across the Duchy of Lorraine.
Marriage to Catherine de Gircourt bound the line to a wider noble network.
In France, Philip IV the Fair ruled. Lorraine answered to Thiébaut II. Across the wider world, avignon papacy begins was reshaping events.
Every subsequent generation of the House, the Sieurs de Pulligny, the Leclerc du Vivier, the Le Claire, Leclaire, Le Clair, Licklär and the modern LeClaire and Greenland-LeClaire, descends from Mengin Le Clerc and Catherine de Gircourt.
The World They Lived In
Mengin's lifetime · 1310–1355
Who governed their world
- King of FrancePhilip IV the Fair
- Duke of LorraineThiébaut II
- PopeClement V (Avignon)
Contemporary figures
- Dante AlighieriPoet · 1265–1321
- PetrarchHumanist · 1304–1374
Major events during their life
- Birth of Mengin Le Clerc1310 · Lorraine
First documented ancestor of the Le Clerc / LeClaire line, born c. 1310 in Deyvillers, Duchy of Lorraine.
- Hundred Years' War1337–1453 · France
France and England contest the French crown.
- The Black Death1347–1351 · Europe
Bubonic plague kills a third of Europe.
- Mengin Le Clerc — first documentary record1355 · Lorraine
Earliest surviving act of the family, sale of two inherited portions from the estate of the late Philippin de Girecourt, écuyer, in the place of Folz beneath the castle of Faucompierre, to Jean de Nomeny for 26 small gold florins.
Dynasty Explorer
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Legacy Flow
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How Did I Get Here?
Path from Mengin to Brandon