Charlotte of Savoy (16 November 1441 – 1 December 1483) was

Queen of France This is a list of the women who were queens or empresses as wives of French monarchs from the 843 Treaty of Verdun, which gave rise to West Francia, until 1870, when the French Third Republic was declared. Living wives of reigning monarchs te ...

as the second spouse of

Louis XI Louis XI (3 July 1423 – 30 August 1483), called "Louis the Prudent" (), was King of France from 1461 to 1483. He succeeded his father, Charles VII. Louis entered into open rebellion against his father in a short-lived revolt known as the ...

. She served as regent during the king's absence in 1465, and was a member of the royal regency council during her son's minority in 1483.

Life

She was a daughter of Louis, Duke of SavoyJoachim W. Stieber, ''Pope Eugenius IV, the Council of Basel and the Secular and Ecclesiastical Authorities in the Empire'', (E.J. Brill, 1978), 254. and Anne of Cyprus.Sharon L. Jansen, ''Anne of France: Lessons For My Daughter'', ed. Jane Chance, (Boydell & Brewer, 2004), 2-3 She was one of 19 children, 14 of whom survived infancy.

Marriage

On 11 March 1443, when Charlotte was just over a year old, she was betrothed to Frederick of Saxony (28 August 1439- 23 December 1451), eldest son of

Frederick II, Elector of Saxony Frederick II, The Gentle (''Friedrich, der Sanftmütige''; Frederick the Gentle; 22 August 1412 – 7 September 1464) was Elector of Saxony (1428–1464) and was Landgrave of Thuringia (1440–1445). Biography Frederick was born in Leipzig, th ...

. The betrothal did not lead to a marriage, however, was annulled for reasons unknown. The younger Frederick died at the age of 12. On 14 February 1451, 10 months before Frederick's death, Charlotte married Louis, Dauphin of France (future Louis XI), eldest son of

Charles VII of France Charles VII (22 February 1403 – 22 July 1461), called the Victorious () or the Well-Served (), was King of France from 1422 to his death in 1461. His reign saw the end of the Hundred Years' War and a ''de facto'' end of the English claims to ...

and

Marie of Anjou Marie of Anjou (14 October 1404 – 29 November 1463) was Queen of France as the spouse of King Charles VII from 1422 to 1461. She served as regent and presided over the council of state several times during the absence of the king. Life Marie ...

.Richard Vaughan, ''Philip the Good'', (The Boydell Press, 2010), 353. The bride was nine years old and the groom twenty-seven. The marriage, which had taken place without the consent of the French king, was Louis' second; his first spouse, Margaret of Scotland, had died childless in 1445. Upon her marriage, Charlotte became Dauphine of France. Louis reportedly neglected her. When the news of his succession to the throne of France reached the couple at the Burgundian court, he immediately abandoned her in Burgundy to secure his inheritance, leaving her dependent upon Isabella of Bourbon to borrow the carts and entourage necessary to travel to France to join him.

Queen

On 22 July 1461, Charlotte became Queen of France. The following year, she became seriously ill and was close to death by August 1462. Although she recovered, her health was weakened. Louis XI did not keep much of a representational court life. He had Queen Charlotte and her household kept secluded at the Château of Amboise, where she spent her days with her sisters and courtiers, supervising the education of her daughters (her son was educated by the king), playing

chess Chess is a board game for two players. It is an abstract strategy game that involves Perfect information, no hidden information and no elements of game of chance, chance. It is played on a square chessboard, board consisting of 64 squares arran ...

and marbles, listening to her lute player, doing needlework and fulfilling her religious duties. On rare occasions, she was asked to fulfil ceremonial tasks as queen such as greeting foreign guests, for example in 1470, when the king took the powerful

Earl of Warwick Earl of Warwick is a title in the Peerage of the United Kingdom which has been created four times in English history. The name refers to Warwick Castle and the town of Warwick. Overview The first creation came in 1088, and the title was held b ...

and the

Duke of Clarence Duke of Clarence was a substantive title created three times in the Peerage of England. The title Duke of Clarence and St Andrews has also been created in the Peerage of Great Britain, and Duke of Clarence and Avondale and Prince Leopold, Duke ...

from England to Amboise to visit her. Charlotte was interested in literature and was praised for the taste and excellence of her personal library. She left a collection of about one hundred manuscripts, which would become the genesis of the

Bibliothèque Nationale de France The (; BnF) is the national library of France, located in Paris on two main sites, ''Richelieu'' and ''François-Mitterrand''. It is the national repository of all that is published in France. Some of its extensive collections, including bo ...

. Charlotte was regarded as virtuous. A contemporary noted that "while she was an excellent Princess in other respects, she was not a person in whom a man could take any great delight"; However, after the birth of her last child in 1472, Louis swore that he would no longer be unfaithful, and according to the chronicler Phillip de Commynes, he kept this vow. Charlotte served as regent in September 1465.

Queen dowager

Charlotte was widowed on 30 August 1483, upon which Louis XI was succeeded by their son Charles VIII, who was still a minor. Louis XI did not make Charlotte regent if his son should succeed him while still a minor; he did in fact not formally appoint a regent at all, but he did leave instructions for a royal council to govern during such a minority, in which Charlotte, alongside Duke Jean de Bourbon II and their two sons-in-law Louis d'Orleans (married to their daughter Jeanne) and Peter II, Duke of Bourbon (married to their daughter Anne), were made members. In practice, her daughter Anne took control over France as regent during the minority of Charles. Charlotte died on 1 December 1483 in Amboise, just a few months after her spouse's death. She is buried with him in the in Cléry-Saint-André (

Loiret Loiret (; ) is a department in the Centre-Val de Loire region of north-central France. It takes its name from the river Loiret, which is contained wholly within the department. In 2019, Loiret had a population of 680,434.

) in the arrondissement of Orléans.

Issue

Charlotte became the mother of eight children, but only three survived infancy. These were Charles VIII, who became king of France,

Anne Anne, alternatively spelled Ann, is a form of the Latin female name Anna (name), Anna. This in turn is a representation of the Hebrew Hannah (given name), Hannah, which means 'favour' or 'grace'. Related names include Annie (given name), Annie a ...

, who acted as regent of France for Charles, and Joan, who became queen of France as the spouse of

Louis XII Louis XII (27 June 14621 January 1515), also known as Louis of Orléans was King of France from 1498 to 1515 and King of Naples (as Louis III) from 1501 to 1504. The son of Charles, Duke of Orléans, and Marie of Cleves, he succeeded his second ...

. * Louis (18 October 14581460) * Joachim (15 July 145929 November 1459) * Louise (born and died in 1460) *

(3 April 1461 − 14 November 1522), married Peter II, Duke of Bourbon. * Joan (23 April 1464 – 4 February 1505), married Louis XII, King of France. * Louis (born and died on 4 December 1466) *

Charles VIII of France Charles VIII, called the Affable (; 30 June 1470 – 7 April 1498), was King of France from 1483 to his death in 1498. He succeeded his father Louis XI at the age of 13. His elder sister Anne acted as regent jointly with her husband Peter II, Du ...

(30 June 1470 – 8 April 1498) * Francis, Duke of Berry (3 September 1472 – November 1473)

References

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External links

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