Louise of Savoy (11 September 1476 – 22 September 1531) was a French noble and regent, Duchess ''
suo jure
''Suo jure'' is a Latin phrase, used in English to mean 'in his own right' or 'in her own right'. In most nobility-related contexts, it means 'in her own right', since in those situations the phrase is normally used of women; in practice, especi ...
'' of
Auvergne
Auvergne (; ; or ) is a cultural region in central France.
As of 2016 Auvergne is no longer an administrative division of France. It is generally regarded as conterminous with the land area of the historical Province of Auvergne, which was dis ...
and
Bourbon, Duchess of
Nemours
Nemours () is a Communes of France, commune in the Seine-et-Marne Departments of France, department in the Île-de-France Regions of France, region in north-central France.
Geography
Nemours is located on the Loing and its canal, c. south of M ...
and the mother of King
Francis I and
Marguerite of Navarre. She was politically active and served as the
regent
In a monarchy, a regent () is a person appointed to govern a state because the actual monarch is a minor, absent, incapacitated or unable to discharge their powers and duties, or the throne is vacant and a new monarch has not yet been dete ...
of France in 1515, in 1525–1526 and in 1529, during the absence of her son.
Family and early life
Louise of
Savoy
Savoy (; ) is a cultural-historical region in the Western Alps. Situated on the cultural boundary between Occitania and Piedmont, the area extends from Lake Geneva in the north to the Dauphiné in the south and west and to the Aosta Vall ...
was born at
Pont-d'Ain, the eldest daughter of
Philip II, Duke of Savoy and his first wife,
Margaret of Bourbon. Her brother,
Philibert II, Duke of Savoy, succeeded her father as ruler of the duchy and head of the
House of Savoy
The House of Savoy (, ) is a royal house (formally a dynasty) of Franco-Italian origin that was established in 1003 in the historical region of Savoy, which was originally part of the Kingdom of Burgundy and now lies mostly within southeastern F ...
. He was, in turn, succeeded by their half-brother
Charles III, Duke of Savoy.
Because her mother died when she was only seven, she was brought up by
Anne de Beaujeu, who was regent of France for her brother
Charles VIII. At
Amboise she met
Margaret of Austria (daughter of Maximilian and Mary of Burgundy), who was betrothed to the young king and with whom Louise would negotiate peace several decades later.
Marriage
At age eleven, Louise married
Charles of Orléans,
Count of Angoulême
Count (feminine: countess) is a historical title of nobility in certain European countries, varying in relative status, generally of middling rank in the hierarchy of nobility. Pine, L. G. ''Titles: How the King Became His Majesty''. New York: ...
, on 16 February 1488 in Paris. She only began living with him when she was fifteen, though. Despite her husband having two mistresses, the marriage was not unhappy and they shared a love for books.
The household of Charles was presided over by his
châtelain
Châtelain was originally the French title for the keeper of a castle.Abraham Rees Ebers, "CASTELLAIN", in: The Cyclopædia, or Universal Dictionary of Arts, Sciences, and Literature' (London: Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orme & Brown, 1819), vol. 6.
H ...
e Antoinette de
Polignac, Dame de Combronde, by whom he had two illegitimate daughters,
Jeanne of Angoulême
Jeanne may refer to:
Places
* Jeanne (crater), on Venus
People
* Jeanne (given name)
* Joan of Arc (Jeanne d'Arc, c.1412–1431), French folk heroine and saint
* Jeanne Devos (religious sister)
* Jeanne Devos (photographer)
* Joan of Flanders ...
and Madeleine. Antoinette became Louise's
lady-in-waiting
A lady-in-waiting (alternatively written lady in waiting) or court lady is a female personal assistant at a Royal court, court, attending on a royal woman or a high-ranking nobility, noblewoman. Historically, in Europe, a lady-in-waiting was o ...
and confidante. Her children were raised alongside Louise's own. Charles had another illegitimate daughter, Souveraine, by Jeanne le Conte, who also lived in the Angoulême chateau. She would later arrange marriages for her husband's illegitimate children.
Their first child,
Marguerite, was born on 11 April 1492; their second child,
Francis
Francis may refer to:
People and characters
*Pope Francis, head of the Catholic Church (2013–2025)
*Francis (given name), including a list of people and fictional characters
* Francis (surname)
* Francis, a character played by YouTuber Boogie2 ...
, was born on 12 September 1494.
When her husband fell ill after going out riding in the winter of 1495, she nursed him and suffered much grief when he died on 1 January 1496.
Widowed and motherhood
When she was widowed at the young age of 19, Louise deftly manoeuvred her children into a position that would secure for each of them a promising future. Though they remained in
Cognac
Cognac ( , also , ) is a variety of brandy named after the Communes of France, commune of Cognac, France. It is produced in the surrounding wine-growing region in the Departments of France, departments of Charente and Charente-Maritime.
Cogn ...
for two years, she moved her family to court at the ascension of King
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 ...
, her husband's cousin.
Louise had a keen awareness of the intricacies of politics and diplomacy, and was deeply interested in the advances in arts and sciences in Renaissance Italy. She made certain that her children were educated in the spirit of the
Italian Renaissance
The Italian Renaissance ( ) was a period in History of Italy, Italian history between the 14th and 16th centuries. The period is known for the initial development of the broader Renaissance culture that spread across Western Europe and marked t ...
, also helped by her Italian confessor,
Cristoforo Numai from
Forlì
Forlì ( ; ; ; ) is a ''comune'' (municipality) and city in Emilia-Romagna, Northern Italy, and is, together with Cesena, the capital of the Province of Forlì-Cesena.The city is situated along the Via Emilia, to the east of the Montone river, ...
. She commissioned books specifically for them and she taught Francis Italian and Spanish.
When Louis XII became ill in 1505, he determined that Francis should succeed him and that both Louise and his wife
Anne of Brittany
Anne of Brittany (; 25/26 January 1477 – 9 January 1514) was reigning Duchess of Brittany from 1488 until her death, and Queen of France from 1491 to 1498 and from 1499 to her death. She was the only woman to have been queen consort of Fran ...
should be part of the regency council. He recovered and Francis became a favourite of the king, who eventually gave him his daughter
Claude of France
Claude of France (13 October 1499 – 26 July 1524) was Queen of France from 1 January 1515 as the wife of King Francis I and Duchess of Brittany in her own right from 9 January 1514 until her death in 1524. She was the eldest daughter of Ki ...
in marriage on 8 May 1514. Following the marriage, Louis XII designated Francis as his heir.
Mother of the King
With the death of Louis XII on 1 January 1515, Francis became king of France. On 4 February 1515, Louise was named Duchess of
Angoulême
Angoulême (; Poitevin-Saintongeais: ''Engoulaeme''; ) is a small city in the southwestern French Departments of France, department of Charente, of which it is the Prefectures of France, prefecture.
Located on a plateau overlooking a meander of ...
, and on 15 April 1524,
Duchess of Anjou.
The Bourbon inheritance
Her mother having been one of the sisters of the last dukes of the main branch of Bourbon, after the death of
Suzanne, Duchess of Bourbon, in 1521, Louise, on basis of
proximity of blood
Proximity of blood, or proximity by degree of kinship, is one of the ways to determine hereditary succession based on genealogy. In effect, the application of this rule is a refusal to recognize the right of representation, a component of primog ...
, advanced claims to the
Duchy of Auvergne and other possessions of
the Bourbons. This led her (supported by her son) in rivalry against
Charles III, Duke of Bourbon
Charles III de Bourbon comte de Montpensier then duc de Bourbon (17 February 1490 – 6 May 1527) was a French military commander, governor, prince of the royal blood and rebel during the early Italian Wars. The son of Gilbert de Bourbon and Cl ...
, Suzanne's widower, whom she proposed to marry in order to settle the
Bourbon inheritance issue. When her suit was insultingly rejected by Charles, Louise instigated efforts to undermine him. This led to Charles' exile and his attempt to regain his lost status by waging war against the King. He died in 1527 having failed to regain his lost lands and titles. Louise recovered Auvergne from confiscations and became duchess in the name of her son.
Regent
Louise of Savoy remained politically active on behalf of her son in the early years of his reign especially. During his absences, she acted as
regent
In a monarchy, a regent () is a person appointed to govern a state because the actual monarch is a minor, absent, incapacitated or unable to discharge their powers and duties, or the throne is vacant and a new monarch has not yet been dete ...
on his behalf. Louise served as the Regent of France in 1515, during the king's war in Italy, and again from 1525 to 1526, when the king was at war and during his time as a prisoner in Spain.
In 1524, she sent one of her servants, Jean-Joachim de Passano, to London to open unofficial negotiations with
Cardinal Wolsey
Thomas Wolsey ( ; – 29 November 1530) was an English statesman and Catholic cardinal. When Henry VIII became King of England in 1509, Wolsey became the king's almoner. Wolsey's affairs prospered and by 1514 he had become the controlling f ...
for a peace treaty; the negotiations were not a success, although they may have prepared the ground for the
Treaty of the More the following year.
She initiated friendly relations with the
Ottoman Empire
The Ottoman Empire (), also called the Turkish Empire, was an empire, imperial realm that controlled much of Southeast Europe, West Asia, and North Africa from the 14th to early 20th centuries; it also controlled parts of southeastern Centr ...
by sending a mission to
Suleiman the Magnificent
Suleiman I (; , ; 6 November 14946 September 1566), commonly known as Suleiman the Magnificent in the Western world and as Suleiman the Lawgiver () in his own realm, was the List of sultans of the Ottoman Empire, Ottoman sultan between 1520 a ...
requesting assistance, but the mission was lost on its way in
Bosnia
Bosnia and Herzegovina, sometimes known as Bosnia-Herzegovina and informally as Bosnia, is a country in Southeast Europe. Situated on the Balkans, Balkan Peninsula, it borders Serbia to the east, Montenegro to the southeast, and Croatia to th ...
. In December 1525, a second mission was sent, led by
John Frangipani, which managed to reach Constantinople, the Ottoman capital, with secret letters asking for the deliverance of King Francis I and an attack on the Habsburg. Frangipani returned with a positive answer from Suleiman, on 6 February 1526, initiating the first steps of a
Franco-Ottoman alliance
The Franco-Ottoman alliance, also known as the Franco-Turkish alliance, was an alliance established in 1536 between Francis I of France, Francis I, King of France and Suleiman the Magnificent, Suleiman I of the Ottoman Empire. The strategic and s ...
.
She was the principal negotiator for the
Treaty of Cambrai between France and the Holy Roman Empire, which concluded on 3 August 1529. That treaty, called "the Ladies' Peace", put an end to the second Italian war between the head of the
Valois dynasty,
Francis I of France
Francis I (; ; 12 September 1494 – 31 March 1547) was King of France from 1515 until his death in 1547. He was the son of Charles, Count of Angoulême, and Louise of Savoy. He succeeded his first cousin once removed and father-in-law Louis&nbs ...
, and the head of the
Habsburg
The House of Habsburg (; ), also known as the House of Austria, was one of the most powerful dynasties in the history of Europe and Western civilization. They were best known for their inbreeding and for ruling vast realms throughout Europe d ...
dynasty,
Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor
Charles V (24 February 1500 – 21 September 1558) was Holy Roman Emperor and Archduke of Austria from 1519 to 1556, King of Spain (as Charles I) from 1516 to 1556, and Lord of the Netherlands as titular Duke of Burgundy (as Charles II) ...
. The Treaty temporarily confirmed
Habsburg
The House of Habsburg (; ), also known as the House of Austria, was one of the most powerful dynasties in the history of Europe and Western civilization. They were best known for their inbreeding and for ruling vast realms throughout Europe d ...
hegemony in Italy. The treaty was signed by Louise of Savoy for France and her sister-in-law, Margaret of Austria, for the Holy Roman Empire.
Death
Louise of Savoy died on 22 September 1531, in
Grez-sur-Loing
Grez-sur-Loing (, literally ''Grez on Loing''; formerly Grès-en-Gâtinais, literally ''Grès in Gâtinais'') is a Communes of France, commune in the Seine-et-Marne Departments of France, department in north-central France. It is 6 km north o ...
of the plague. Her remains were entombed at Saint-Denis in Paris. After her death, her lands, including Auvergne, merged in the crown. Through her daughter
Marguerite (
Queen of Navarre) and her granddaughter
Jeanne d'Albret
Jeanne d'Albret (, Basque language, Basque: ''Joana Albretekoa''; Occitan language, Occitan: ''Joana de Labrit''; 16 November 1528 – 9 June 1572), also known as Jeanne III, was Queen of Navarre from 1555 to 1572.
Jeanne was the daughter of He ...
, she is the ancestress of the
Bourbon kings of France, as her great-grandson, Henry of Navarre, succeeded as
Henry IV of France
Henry IV (; 13 December 1553 – 14 May 1610), also known by the epithets Good King Henry (''le Bon Roi Henri'') or Henry the Great (''Henri le Grand''), was King of Navarre (as Henry III) from 1572 and King of France from 1589 to 16 ...
.
Ancestors
References
Sources
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Louise of Savoy
1476 births
1531 deaths
Burials at the Basilica of Saint-Denis
Regents of France
Duchesses of Anjou
Duchesses of Nemours
Dukes of Auvergne
2
Princesses of Savoy
Duchesses regnant
15th-century French women
15th-century French nobility
16th-century French women
16th-century French nobility
16th-century women regents
French suo jure nobility
16th-century peers of France
16th-century deaths from plague (disease)
Mothers of French monarchs
16th-century regents