Golden Age Ladies: Women Who shaped the Courts of Henry VIII and Francis I - 2 (Pages 32 - 107)

 

Francis I became king after Louis XII's death. 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 XII, who died without a legitimate son.

Mary Tudor, Louis XII's widow, wanted to marry Charles Brandon, Duke of Suffolk, and they did in secret. Charles Brandon, 1st Duke of Suffolk (c. 1484 – 22 August 1545) was an English military leader and courtier. Through his third wife, Mary Tudor, he was the brother-in-law of King Henry VIII.

Francis I had a mistress, Françoise de Foix, Countess of Chateaubriant. Françoise de Foix, Comtesse de Châteaubriant ( c. 1495 – 16 October 1537) was a chief mistress of Francis I of France.

After two girls, Claude gave birth to a son, the heir to the throne, Dauphin Francis, and his father engaged him to Mary Tudor, King Henry VIII's daughter. The engagement was over in 1522.

King Henry VIII of England and King Francis I of France met in June 1520 at a lavish diplomatic summit known as the Field of the Cloth of Gold near Calais, France. The 18-day festival featured massive temporary palaces, feasting, and jousting, designed to show off both monarchs' wealth and cement an alliance.

Queen Claude died on 6 July, 1524 at the age of 25 and Princess Charlotte died shortly afterwards. 

Francis I was imprisoned by Charles V when he was defeated at Pavia on February 24, 1525. He was locked up in Madrid, where his health suffered greatly due to physical ailments and stress.

The king's sister, Margaret of Alençon was sent to Madrid to negotiate her brother's release in 1525. The result was the Treaty of Madrid. On 14 January 1526, Charles and Francis signed and agreed to the Treaty of Madrid. The French king renounced all his claims in Italy, Artois, and Flanders. He surrendered Burgundy to Charles, agreed to send two of his sons to be hostages at the Spanish court, and to restore to Bourbon the territories that had been seized from him. Francis was released on 6 March. On 17 March, he crossed the Bidasoa north into France, while at the same time the Dauphin and his brother, who had been brought to Bayonne by Louise and Lautrec, crossed into Spain and captivity.

When he returned to France, Francis took a new mistress, Anne de Pisseleu. Anne de Pisseleu d'Heilly  (1508–1580) was chief mistress of King Francis I of France. She became Francis' mistress following his return from captivity in 1526. Anne enriched her family and friends through her courtly influence and after Francis' death was banished from court and temporarily imprisoned in her husband's castle. She spent her later years ensuring the fortune of her family.

In 1529 Louise of Savoy and Margaret of Savoy negotiated the Treaty of Cambrai. The Treaty of Cambraiwas an agreement made on 5 August 1529 that ended the French involvement in the War of the League of Cognac between French King Francis I and Emperor Charles V. The treaty confirmed the effective Habsburg hegemony in the Duchy of Milan and in the Kingdom of Naples. The peace was negotiated and signed at Cambrai by two ladies: Margaret of Austria for the Emperor and Louise of Savoy for the King. The treaty renewed the Treaty of Madrid (1526) but also introduced some new clauses, which were aimed to resolve several long-standing issues that remained unresolved by previous treaties, mainly those related to disputes over the Burgundian inheritance.

Dauphin Francis and his brother Henri were released and escorted to France by Eleanor, who would marry Francis I.