Queen of France, duchess of Anbouleme, mother of King Francis I of France and of Marguerite de Navarre
Louise de Savoie was born to Philip, count of Bresse, and his wife, Marguerite of Bourbon. When she lost her mother at the age of seven, Louise was sent to Amboise to be raised and educated by Anne de France. Intelligent and gifted, Louise was educated in the traditionally feminine domains of household management and Christian morality. But the lessons in court conduct that she learned at Anne’s knee involved more than decorum, dress, and public demeanor. Louise was able to observe firsthand a powerful woman who effectively ruled France during the early years of the reign of her brother, Charles VIII.
At the age of twelve Louise was married to Charles de Valois, count of Angouleme, great-grandson of King Charles V of France. Louise had only a shaky grasp of Latin, but she possessed an ardent desire to read and had at her disposal her husband’s impressive library. His collection included medieval classics, such as Lancelot and the Romance of the Rose, as well as Dante, Petrarch, Christine de Pizan, and Boccaccio.
Louise had two children: Marguerite, born in 1492, and Francis, born in 1494. In January 1496, when Louise was nineteen years old, her husband died. Louise never remarried; indeed, she refused a number of proposals that would have been advantageous to her. Instead, Louise devoted herself to her family, particularly to her son, Francis. He became heir presumptive to the throne of France because Anne de Bretagne had failed to produce a male child with either of her royal husbands, Charles VIII and Louis XII. While her son was still a child, Louise referred to him as her king, her lord, her Caesar.
Francis and Marguerite had a close and constant relationship with their mother, which was rare among early modern French nobility. Louise took charge of her children’s education and appointed a tutor for her son. It is believed that this tutor, Francis Demoulins, ultimately edited the version of Louise’s journal that exists today. Louise is due considerable credit for the significant contributions that Marguerite and Francis made to learning and letters. Both were patrons of the arts: Francis lent his support to many of the greatest writers and artists of his time, and Marguerite (later Marguerite de Navarre) wrote poems, plays, and the Hep-tameron, a highly regarded collection of novellas.
In January 1515, Louis XII died, and his cousin Francis inherited the throne. Now the mother of the French king, Louise was granted the courtesy title of Madame, and her son named her a duchess. The young king, ambitious to win glory for himself, sought to renew French claims in Italy and designated his mother to act as regent of France during this military expedition. Louise’s first term as regent was brief. However, during Francis’s absence, Louise filled the most important governmental offices with men devoted to her own interests. Although her official role ended early in 1516, Louise continued to exert considerable influence in her son’s government.
When Francis once more went off to war in Italy in 1523, he again designated his mother regent. Louise’s second regency lasted significantly longer than her first: in February 1525, Francis was defeated and taken prisoner at the Battle of Pavia. In Francis’s absence, Louise found herself in the position of having to defend France against possible foreign invasion. She negotiated the 1525 Treaty of the Moore with King Henry of England and the 1526 League of Cognac with Pope Clement VIII and the Venetians.
Louise ultimately succeeded in securing Francis’s release from captivity. She raised the money necessary to ransom her son and negotiated the Treaty of Madrid, signed by Francis
On 14 January 1526. The provisions of the treaty were harsh. Francis was forced to renounce all claims to Italy, and his sons, Franjois and Henry, would be held hostage by the emperor to ensure compliance with the treaty. Two months later Francis was exchanged for the young princes, but the French king, apparently on the advice of Louise, repudiated the treaty, claiming he had signed it under duress.
Peace between Francis I and Holy Roman Emperor Charles V was finally achieved in August 1529 with the signing of the Treaty of Cambrai. This “Ladies’ Peace” was negotiated by Francis’s mother, Louise, and Charles’s aunt, Margaret of Austria. These two powerful women had a lifelong history. They had been educated together in the court of Anne of France, and they were relatives, Margaret having married Louise’s brother, Philibert of Savoie. According to the terms of this treaty, a large sum was to be paid as ransom for the captive princes, Francis would definitively abandon any claims to Italian territory, and he would marry Eleanor of Austria, Charles V’s older sister.
Louise was often criticized by her contemporaries and has not been treated well by most historians. She is frequently described as amoral, rapacious, and vindictive. She was at least partially responsible for the downfall of Charles de Bourbon, who, according to contemporary rumor, refused Louise’s marriage proposal and renounced allegiance to the French crown following a dispute over his late wife’s vast properties. She was also involved in the ruin of Jacques de Beaune, baron of Sem-blanjay, Francis’s superintendent of finances. Semblanjay was condemned to death for having falsified Louise’s accounts and having diverted money intended for the king. Louise was, however, an able and industrious ruler whose offspring ushered the Renaissance into France. She died on 22 September 1531.
Kathleen M. Llewellyn
See also the subheading Literary Patronage (under Literary Culture and Women); Power, Politics, and Women.
Bibliography
Henry-Bordeaux, Paule. Louise de Savoie, “roi” de France. Paris: Perrin, 1971.
Jansen, Sharon L. The Monstrous Regiment of Women: Female Rulers in Early Modern Europe. New York: Palgrave, 2002.
Matarasso, Pauline. Queen’s Mate:Three Women of Power in France on the Eve of the Renaissance. Aldershot, UK, Burlington, VT: Ashgate, 2001. McCartney, Elizabeth. “The King’s Mother and Royal Prerogative in Early-Sixteenth-Century France.” In Medieval Queenships. Edited by John Carmi Parsons. Stroud, UK: Sutton, 1994.
World History
