The Valois Princess Renée of France was born on the 25th of October 1510 at Château de Blois, in the town of Blois, in the Loire Valley, France. The second surviving daughter of King Louis XII of France and Anne de Bretagne (Anne of Brittany), Renée was the first French...
The Treaty of Brétigny: English temporary triumph over the French
On the 24th of October 1360, the Treaty of Brétigny was ratified, marking the end of the first phase of the Hundred Years’ War. This treaty was a sheer calamity for France and a temporary victory for England. This document was drafted on the 8th of May 1360 between King...
Claude de Lorraine, Duke de Guise: founder of the House of Guise
Claude de Lorraine, who was also known as Claude de Guise, was born the 20th of October 20, 1496 at Château de Condé in Condé (now this place is called Custines in north-eastern France), in Lorraine. He had an eventful life, having been a favorite of King François I of...
The religious tolerance in France and the Affair of the Placards of 1534
Gradually, after the publication of ‘Ninety-five Theses’ by Martin Luther in 1517, more and people were growing interested in new religious ideas. However, in the early 1520s, Reformation doctrines were still understood by a small number of educated people, but by the end of this decade, they could already be...
Françoise de Foix: the first long-term maîtresse-en-titre of King François I of France
Françoise de Foix, who was the first long-term maîtresse-en-titre of King François I of France, was born about 1495, but we don’t know her date and year of birth for a certainty. Since her early youth, she served to Queen Anne of France, King Louis XII’s wife and Duchess of...
Marie d’Anjou: a model queen as wife of King Charles VII of France
Marie d’Anjou, who was a daughter of Louis II d’Anjou and his wife, Yolande of Aragon, was born on the 14th of October 1404. Marie was betrothed to Charles de Valois for years: their betrothal agreement had first been signed when he had been the youngest son of Charles VI...
The chronology of Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn’s visit to Calais in October 1532
King Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn sailed to Calais on the 11th of October 1532 after she had been elevated to Marquess of Pembroke in an elaborate ceremony on the 1st of September 1532. Some time passed before the monarch and the lady of his dreams met with his French...
Doomed Dauphin Charles Orland and Anne de Bretagne’s unsuccessful pregnancies
Charles Orland, Dauphin of France, was born on the 11th of October 1492. His parents were King Charles VIII of France called the Affable (l’Affable) and Anne de Bretagne (Anne of Brittany), who was his consort and Duchess of Brittany in her own right. Charles Orland was their eldest son,...
Pierre II, Duke de Bourbon: a husband of the formidable Anne de Beaujeu
Pierre II, Duke de Bourbon, breathed his last on the 10th of October 1503 in Moulins, France, at the age of 64 (he was born on the 1st of December 1438). He was the son of Charles I, Duke de Bourbon, and Agnes de Bourgogne. Although he was originally betrothed...
Louis II, Duke d’Anjou: unsuccessful quest for the throne of Naples
Louis II, Duke d'Anjou and Count de Provence from 1384 to 1417, was born on the 5th of October 1377. The eldest son of Louis I of Anjou and Marie de Blois, Louis was a member of the House of Valois-Anjou, which was founded by his father. Louis I of...
The Treaty of Arras of 1435: the end of the civil strife in France
The Treaty of Arras, signed on the 21st of September 1435, ended the enmity between King Charles VII of France and Philippe the Good, Duke of Burgundy. It was a huge diplomatic victory for Charles VII: his Burgundian cousin finally recognized him as the rightful French monarch. The alliance between...
Unfit to rule: the merry captivity of King Jean II of France after the 1356 Poitiers catastrophe
King Jean II of France, called the Good (le Bon), was the second Valois monarch, and, as some historians say, ‘The shame of France’. How could the ruler who also has the nickname ‘the Good’ deserve such an epithet? The clue to the understanding of this reasoning is in the...
Charles V of France: kingship based on clever governance and education
Born on the 21st of January 1338, King Charles V of France, known as the Wise (le Sage), died on the 16th of September 1380 at the age of 42 at Beauté-sur-Marne, France. He was the eldest son of King Jean II of France, called the Good (le Bon), and...
King François I of France: the Battle of Marignano of 1515
King François I of France ascended to the throne of his kingdom on the 1st of January 1515 after the death of Louis XII of France, his 1st cousin once removed. At the age of only 20, François was young, strong, handsome, cultured, courageous, vainglorious, and somewhat arrogant. He had...
King François I of France: a godfather of the French Renaissance
King François I of France was born on the 12th of September at Cognac, Aquitaine, France. The only son of Charles d’Orléans, Count d’Angoulême, and his wife, Louise de Savoy, François was a great-great-grandson of King Charles V of France called the Wise (le Sage). A son of the man with...