Suzanne de Bourbon was born on the 10th of May 1491 at Château de Châtellerault. Her parents were Pierre II, Seigneur de Beaujeu and later Duke de Bourbon and d’Auvergne, and Anne of France, who both served as co-regents of France during the minority of King Charles VIII of France...
A forgotten Valois prince: Charles, Count d’Angoulême and father of King François I (part 3)
Let’s speak about genealogy. Count Charles d’Angoulême was not as highly inbred as many of his Valois cousins were. However, how was the count related to his wife, Louis de Savoy? Louise de Savoy was the eldest daughter of Philippe II, Duke of Savoy and his first wife, Marguerite de...
A forgotten Valois prince: Charles, Count d’Angoulême and father of King François I (part 2)
Charles d’Orléans, Count d’Angoulême, spent a lot of money on books. He had a network of agents in Italy, France, and other countries, who purchased rare and old manuscripts for him. The count collected in his library at Château de Cognac. His large library included more than 1000 manuscripts. Charles...
A forgotten Valois prince: Charles, Count d’Angoulême and father of King François I (part 1)
Charles d’Orléans, Count d’Angoulême (born in 1459 and died on the 1st of January 1496) was a member of the French Valois-Orléans-Angoulême branch of the royal House of Valois. He was descended from Louis I, Duke d’Orléans, who was the youngest surviving son of King Charles V of France known...
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...
‘The Peace of the Ladies’, and the misfortunes of King François I of France
The Treaty of Cambrai, also called ‘Peace of the Ladies’ (French: ‘Paix Des Dames’), was signed on the 3rd of August because of the efforts of two powerful women – Louise de Savoy, the mother of King François I of France, and Archduchess Margaret of Austria, who was Emperor Charles...