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 1494 - 1547 (52 years)
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| Name |
Francis I Of FRANCE [1] |
| Birth |
12 Sep 1494 [1] |
| Gender |
Male |
| Name |
Francois Of Navarre [1] |
| Death |
31 Mar 1547 [1] |
| Notes |
- Francis I of France (French: FranÁois Ier) (September 12, 1494 ? March 31, 1547), called the Father and Restorer of Letters (le PËre et Restaurateur des Lettres), was crowned King of France in 1515 in the cathedral at Reims and reigned until 1547.
Francis I is considered to be France's first Renaissance monarch. His reign saw France make immense cultural advances. He was a contemporary of King Henry VIII of England and of Holy Roman Emperor Charles V, his great rivals, and Suleiman the Magnificent, his ally.
rancis I, a member of the Valois Dynasty, was born at Cognac, Charente, the son of Charles d'AngoulÍme (1459 ? January 1, 1496), and of Louise of Savoy (September 11, 1476 ? September 22, 1531). His father, Charles d'AngoulÍme, was the cousin of King Louis XII. In 1498, the four-year-old Francis, already Count of AngoulÍme, was created Duke of Valois. He was the heir presumptive of Louis XII, who did not succeed in siring sons with any of his three wives. Young Francis was, by instigation of King Louis, in 1506 betrothed and on 18 May 1514 married, to Claude of France (1499-1524), the daughter of Louis XII and Anne of Brittany and heiress of Brittany. Because of the Salic Law that stated that women could not inherit the throne of France, the throne passed to Francis I at the death of Louis XII, as he was the descendant of the eldest surviving male line of the Capetian Dynasty. Claude of France became queen consort.
When young Francis ascended the throne in 1515, he was already a king with unprecedented humanist credentials. While his two predecessors, Charles VIII and Louis XII, had spent much of their reigns concerned with Italy they did not much embrace the new intellectual movements coming out of it. Both monarchs continued in the same patterns of behavior that had dominated the French monarchy for centuries. They are considered the last of the medieval French monarchs, but they did lay the groundwork for the Renaissance to come into full swing in France.
Contact between the French and Italians in the long running series of wars under Charles and Louis had brought new ideas to France by the time the young Francis was receiving his education. Thus a number of his tutors, such as Desmoulins, his Latin instructor, and Christophe de Longeuil were schooled in the new ways of thinking and they attempted to imbue Francis with it. Francis' mother also had a great interest in Renaissance art, which she passed down to her son. One certainly cannot say that Francis received a humanist education; most of his teachers had not yet been affected by the Renaissance. One can, however, state that he clearly received an education more oriented towards humanism than any previous French king.
Francis' legacy is a mixed one. He achieved great cultural feats, but they came at the expense of France's economic well being.
The persecution of the Protestants was to lead France into decades of civil war, which did not end until 1598 with the Edict of Nantes.
Francis I died at the Ch‚teau de Rambouillet and is interred with his first wife, Claude de France, Duchess of Bretagne, in Saint Denis Basilica. He was succeeded by his son, Henry II.
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| Person ID |
I23097 |
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