Francis I of France

Early life and family background

Francis of Orléans was born on 12 September 1494 at the Château de Cognac in the town of Cognac, located at that time in the province of Saintonge within the Duchy of Aquitaine, corresponding to the modern department of Charente.^[1][2][3] His name was chosen in honor of Francis of Paola, who had reportedly predicted to his mother that she would give birth to a king who would bear the name Francis.^[4][5] Another tradition states that he received the name from his godfather, François de La Rochefoucauld.^[6] He was the only son of Charles of Orléans, Count of Angoulême, and Louise of Savoy, daughter of Duke Philip II of Savoy.^[2][3][7] Through his father, Francis was a great-great-grandson of King Charles V of France and descended directly from the Valois cadet branch known as Valois-Angoulême.^[2][7] His paternal grandfather was Jean of Orléans, Count of Angoulême, and his paternal grandmother was Marguerite de Rohan.^[2] His great-grandmother was Valentine Visconti.^[2] Francis had an older sister, Marguerite of Angoulême, born in 1492, with whom he maintained a close relationship throughout his life.^[8][9]

At the time of Francis's birth, his family was not expected to inherit the throne of France, as King Charles VIII was still young and the heir presumptive was Louis, Duke of Orléans, the future Louis XII.^[3][7][10] On 1 January 1496, Francis's father died, leaving Francis as Count of Angoulême at the age of two.^[3][10] Louise of Savoy became a widow at the age of nineteen and dedicated herself to the upbringing of her two children.^[9][10] While Charles of Angoulême's will gave her guardianship, Louis of Orléans considered her too young to exercise sole tutelage and arranged for the guardianship to be shared with Marshal Pierre de Rohan-Gié.^[9][10] In April 1498, Charles VIII died childless and was succeeded by Louis XII.^[3][11] Because the Salic Law barred women from inheriting the French crown and Louis XII had no male heir, the four-year-old Francis became heir presumptive to the French throne in 1498 and was invested with the title of Duke of Valois.^[3][11]

Francis grew up primarily at the Château d'Amboise on the banks of the Loire alongside his sister and mother, forming an intimate family circle described by Louise in her journal and by Marguerite as a 'trinity'.^[8][9][12] On 25 January 1502, Francis suffered a severe riding accident that left him in critical condition, during which his mother fell ill with anxiety and prayed for the recovery of her son, whom she referred to as her 'Caesar'.^[12][13] In August 1507, at the age of fifteen, Francis was summoned from Amboise to Chinon to join the royal court, and in 1508 he moved to Paris.^[14][15] His education was overseen by Marshal de Gié and subsequently directed by Artus Gouffier de Boissy and Cardinal Adrien Gouffier de Boissy.^[9][16][17] His Latin teacher was François de Moulins de Rochefort, who later composed a French adaptation of Caesar's commentaries depicting an imaginary dialogue between the young king and Julius Caesar.^[16][18] His humanist tutors included Christophe de Longueil and the Italian scholar Giovanni Francesco Conti, while his mother taught him Italian and Spanish.^[17]

His companionship at court was deliberately composed of young French noblemen who remained close to him throughout his adult reign, including Anne de Montmorency, Robert III de La Marck, Philippe de Chabot, Marin de Montchenu, and Guillaume Gouffier de Bonnivet.^[13][19] Francis developed skills in hunting, horsemanship, archery, falconry, jousting, real tennis, wrestling, and chivalric exercises, while showing little inclination for grammatical rigor in Latin.^[16][17][20] In January 1512, Queen Anne of Brittany gave birth to another stillborn son, extinguishing Louis XII's hopes for a direct male heir.^[21][22] Louis XII formally integrated Francis into the King's Council and appointed him commander-in-chief of the army of Guyenne on 12 October 1512 to face an English force landing near San Sebastián and defensive operations in Navarre and Flanders.^[21][23][24] In 1512, Francis also took over the direct governance of the County of Angoulême upon attaining his majority.^[25]

The question of the marriage of Louis XII's eldest daughter, Claude of France, was of dynastic significance because she was the heiress of the Duchy of Brittany through her mother, Anne of Brittany.^[26][27][28] At the urging of Anne of Brittany, Louis XII had first pledged Claude to Charles of Habsburg, the future Emperor Charles V, in the treaties of Lyon in 1501 and Blois in 1504.^[27][28][29] When Louis XII fell seriously ill in 1505, he revoked the Habsburg betrothal to prevent French territories from falling under foreign control, ordering Claude's union with Francis.^[26][27][30] The engagement was confirmed on 21 May 1506 at the Château de Plessis-lèz-Tours at the close of the Estates General of Tours, after which Francis resided at the Château de Blois.^[27] Because of the enmity between Louise of Savoy and Anne of Brittany, the marriage took place only after Anne's death on 9 January 1514.^[31] On 18 May 1514, Francis and Claude were married in the royal chapel at the Château de Saint-Germain-en-Laye, bringing Claude's inheritance of Brittany, Blois, Soissons, Coucy, Asti, and Montfort, along with her claim to Milan and a dowry of 100,000 gold écus.^{[27][32][33][34]} Although Louis XII remarried Mary Tudor in October 1514 in hopes of fathering a male heir, the king died on 1 January 1515 without male offspring, making Francis the sovereign of France.^{[35][36][37][38]}

Accession and coronation

On the death of Louis XII on 1 January 1515, Francis became King of France at the age of twenty.^[37][39][40] He was crowned King of France at Reims Cathedral on 25 January 1515 by Archbishop Robert de Lenoncourt, with Claude consecrated as queen consort.^{[15][29][35][39]} The coronation date was selected partly in commemoration of the Feast of the Conversion of Saint Paul, the day on which Francis had survived his near-fatal fall from a horse thirteen years earlier.^[39] On 15 February 1515, Francis made his ceremonial royal entry into Paris.^[29][41] Dressed in garments of silver cloth adorned with gems, he made his mount rear, scattered coins among the urban crowd, and engaged in a lavish pas d'armes, establishing the ceremonial tone of his reign.^[29][42][43]

Francis adopted the salamander as his personal royal emblem, accompanied by the Latin motto 'Nutrisco et extinguo' or 'Notrisco al buono, stingo el reo'.^[44][45][46] The device drew on classical lore holding that the salamander lived in and nourished itself on good fire while extinguishing harmful fire, symbolizing royal protection of virtue and destruction of evil.^[45][47] The salamander had been used by his grandfather Jean of Angoulême and appeared in a manuscript prepared for Louise of Savoy in 1504.^[45][48] During his reign, the salamander, frequently topped by a royal or imperial crown, was carved extensively across the stonework and ceilings of royal châteaux, including Chambord and Fontainebleau, and was incorporated into the municipal coats of arms of Le Havre and Vitry-le-François.^[49]

Contemporary accounts and surviving artifacts record Francis's physical stature and demeanor. An equestrian suit of armor forged for him in 1539 by the Austrian armourer Jörg Seusenhofer and the engraver Degen Pirger indicates that Francis stood between 1.98 and 2.00 meters tall, with broad shoulders and long, slender legs.^[50][51] A Welsh soldier present at the Field of Cloth of Gold in 1520 described him as tall, with a thick neck, combed brown hair, a darker beard, a prominent long nose, bloodshot hazel eyes, a fair complexion, muscular thighs, and bowed lower legs with flat feet. Chroniclers relate that during a mock siege at Romorantin on 6 January 1521, a burning brand thrown by one of the defenders struck Francis on the head and his physician had to cut his hair to treat the wound, after which Francis decided to keep his hair short.^[52][53] Venetian ambassador Marino Cavalli noted that in major affairs of state, Francis insisted on absolute obedience, displaying royal majesty and personal courage on the battlefield, though contemporaries criticized his impetuous temperament, intermittent attention to administrative labor, and preference for hunting.^[54][55]

First Italian War and the conquest of Milan (1515–1516)

Immediately upon his accession, Francis resolved to reassert French dynastic claims over the Duchy of Milan, which derived from his descent from Valentine Visconti, daughter of Duke Gian Galeazzo Visconti.^[56][57] Two years prior, French forces under Louis XII had lost all their holdings in northern Italy after the Battle of Novara.^[56][58] Francis sought to reverse these losses and establish French hegemony in Lombardy.^[56][58] In the spring of 1515, he negotiated diplomatic settlements to secure the neutrality of neighboring rulers, renewing agreements with Henry VIII of England and securing pacts with the young Charles of Habsburg, ruler of the Burgundian Netherlands, and the Republic of Venice.^[59][60][61] The opposition to his campaign centered on Duke Massimiliano Sforza of Milan, backed by Pope Leo X and Cardinal Matthäus Schiner, who organized the Swiss Confederacy forces holding northern Italian mountain passes.^[59][62]

Francis assembled an army of approximately 30,000 to 40,000 soldiers at Grenoble in the Dauphiné, consisting of heavy cavalry, French and Gascon infantry, 23,000 German landsknechts known as the Black Guard led by Asche von Cramm, and sixty to seventy-two heavy bronze artillery pieces.^[63][64] Finding the customary Alpine crossing of Mont-Cenis blocked by Swiss troops entrenched at Susa, Francis followed the counsel of military engineer Pedro Navarro and Marshal Gian Giacomo Trivulzio.^[65][66] The French army traversed the Alps via the southern Col de Vars and Col de Larche (the Argentière pass), clearing boulders and blasting paths through gorges to haul their artillery by hand into the valley of the Stura.^[61][65] The speed of the crossing caused great surprise; in the plain of Piedmont part of the Swiss army took fright, and on 8 September at Gallarate it offered to enter French service, but Cardinal Schiner won the dissidents back and led them to Melegnano.

The armies engaged on 13 and 14 September 1515 at the Battle of Marignano, fought sixteen kilometers outside Milan near Melegnano.^[67] The engagement lasted two days, featuring repeated Swiss infantry assaults against French defensive lines.^[67] The superior firepower of French artillery, the cavalry charges led personally by Francis, and the timely arrival of allied Venetian reinforcements under Bartolomeo d'Alviano broke the Swiss formations.^[64] The Swiss retreated toward Milan with heavy casualties, resulting in the French occupation of the city and Trivulzio dubbing the contest the 'Battle of the Giants'.^[67][68] Francis made Duke Massimiliano Sforza abdicate and interned him in France. A later tradition alleged that Francis was knighted on the battlefield by the knight Pierre Terrail, seigneur de Bayard; modern scholarship indicates this narrative was cultivated after 1523 to displace the role of Constable Charles de Bourbon, who had actually performed the chivalric accolades at Francis's coronation before defecting to the Emperor.^[69][70]

The victory at Marignano altered northern Italian politics and yielded immediate diplomatic agreements.^[64][68] On 29 November 1516, Francis concluded the 'Perpetual Peace' of Fribourg with the Swiss cantons, paying 700,000 thalers for the right to recruit Swiss mercenary units for the French crown, an arrangement that remained in force until 1798.^[64] On 13 August 1516, Francis and Charles of Habsburg signed the Treaty of Noyon, by which Charles acknowledged French possession of Milan, promised to restore Spanish-occupied Upper Navarre to Henri d'Albret, and agreed to marry Francis's infant daughter Louise, whose proposed dowry included French claims to the Kingdom of Naples.^[61][71] Furthermore, Chancellor Antoine Duprat negotiated the Concordat of Bologna with Pope Leo X on 18 August 1516, ratified in December when Francis entered Bologna with an escort of twenty-two cardinals.^[72][73][74] The concordat abolished the Pragmatic Sanction of Bourges of 1438, granting the French crown the perpetual prerogative to nominate bishops, archbishops, and abbots across France, subject to formal papal confirmation, establishing Gallican control over the French Catholic Church that endured until the French Revolution.^[72][74]

Struggle for the imperial crown and relations with Henry VIII (1519–1520)

The death of Holy Roman Emperor Maximilian I on 12 January 1519 opened the succession to the imperial crown.^[75][76] The election was governed by the Golden Bull of 1356, placing the decision in the hands of seven German prince-electors.^[75] Francis launched an active campaign for the title, seeking to prevent Charles of Habsburg, who already ruled Spain, the Netherlands, Naples, Sicily, and Spanish America, from acquiring additional authority, which would leave France geographically encircled by Habsburg domains.^[76][77][78] Francis also sought the imperial crown to protect his claims in northern Italy and legitimize his international status, presenting his candidacy as an instrument to organize an expedition against the Ottoman Empire.^[76][79] He deployed his agents, led by Guillaume Gouffier de Bonnivet, across the German principalities, promising to spend up to three million florins to secure electoral votes, while borrowing funds from banks in Lyon and the Fugger banking house at interest rates reaching eighteen percent.^[77][80][81]

Charles of Habsburg mounted a counter-campaign funded by Jakob Fugger of Augsburg, who issued bills of exchange payable only upon Charles's election.^[77] Imperial propagandists characterized Charles as a native German prince, describing Francis as a foreign ruler intent on suppressing imperial liberties.^[76] Pope Leo X initially favored Francis out of concern over Habsburg encirclement in Italy, but shifted his position as German sentiment consolidated.^[80][82] On 28 June 1519, the electors gathered at Frankfurt am Main and unanimously elected Charles as King of the Romans; he was subsequently crowned Emperor Charles V at Aachen on 23 October 1520.^[82] The election cemented an enduring rivalry between Francis and Charles that defined European warfare and diplomacy for the next three decades.^[17][77]

To counter Habsburg predominance, Francis sought an alliance with King Henry VIII of England, arranging a bilateral meeting between Guînes and the English-held town of Calais.^[71][83] Held from 7 to 24 June 1520, the gathering was known as the Field of the Cloth of Gold (Camp du Drap d'Or) due to the lavish displays of velvet, gold cloth, and ornamental pavilions erected by both courts.^{[43][84][85][86]} Francis incurred debts of 200,000 scudi from Lyon financiers to construct thousands of decorated tents, banquet halls, and a wooden Roman theater.^[87][88] The kings exchanged gifts, held tournaments, and engaged in a wrestling match in which Francis threw Henry to the ground.^[88] Francis proposed a marriage between his son the Dauphin Francis and Henry's daughter Princess Mary, but Henry and Cardinal Thomas Wolsey demurred.^[89] Shortly after the summit, Charles V met Henry VIII at Gravelines and concluded the secret Treaty of Bruges, aligning England with the Habsburgs against France.^[43][71]

Four Years' War and the disaster at Pavia (1521–1526)

Armed conflict between Francis and Charles V commenced in 1521 across multiple fronts.^[71][90] Francis sponsored Robert III de La Marck to invade Luxembourg along the Meuse and dispatched French and Navarrese forces under André de Foix to recapture Navarre, briefly taking Pamplona.^[90][91] Imperial forces under the Count of Nassau repelled the attack on the Meuse and captured Tournai, while Spanish armies defeated André de Foix at the Battle of Noáin on 30 June 1521, recovering Navarre.^[91][92] In northeastern France, Pierre Terrail, seigneur de Bayard, and Anne de Montmorency defended the besieged town of Mézières against Franz von Sickingen and the Count of Nassau, halting the imperial advance.^[93] In October 1521, Francis confronted Charles V near Valenciennes but hesitated to mount an assault, allowing imperial forces to withdraw under heavy rains.^[94]

The military situation in northern Italy deteriorated rapidly for France. On 28 November 1521, an alliance united Charles V, Henry VIII, and Pope Leo X against France.^[95] The French governor of Milan, Odet de Foix, Vicomte de Lautrec, was driven from the city by Imperial and Papal forces commanded by Prospero Colonna on 19 November 1521, reinstalling Francesco II Sforza on the ducal throne.^[95][96] On 27 April 1522, Lautrec's army, supported by Swiss mercenaries, suffered a crushing defeat at the Battle of Bicocca, losing Milan and the surrounding duchy.^[93][95] In May 1522, England delivered an ultimatum to Francis and declared open war, sending raiding expeditions under the Duke of Suffolk through Picardy in July 1522 and the autumn of 1523 that advanced to the Oise River within seventy kilometers of Paris before being checked by Louis II de La Trémoille.^[97][98]

Francis faced internal treason when Constable Charles III, Duke of Bourbon, the kingdom's foremost military commander, defected to Charles V in 1523.^[99][100] Following the death of Bourbon's wife Suzanne in 1521, Louise of Savoy and the crown claimed her vast inheritance in the Bourbonnais, Auvergne, and Châtellerault.^{[99][100][101]} Feeling wronged by the loss of his lands, Bourbon plotted with Charles V and Henry VIII to partition France, agreeing to lead imperial forces from the east while English troops struck from Calais and Spanish forces advanced from the Pyrenees.^[100][102] The conspiracy was uncovered in October 1523; Bourbon fled to Besançon and was named lieutenant general of the imperial armies, while Francis confiscated his estates for the crown.^{[99][103][104]} A French offensive into Lombardy led by Guillaume Gouffier de Bonnivet in late 1523 stalled, and the retreating French rear-guard was defeated at the Battle of the Sesia on 30 April 1524, where the knight Bayard was killed.^{[105][106][107]}

In the summer of 1524, Bourbon and Fernando Francesco d'Ávalos, Marquis of Pescara, led an imperial army into Provence, occupying Aix-en-Provence and laying siege to Marseille in August and September.^[105] The imperial army failed to take Marseille.^[105] Seizing the initiative, Francis gathered an army of more than 30,000 to 40,000 troops, crossed Mont-Cenis in October 1524, and re-entered Milan, appointing La Trémoille as its governor.^{[105][108][109]} Francis then laid siege to the imperial garrison holding Pavia under Antonio de Leyva.^[105][109] When a direct assault on 21 November 1524 was repulsed, Francis resolved to starve the city into submission, encamping the bulk of his army within the walled Visconti park of Mirabello.^[110][111] In December, Francis detached a force under John Stewart, Duke of Albany, to march south against Naples pursuant to a secret pact with Pope Clement VII, dividing his strength.^[112][113]

In January 1525, an imperial relief army under Charles de Lannoy, the Marquis of Pescara, and Georg von Frundsberg arrived outside Pavia with 15,000 German landsknechts and Spanish veterans, cutting French communications at Sant'Angelo.^[114][115] During the early hours of 24 February 1525, imperial sappers breached the northern walls of the Mirabello park, initiating the Battle of Pavia.^[116][117] The French heavy cavalry masked its own artillery with a rapid advance, and the artillery had to cease fire to avoid hitting the French ranks.^[105][117] Imperial arquebusiers under Pescara and German landsknechts encircled the cavalry and slaughtered the French and Swiss infantry formations.^[117][118] The French lost over 10,000 men, including Bonnivet, Jacques de La Palice, Louis II de La Trémoille, and the Duke of Suffolk.^[105][117] Cesare Hercolani unhorsed Francis, and the king, wounded in the face and leg, surrendered his sword to Charles de Lannoy, though some accounts say he was captured by Diego Dávila, Alonso Pita da Veiga, and Juan de Urbieta.^{[105][117][118][119][120]}

Captivity in Spain and the Treaty of Madrid (1525–1526)

Following his capture, Francis was escorted to the monastery of San Paolo outside Pavia for medical treatment and was then imprisoned in the fortress of Pizzighettone.^{[105][121][122]} From Pizzighettone, he wrote a famous letter to his mother containing the phrase later remembered as 'All is lost save honour' ('De toutes choses ne m'est demeuré que l'honneur et la vie qui est sauve').^[122][123] In May 1525, under the custody of Hernando de Alarcón, he was moved to Genoa, embarked for Barcelona in June, and was transported across Spain through Valencia before being confined in a tower of the Alcázar of Madrid.^{[105][124][125]} In France, Louise of Savoy assumed the regency, organizing administrative stability, courting foreign powers, and appealing to Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent of the Ottoman Empire for assistance against Charles V.^[126][127]

While confined in Madrid, Francis fell dangerously ill in the autumn of 1525 with severe fever and head pains, caused by a ruptured internal abscess or complications of syphilis.^{[125][128][129]} When told of Francis's grave illness, Charles V went at once to visit him, the first time the two had met in person, and soon afterward Francis's sister Marguerite also arrived at his bedside.^[130][131] Although Marguerite attempted to arrange his escape, the plot was detected and abandoned.^[132] Charles V, advised by Mercurino Gattinara, demanded that Francis surrender the Duchy of Burgundy, renounce all claims in Italy, return Bourbon's confiscated lands, and yield rights over Artois and Flanders.^[133][134] Francis set aside the idea of abdicating and, urged by his mother, agreed to sign the treaty.^[135]

On 14 January 1526, Francis signed the Treaty of Madrid.^[135][136] Under its terms, he ceded the Duchy of Burgundy and the Charolais, renounced claims to Milan, Naples, Genoa, and Asti, ceded suzerainty over Flanders and Artois, agreed to reinstate Bourbon and his followers, promised to pay England 100,000 thalers annually, and agreed to marry Charles V's sister, Eleanor of Austria, queen dowager of Portugal.^[136][137] The day prior to signing, Francis registered a secret protest before royal notaries declaring that the agreement was signed under duress and was legally void.^[138] On 17 March 1526, Francis was exchanged at the Bidassoa River on the Franco-Spanish border for his two eldest sons, Dauphin Francis and Henry, Duke of Orléans, who were delivered to Spain as hostages.^[137][139] Upon setting foot on French soil, Francis repudiated the treaty, claiming that the Estates of Burgundy refused alienation and that agreements made under captivity had no legal standing.^[140]

The League of Cognac and the Peace of Cambrai (1526–1530)

Upon returning to France, Francis organized resistance to Charles V's dominance. On 22 May 1526, he concluded the League of Cognac with Pope Clement VII, the Republic of Venice, the Republic of Florence, and Francesco II Sforza of Milan, with Henry VIII providing diplomatic backing and financial subsidy.^[141][142] On 8 June 1526 the Estates of Burgundy solemnly declared that the province intended to remain French, and Francis cited their refusal to separate from France when he declined to carry out the treaty. In response to Francis's refusal to honor his word, Charles V held the two young French princes in Castilian fortresses under severe conditions for over four years and challenged Francis to personal single combat, an invitation that went unanswered.^[129][143]

In 1526, the armies of Charles V overran Lombardy, including Milan, and defeated League forces at the Battle of Borgoforte.^[144] In the spring of 1527, unpaid imperial landsknechts and Spanish troops marched southward and subjected Rome to the Sack of Rome on 6 May 1527, during which Bourbon was killed and Pope Clement VII was besieged in the Castel Sant'Angelo.^[144] In response, Francis dispatched a French army under Lautrec into northern Italy in the summer of 1527.^[145] Lautrec captured Genoa and Alessandria, sacked Pavia in October, and marched south in early 1528 to lay siege to Naples by land while the Genoese fleet of Andrea Doria blockaded the harbor.^[145][146]

In July 1528, Andrea Doria abruptly defected from French service to Charles V due to financial disputes and disagreements over Savona, withdrawing his galleys and cutting French supply lines at Naples. An outbreak of plague decimated the French forces outside Naples; Lautrec died of the disease on 16 August 1528, and the surviving troops capitulated at Aversa.^[145][146] On 21 June 1529, the French suffered a heavy defeat at the Battle of Landriano in Lombardy. Both sides were exhausted by the long war and short of money, and Charles V also faced a war with the Ottomans over Hungary, with the armies of Suleiman the Magnificent threatening Vienna.

Peace negotiations took place at Cambrai between Louise of Savoy, representing Francis, and Margaret of Austria, Duchess of Savoy and Regent of the Netherlands, representing her nephew Charles V.^{[147][148][149]} The Treaty of Cambrai, known as the 'Peace of the Ladies' (Paix des Dames), was signed on 3 August 1529.^{[147][148][150]} Francis kept Burgundy but renounced all claims to the Kingdom of Naples and the Duchy of Milan.^[148][150] He agreed to pay a ransom of 2,000,000 gold écus (equivalent to 6.86 tons of gold) to secure the release of his two sons and fulfill the marriage agreement with Eleanor of Austria.^[148][150] On 7 August 1530, Francis married Eleanor at an abbey near Mont-de-Marsan, and he recovered his children.^{[148][151][152]} The marriage is also dated to 4 July 1530.^{[148][152][153]}

Later conflicts with Charles V (1535–1546)

The death of Duke Francesco II Sforza of Milan without heirs in November 1535 reopened the Italian conflict.^[154][155] Francis renewed his claims to Milan, and when Charles V refused to grant the investiture to Francis's second son Henry, French forces mobilized.^[155] In early 1536, a French army of 40,000 men commanded by Philippe de Chabot invaded the Duchy of Savoy, capturing Chambéry and Turin while halting at the Lombard frontier.^[156] Charles V retaliated in June 1536 by invading Provence with an imperial army, but Anne de Montmorency employed a scorched-earth defense, fortifying Avignon and Marseille while denying the invaders forage, forcing Charles to retreat to Genoa with heavy losses from illness.^[156]

During the mobilization in August 1536, Francis's eldest son, eighteen-year-old Dauphin Francis, died suddenly at Tournon after drinking cold water following a game of real tennis.^[129] Rumors of poisoning led to the arrest, trial, and execution of his Italian squire, Count Sebastiano de Montecuccoli, though modern medical opinion suggests pleurisy or tuberculosis.^[129] Francis's heir and successor on the throne was his son, Henry II.^{[129][157][158]} Through the mediation of Pope Paul III, Francis and Charles concluded the Truce of Nice on 18 June 1538, establishing a ten-year cessation of hostilities that left France in possession of Savoy and Piedmont with its capital Turin, while Charles retained Milan.^[154][159]

Relations between the monarchs appeared cordial when Francis granted Charles V permission to travel overland across France from Spain to Ghent in late 1539 to suppress the Revolt of Ghent.^[160] In December 1539 and January 1540, Charles made ceremonial entries into Bordeaux, Poitiers, Orléans, and Paris, visiting the newly completed Galerie François Ier at Fontainebleau and the Louvre.^[160] However, Charles subsequently invested his own son, the future Philip II of Spain, with the Duchy of Milan in October 1540, violating Francis's expectations.^[155] The murder of two French diplomatic envoys, Cesare Fregoso and Antonio Rincon, near Pavia on 3 July 1541 by imperial agents while traveling to Constantinople served as the formal pretext for Francis to declare war on 12 July 1542.^[161]

In the fourth Italian war (1542–1544), French armies operated on several fronts, capturing parts of Luxembourg and Roussillon, while the allied French and Ottoman fleets under Khayr al-Din Barbarossa besieged and sacked Nice in August 1543.^[162][163] On 11 April 1544, François de Bourbon, Count of Enghien, won a tactical victory over Alfonso d'Ávalos at the Battle of Ceresole in Piedmont, though the French were unable to capture Milan.^[164] Concurrently, Charles V and Henry VIII coordinated a joint invasion of northern France.^[165][166] Charles's army of 40,000 men advanced through Lorraine and besieged Saint-Dizier, which held out under the Count of Sancerre until August 1544, while Henry VIII landed at Calais and laid siege to Boulogne-sur-Mer, capturing it on 14 September.^[163][167]

Faced with financial depletion and mutual military stalemates, Francis and Charles V concluded the Treaty of Crépy on 18 September 1544.^[154][167] The treaty reaffirmed the terms of Nice: Francis surrendered claims to Naples, Milan, Artois, and Flanders, while Charles dropped his claim to Burgundy, and France temporarily retained Savoy and Piedmont.^[167] Francis's son Charles of Orléans died after a short illness at the age of twenty-three.^[168] Francis continued the war alone against England, assembling a fleet of 400 ships and 30,000 troops that raided the Isle of Wight and Sussex in 1545 without securing a decisive footing.^[169] On 7 June 1546, Francis and Henry VIII concluded the Treaty of Ardres, under which England agreed to return Boulogne in 1554 in exchange for two million écus, ending hostilities.^[163][169]

Foreign diplomacy: Ottoman Empire and beyond

Francis pioneered formal diplomatic relations between western European kingdoms and the Ottoman Empire, establishing a Franco-Ottoman alliance that shocked Christian Europe, where it was termed the 'impious alliance' or 'the sacrilegious union of the Lily and the Crescent'.^{[126][170][171][172][173]} Following the defeat at Pavia in 1525, Louise of Savoy dispatched secret embassies to Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent seeking military pressure against the Habsburgs in eastern Europe, an overture that encouraged Suleiman's campaign culminating in the Battle of Mohács in 1526.^[173][174] In 1528, Francis petitioned Suleiman to return a Jerusalem church converted into a mosque back to Christian use.^[175] Diplomatic contacts were systematized through permanent embassies, including the appointment of Jean de La Forêt to Constantinople in 1534.^[173][176]

In 1535 or 1536, France and the Ottoman Empire concluded a commercial treaty known as the capitulations.^[177][178] French merchants and shipping received freedom of navigation across Ottoman ports under the French flag, commercial tax exemptions (including exemption from the jizya), and extraterritorial consular jurisdiction.^[178] France obtained the right to keep an embassy chapel in the Galata district of Constantinople, and these privileges also gave France a degree of protection over the Catholic populations of the Ottoman Empire.^[179] Militarily, Franco-Ottoman naval cooperation culminated in the joint siege of Nice in August 1543 by French ships and Barbarossa's fleet, after which Francis allowed the Ottoman fleet of 110 galleys to winter in the port of Toulon, temporarily evacuating the town's civilian inhabitants to accommodate them.^{[163][180][181]} In the secret clauses of the Treaty of Crépy in 1544, Francis agreed to provide troops for imperial defense against the Ottomans, though diplomatic ties endured.^[182]

Francis extended his diplomatic outreach to North Africa, dispatching Colonel Pierre de Piton as ambassador to Morocco in 1533.^[183] On 13 August 1533, the Wattasid sultan of Fez, Ahmed ben Mohammed, sent a reply welcoming French commercial overtures, granting freedom of navigation in Moroccan ports, and pledging protection for French traders.^[183] In Germany, Francis sought to exploit confessional divisions within the Holy Roman Empire.^[184] Despite suppressing heresy within France, he concluded an alliance with the Protestant Schmalkaldic League at Saalfeld on 26 October 1531 and concluded a treaty with Landgrave Philip I of Hesse on 27 January 1534, offering subsidies to German Lutheran princes to challenge Charles V and assisting Duke Ulrich of Württemberg in recovering his duchy.^[154][184]

Maritime exploration and the Americas

Francis contested the division of the non-European world between the Spanish and Portuguese crowns established by the papal bull Aeterni regis of 1481 and the Treaty of Tordesillas of 1494.^{[185][186][187]} In response to Iberian claims, Francis famously remarked: 'The sun shines for me as it does for others. I would very much like to see the clause of Adam's will by which I should be denied my share of the world.'^{[185][187][188]} In 1533, Francis obtained an interpretation from Pope Clement VII clarifying that the papal division applied only to territories discovered prior to 1494, leaving lands discovered subsequently open to claim by other Christian monarchs.^[186] To facilitate Atlantic trade and royal maritime enterprises, Francis issued orders in 1517 to construct a new port at the mouth of the Seine to replace the silted harbors of Honfleur and Harfleur; the foundation was initially named Franciscopolis before becoming known as Le Havre de Grâce (modern Le Havre).^[189]

French royal interest in the Americas expanded through collaboration with private shipowners such as Jean Ango of Dieppe, whose privateer Jean Fleury intercepted Spanish caravels in 1522 transporting the treasure of Moctezuma II sent by Hernán Cortés to Charles V.^[186][190] In 1524, Francis helped merchants from Lyon finance the voyage of Florentine navigator Giovanni da Verrazzano aboard the royal ship La Dauphine to discover a northern sea route to Asia.^[189][191] Verrazzano charted the Atlantic coast of North America from the Carolinas to Newfoundland, entering New York Bay and naming it New Angoulême (Nouvelle-Angoulême) in honor of Francis's family, and designating the territory Nouvelle-France.^[189][191] In 1531, French admiral Bertrand d'Ornesan attempted to establish a French trading post at Pernambuco in Brazil.^{[192][193][194]}

In 1534, upon the recommendation of Jean Le Veneur, Grand Almoner of France, Francis commissioned Jacques Cartier of Saint-Malo to lead an expedition to explore the Gulf of St. Lawrence in search of gold and a route to the Orient.^{[193][195][196]} Cartier claimed the Gaspé Peninsula for France in July 1534, and on a second voyage in 1535–1536 navigated up the St. Lawrence River, establishing a camp at Sainte-Croix (the site of Quebec City) and visiting the indigenous village of Hochelaga (the site of Montreal).^[196][197] In 1541, Francis appointed Jean-François de La Rocque de Roberval as lieutenant general of Canada, dispatching Cartier and several hundred colonists to establish a settlement at Charlesbourg-Royal.^{[193][195][196]} Hostilities with indigenous groups, harsh winters, and scurvy led to the abandonment of the colony by 1543, although the expeditions established French territorial claims that served as the foundation for seventeenth-century colonization under Samuel de Champlain.^[196][198]

Maritime contacts with East Asia were also initiated during Francis's reign through Jean Ango's shipping network.^[199][200] In July 1527, a Norman merchant vessel from Rouen was recorded by the Portuguese chronicler João de Barros as having arrived at the port of Diu in India.^[199][200] In 1529, the brothers Jean and Raoul Parmentier sailed aboard the ships Sacre and Pensée to Sumatra in the East Indies.^{[199][200][201]} These navigational voyages contributed to the development of the Dieppe school of cartography, influencing the hydrographic works of cartographers such as Jean Rotz and Nicholas Vallard.^[202][203]

Domestic administration and governance

Francis's reign witnessed a consolidation of royal authority that established the institutional framework for early modern French absolute monarchy.^{[17][40][204]} Legal jurists such as Charles Du Moulin asserted royal supremacy, holding that the king alone held supreme imperium within the realm.^[205] In his letters patent, edicts, and ordinances, Francis systematically adopted the formula 'car tel est notre plaisir' ('for such is our pleasure'), asserting legislative will over customary and feudal law.^[206][207] He was the first French king to require the address 'Votre Majesté' ('Your Majesty'), an honorific previously reserved for the Holy Roman Emperor.^[208] Francis never summoned the Estates General, and the remonstrances of the Parlement were barely tolerated.^[17][209]

The royal court served as the primary administrative engine and ceremonial center of power, encompassing an itinerant household estimated between 10,000 and 15,000 courtiers, officials, and attendants, requiring over 18,000 horses to move furniture, tapestries, and baggage between châteaux.^[210][211] Day-to-day governance was directed by a restricted body known as the Conseil des affaires or Conseil étroit, consisting of the king's closest advisers, including his mother Louise of Savoy, Chancellor Antoine Duprat, secretary Florimond Robertet, and favorites such as Anne de Montmorency, Philippe de Chabot, Admiral Claude d'Annebault, and Cardinal François de Tournon.^[17]

In August 1539, while residing at the Château de Villers-Cotterêts, Francis signed the Ordinance of Villers-Cotterêts, drafted by Chancellor Guillaume Poyet.^[212][213] The edict enacted judicial reforms, curbing ecclesiastical jurisdiction and prohibiting guild organizations and artisan strikes.^[177] The ordinance made French, in place of Latin, the language of administration and law.^[212][213] Articles 50 and 52 required parish priests to maintain registers of baptisms, marriages, and burials, establishing the earliest system of civil registration records in Europe.^{[212][213][214]}

Francis significantly expanded the royal domain (domaine royal) by incorporating semi-autonomous feudal appanages and principalities.^{[29][99][101]} Following the treason of Constable Charles de Bourbon in 1523, the crown confiscated the Duchy of Bourbonnais, the County of Auvergne, Clermont, Forez, Beaujolais, and Montpensier, which were annexed in 1530.^[99] The Duchy of Alençon and the counties of Armagnac, Perche, and Rouergue were incorporated in 1525 following the death of Duke Charles IV of Alençon.^[99] The personal lands of the house of Angoulême merged into the crown upon his accession, and upon Louise of Savoy's death in 1531, her lands reverted to royal control.^[25][99]

The integration of the Duchy of Brittany formed the most significant territorial consolidation of Francis's reign.^[29] Francis's wife, Queen Claude, was heir presumptive to the Duchy of Brittany through her mother, Anne of Brittany.^[29][32] On 13 August 1532, Francis signed the Edict of Union at Nantes, formally incorporating Brittany into the French crown, and on 14 August his son was crowned Duke Francis III of Brittany at Rennes.^[177]

Financial policies and taxation

The military expenditures required by the Italian Wars, coupled with the lavish building programs and court ceremonies, placed severe burdens on the crown's treasury.^[87] To meet escalating budgetary demands, Francis substantially increased customary direct and indirect taxes. The taille, the direct tax levied on the peasant population, more than doubled over the course of his reign, rising from approximately nine to sixteen million livres, while the gabelle, the tax on salt, tripled.^{[77][215][216]} Francis regularized customs duties (traites foraines) on imports and exports and instituted protectionist measures to support domestic textile manufacture, such as tariffs on foreign silk to protect the silk guild of Lyon, and export restrictions on grain during periods of scarcity.^[216]

Francis centralized the kingdom's financial administration.^[17][209] In 1523, he established the Trésor de l'Épargne, a central treasury designed to consolidate all state revenues, including domain receipts, taxes, and loan proceeds, which had previously been managed independently by ten regional general receivers.^[209]

To generate emergency capital without convening the Estates General, Francis pioneered institutional mechanisms that expanded during later reigns.^{[77][215][216]} He institutionalized the systematic venality of offices, selling judicial, administrative, and financial positions, particularly notaryships and secretaryships in the Royal Chancellery of Paris, to wealthy bourgeois and noble families.^[216] In 1522, Chancellor Antoine Duprat introduced government annuities (rentes sur l'Hôtel de Ville), paying interest secured on municipal revenues and royal domain rights.^{[215][216][217]} Through the Edict of Châteauregnard on 21 May 1539, Francis created the first royal state lottery based on the Italian 'blancque' model.^[218] Francis also alienated portions of the royal domain, sold crown jewels, and secured extensive loans from bankers in Lyon and Italy.^{[77][87][216]}

Financial stringency led Francis to use judicial trials against crown financiers to confiscate private wealth for the treasury.^[219] The prominent case was that of Jacques de Beaune, Baron de Semblançay, who had served as chief superintendent of royal finances since 1518.^[219] In 1524, Semblançay was prosecuted on charges of diverting state funds allocated for the Italian campaign; although he mounted a legal defense, he was re-arrested in 1527 on accusations of extortion and embezzlement, condemned to death, and hanged at the Gibbet of Montfaucon on 9 August 1527, his extensive personal fortune being confiscated by the crown.^[219]

Patronage of the arts and architecture

Francis was an enthusiastic patron of the visual arts who fostered the French Renaissance by bringing Italian masters, styles, and decorative techniques to the French court.^{[216][220][221][222]} Francis actively recruited Italian artists, persuaded them to enter royal service, and dispatched agents, such as Pietro Aretino, Giambattista della Palla, and Guillaume Pellicier, across Italy to acquire classical marbles, bronze casts, manuscripts, and paintings by Michelangelo, Titian, and Raphael.^[220][223]

Among the artists invited to France was Leonardo da Vinci, whom Francis persuaded to leave Italy in 1516 following their meeting in Bologna after the Battle of Marignano.^{[220][224][225]} Francis accommodated the aging artist at the manor house of Clos Lucé, near the royal Château d'Amboise, granting him a substantial pension and referring to him affectionately as 'mon père'.^[220][225] Leonardo brought with him several completed and in-progress paintings, including the Mona Lisa (La Joconde), The Virgin and Child with Saint Anne, and Saint John the Baptist, which entered the royal collection upon the artist's death at Clos Lucé on 2 May 1519.^[220] While nineteenth-century artists such as Ingres depicted Leonardo dying in Francis's arms, historical records demonstrate that the court was at Saint-Germain-en-Laye for the birth of Prince Henry at the time of the artist's death.^[220]

Other Italian artists who took up extended residence in France included the Florentine goldsmith and sculptor Benvenuto Cellini, who executed works in precious metals including the famous golden salt cellar (Saliera), and the painters Andrea del Sarto, Rosso Fiorentino, Francesco Primaticcio, and Giulio Romano.^[220][221] Following the arrival of Rosso in 1530 and Primaticcio in 1532, Francis commissioned them to decorate the royal apartments and galleries of the Château de Fontainebleau, integrating mannerist fresco paintings, ornamental stuccoes, and architectural strapwork that defined the School of Fontainebleau (École de Fontainebleau).^{[221][226][227]} Francis also patronized ceramists such as Leucadio Solombrini, who established majolica workshops at Amboise, and the sculptor Girolamo della Robbia.^[221][228]

Francis invested vast sums in the construction, expansion, and renovation of royal châteaux throughout the Loire Valley and the Île-de-France.^{[229][230][231]} Early in his reign, he initiated extensive alterations at the Château de Blois, constructing the north wing containing the monumental open spiral staircase decorated with classical motifs and royal salamander insignias.^[229][231] In 1519, he began the construction of the Château de Chambord on a royal hunting estate in Sologne; inspired by Italian Renaissance architectural concepts and potentially reflecting drawings by Leonardo da Vinci, the château combined a traditional medieval French keep layout with a symmetrical plan, double-helix staircase, and an ornate roofline.^[229][231]

In the Paris region, Francis set out to rebuild the Louvre Palace and had the medieval tower of Philip II Augustus's fortress demolished.^{[230][231][232]} In the Bois de Boulogne, he commissioned Girolamo della Robbia to build the Château de Madrid, noted for its glazed terracotta exterior decorations.^{[228][230][232]} He rebuilt the Château de Saint-Germain-en-Laye under architect Pierre Chambiges and financed the construction of the new City Hall (Hôtel de Ville) of Paris to supervise municipal architectural development.^[230][232] The largest of Francis's building projects was the reconstruction and expansion of the Château de Fontainebleau, which soon became his favourite residence.^[230]

Patronage of literature, scholarship, and learning

Francis actively promoted humanist scholarship, earning the posthumous title 'Father and Restorer of Letters' (le Père et Restaurateur des Lettres).^{[1][233][234][235]} In 1518, he established a formal royal book repository at the Château de Blois under the care of court poet Mellin de Saint-Gelais.^[233][236] He subsequently appointed the foremost French humanist scholar, Guillaume Budé, as royal librarian and tasked him with expanding the collections.^[233][236] In 1537, Francis issued the Ordinance of Montpellier, decreeing that a copy of every book published or sold in France must be deposited in the royal library before being offered for sale, establishing the legal basis for modern French legal deposit (dépôt légal).^[236][237] Francis set a precedent by opening his library to scholars from around the world to help spread knowledge.^[238]

To bypass the conservative scholastic theology of the Sorbonne (the University of Paris), Francis acted on Guillaume Budé's recommendations in 1530 to establish the Collège des lecteurs royaux (later the Collège de France).^{[239][240][241]} The institution established chairs in languages and disciplines neglected by traditional faculties: Latin was taught by Barthélemy Masson, mathematics by Oronce Fine, and instruction in Ancient Greek, Hebrew, and Aramaic was initiated, followed by Arabic in 1539 under orientalist Guillaume Postel.^{[239][240][241]} Although the college's physical campus was not constructed until the seventeenth century, its lecturers provided free, secular humanist instruction funded directly from the royal treasury.^{[177][240][241]}

Francis supported the development of French printing, establishing the Imprimerie Royale and patronizing scholarly printers including Josse Bade and Robert Estienne.^[240][241] In 1530, he named Geoffroy Tory as printer to the king (imprimeur du roi), a post succeeded by Olivier Mallard in 1533 and Denys Janot in 1544.^[240][241] On 2 November 1540, Francis commissioned punch-cutter and type designer Claude Garamont to engrave specialized Greek punches (the Grecs du Roi) for printing classical manuscripts preserved at Fontainebleau.^[240] Francis subsidized vernacular poets such as Clément Marot and Claude Chappuys, and composed lyric poetry himself, though several verses attributed to the king were likely drafted by Mellin de Saint-Gelais.^{[237][242][243][244]} His sister Marguerite of Navarre was an accomplished humanist writer and patron whose circle produced the short-story collection Heptaméron, and Francis maintained a regular philosophical correspondence with the humanist abbess Claude de Bectoz.^{[243][245][246]}

Religious policies and persecution

The spread of the Protestant Reformation across Europe during Francis's reign confronted the French monarchy with doctrinal divisions.^{[184][247][248]} Initially, Francis was relatively tolerant of religious dissenters, influenced by his sister Marguerite of Navarre.^{[247][248][249]} In international affairs, Francis found German Lutheranism politically advantageous because it disrupted the internal cohesion of Charles V's imperial authority in Germany.^{[184][247][248]}

During Francis's imprisonment in Madrid following the Battle of Pavia, the Parlement of Paris and conservative clerics escalated the persecution of suspected heretics, executing several reformers at the Place Maubert in Paris beginning in 1523 and late 1525, forcing Lefèvre d'Étaples to flee to Strasbourg.^[247]

A decisive turning point in royal policy occurred with the Affair of the Placards (Affaire des Placards) on the night of 17–18 October 1534.^{[184][248][250][251]} Printed broadsheets fiercely attacking the Catholic doctrine of the Eucharist and the sacrifice of the Mass were posted across Paris, Orléans, Rouen, Blois, and Tours, with one placard fixed to the bedchamber door of the king himself at the Château d'Amboise.^{[184][248][251]} Francis viewed the act as a direct seditious assault against royal authority and the peace of the realm, shifting decisively toward state repression.^{[184][248][250][251]} In the ensuing three months, hundreds of suspects were arrested and numerous individuals were executed by burning, while Francis led public penitential processions through Paris; an initial royal edict briefly suspended printing in France before being replaced by strict pre-publication censorship.^[184]

Prominent French Protestant thinkers and humanists were forced into foreign exile, including John Calvin, who fled to Basel where he published the Institutes of the Christian Religion with a famous prefatory address to Francis I in March 1536.^[250][252] Although Francis issued the temporary Edict of Coucy on 16 July 1535 offering amnesty to heretics who abjured within six months, repression resumed as theological positions hardened.^[253] On 1 June 1540, Francis codified systematic heresy proceedings through the Edict of Fontainebleau, which subordinated the investigation and punishment of heresy directly to royal courts and parlements, and on 23 June he appointed the Dominican monk Matthieu Ory as inquisitor-general for France.^[177][254]

The most violent act of religious repression during Francis's reign was the Massacre of Mérindol in April 1545.^[254][255] The Waldensians were one of the historical pre-Lutheran groups.^[255] In 1545 Francis ordered the suppression of the Waldensian community.^{[177][254][255]} Troops led by Jean Maynier, President of the Parlement of Aix, and Joseph d'Agoult devastated between twenty and twenty-two villages, including Mérindol, Cabrières, and Lourmarin, massacring an estimated 3,000 men, women, and children and sending hundreds of survivors to the royal galleys.^[255] In 1546, prominent humanist printer Étienne Dolet was tortured and burned at the stake in Paris for heresy, and on 7 October 1546, fourteen Protestants were burned alive at the Place de Grève.^[250]

Health, final years, and death

During the final decade of his life, Francis suffered from deteriorating physical health.^{[128][256][257]} Following his Spanish captivity and an illness contracted in the 1520s, contemporaries and chroniclers including Brantôme reported that he had contracted syphilis.^[258][259] In the late 1530s, Francis developed an agonizing perineal abscess and chronic vesico-perineal fistula between his anus and scrotum, which forced him to abandon riding horses and travel instead by litter between his royal châteaux.^{[129][256][257]} His condition worsened through recurrent fever, kidney inflammation, and general exhaustion.^{[129][256][257]}

In March 1547, while traveling between his châteaux, Francis was confined to bed at the Château de Rambouillet in the Île-de-France.^[260] On 29 March, he received extreme unction, and he reportedly offered deathbed counsel to his surviving son and heir, the future Henry II, admonishing him regarding the administration of the kingdom and the burdens of the royal crown.^{[158][260][261]} Francis died at two o'clock in the afternoon on Thursday, 31 March 1547, on his son's twenty-eighth birthday, at the age of fifty-two.^{[158][257][259]} Paleopathological analyses based on his autopsy indicate that the immediate cause of death was systemic sepsis resulting from the infected fistula, coupled with acute renal failure from ascending nephritis.^[257]

The day after his death the king's body was embalmed and lay in state, and in mid-May his coffin was joined with those of his two predeceased sons.^[259][262] On 21 May 1547, a massive funeral procession comprising archers, heralds, royal officers, and 500 torchbearers escorting a funeral car drawn by six horses moved to Notre-Dame de Paris for solemn requiem services.^[262] On 23 May 1547, the bodies of Francis and his two sons were interred in the Royal Basilica of Saint-Denis beside his first wife, Queen Claude.^[158][262] The funeral oration was delivered by Pierre Duchâtel, the king's almoner.^[262] Between 1548 and 1559, a monumental marble triumphal arch mausoleum designed by Philibert Delorme and sculpted by Pierre Bontemps, François Marchand, and François Carmoy was erected over the royal tomb at Saint-Denis.^[263] Bontemps also carved a marble heart urn (cardiotaphe) for the monarch, preserved at Saint-Denis.^[263] On 20 October 1793, during the Reign of Terror of the French Revolution, the royal tombs of Francis, Queen Claude, and Louise of Savoy were opened by revolutionary authorities, and their skeletal remains were transferred to a common trench.^[264]

Marriages, mistresses, and issue

Francis married his first wife, Claude of France, on 18 May 1514 at Saint-Germain-en-Laye.^{[32][33][265]} Claude (1499–1524) gave birth to a child every year, and the couple had three sons and four daughters: * Louise: died in infancy.^[129][266] * Charlotte: died in childhood.^[266] * Francis (28 February 1518 – 10 August 1536): Dauphin of France and Duke of Brittany; died unmarried and without legitimate issue.^[129] * Henry II (born 31 March 1519): succeeded his father as King of France and married Catherine de' Medici in 1533.^{[158][266][267]} * Madeleine (1520–1537): became Queen of Scotland.^[266] * Charles (22 January 1522 – 9 September 1545): died of plague at the age of 23, unmarried and without issue.^[129] * Margaret (1523–1574): raised by her stepmother, Queen Eleanor.^[267]

Some later French genealogies record an eighth infant, Philippe, born in 1524 who died shortly after birth, leading some historians to suggest that Queen Claude died of complications from childbirth. On 7 July or 7 August 1530, Francis married his second wife, Eleanor of Austria, the elder sister of Emperor Charles V and widow of King Manuel I of Portugal, at an abbey near Mont-de-Marsan.^[129][151] Eleanor was crowned Queen of France at Saint-Denis in 1531.^[267] The diplomatic marriage produced no children.^[153] Following Francis's death in 1547, Eleanor left France and resided in Spain until her death in 1558.^[267]

Francis was known for an active courtly life and kept official mistresses, being credited with formally creating the court title of 'maîtresse-en-titre'.^{[129][258][268]} From approximately 1518 to 1526, his official mistress was Françoise de Foix, Countess of Châteaubriant.^{[129][258][268]} In 1526, upon his return from Spanish captivity, she was eclipsed by Anne de Pisseleu d'Heilly, whom Francis created Duchess of Étampes in 1534.^{[129][258][268]} Anne de Pisseleu exerted political and patronage influence at court until the king's death, opposing the faction around Dauphin Henry and Diane de Poitiers, and was forced to retire from court upon Henry II's accession.^[17][129] Earlier casual relationships included Mary Boleyn during her time at the French court in the 1510s, Marie Gaudin, Claude de Rohan-Gyé, and the legendary La Belle Ferronnière.^[258][269]

Francis was reported to have fathered illegitimate children.^[270][271] With Jacquette de Lanssac, he was reputed to have had Louis de Saint-Gelais (1512 or 1513 – 1589), Baron de La Mothe-Saint-Héray, who served as a royal councillor and diplomat, marrying first Jeanne de La Roche-Andry and second Gabrielle de Rochechouart.^[270][272] By an unknown mother, Francis was also acknowledged to have fathered Nicolas d'Estouteville (1545–1567), Seigneur de Villecouvin, who died without legal legitimation.^[271][273]

Cultural depictions and historical reputation

Historical assessment of Francis I has varied significantly over time.^{[274][275][276]} In French national historiography, the nineteenth-century historian Jules Michelet established an enduring critical perspective, characterizing Francis as an inconsistent and extravagant monarch whose strategic impetuosity led to the defeat at Pavia and financial strain.^[274] The historian Cédric Michon argues that the popular image of Francis is distorted: he did not really win the battle of Marignano, did not found the Collège de France, and, despite the Ordinance of Villers-Cotterêts, did not do much for the French language.^[276] Glenn Richardson writes that Francis was brave, if impetuous, in battle, that he enhanced royal power and concentrated decision-making, and that his cultural legacy to France and its Renaissance ought to secure his reputation among the greatest French kings.^[216][275]

Francis was portrayed by prominent artists of his era. Jean Clouet executed a well-known portrait around 1525–1530, depicting the king in satin, gold embroidery, and furs, now conserved at the Musée du Louvre.^[277][278] A portrait painted in 1532–1533 by Flemish master Joos van Cleve is housed in the Philadelphia Museum of Art, and workshop copies were distributed to foreign courts.^[279][280] Titian painted a profile portrait of Francis in 1538 based on a medal design, having never met the monarch in person.^[172] Additional drawings and miniature paintings were produced by François Clouet and Noël Bellemare.^[278]

Francis's court life and amorous adventures inspired major works of nineteenth-century literature and theater.^[281][282] Victor Hugo used Francis as the central figure of his 1832 drama Le Roi s'amuse ('The King's Amusement'), focusing on the libertine pursuits of the king and his court jester Triboulet.^[281][283] Hugo's play, banned after its premiere, served as the primary source for Francesco Maria Piave's libretto for Giuseppe Verdi's 1851 opera Rigoletto, in which Francis was transformed into the Duke of Mantua to satisfy theatrical censorship.^[281][283] In German literature, Friedrich Schiller composed the ballad Der Handschuh ('The Glove'), dramatizing an episode of court chivalry and lion fighting in Francis's presence.^[284] Alexandre Dumas featured Francis in his novel Ascanio, depicting the life of Benvenuto Cellini in France.

On screen, Francis was portrayed as early as 1907 in Georges Méliès's silent short François Ier et Triboulet.^[285] He was subsequently portrayed by Claude Garry in 1910, William Powell in When Knighthood Was in Flower (1922), Aimé Simon-Girard in François Premier (1937), Sacha Guitry in Remontons les Champs-Élysées (1937), Gérard Oury in The Sword and the Rose (1953), Jean Marais in Napoleon (1955), Pedro Armendáriz in Diane (1956), Bernard-Pierre Donnadieu in Cellini: A Violent Life (1990), Timothy West in Ever After (1998), Emmanuel Leconte in The Tudors (2007–2010), Alfonso Bassave in Carlos, rey emperador (2015–2016), and Colm Meaney in The Serpent Queen (2022).^{[283][286][287]}

References

1. Knecht (1982), p. 1–2. (Knecht, Robert J. (1982). Francis I. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0-521-24344-5. OL 7735278M.)
2. Vincent Hazemann, Louise de Savoie, mère de François Ier, Éditions L'Harmattan, 2013, p. 72.
3. Knecht, 1984, p. 3. ((EN) Robert Knecht, Francis I, Cambridge University Press, 1984, ISBN 9780521278874, SBN TO00709836.)
4. Benoist Pierre, « L’entourage religieux et la religion de Louise de Savoie », dans Louise de Savoie (1476-1531), Tours, Presses universitaires François-Rabelais, 2015, 298 p. (ISBN 9782869065413, OCLC 1053695536, DOI 10.4000/books.pufr.8372, lire en ligne).
5. de acuerdo con Antoine Roullet (encargado de los trabajos dirigidos en la universidad de París-IV-Sorbonne) en Historia mensual n° 727 : «Su nombre le viene ya desde Italia, en referencia a François de Paule, ermitaño italiano llegado a Francia en 1482 y que había predicho a Luisa de Saboya que su hijo iba a acceder al trono de Francia.»
6. acordies con Antoine Roullet (encargáu de los trabayos empobinaos na universidá de París-Sorbonne) en Historia mensual n° 727 : «El so nome vien-y yá dende Italia, en referencia a François de Paul, ermitañu italianu llegáu a Francia en 1482»
7. Knecht 2004, p. 112. (—— (2004). The Valois. Hambledon Continuum.)
8. Georges Bordonove, François Ier. Le Roi-Chevalier, Éditions Pygmalion, 2006, p. 23.
9. Hackett, 1937, p. 84. (Francis Hackett, Francesco I, Milano, dall'Oglio, 1964 [1937], ISBN 8877182393, SBN RMS0167096.)
10. Jean Thenaud, Le triomphe des vertus, Librairie Droz, 2007, p. 417.
11. Knecht (1982), p. 3. (Knecht, Robert J. (1982). Francis I. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0-521-24344-5. OL 7735278M.)
12. Clarisse Coignet, Fin de la vieille France : François Ier, portraits et récits du seizième siècle, Plon, 1885, p. 57.
13. René Guerdan, François Ier, p. 46
14. Hackett, 1937, pp. 94-96. (Francis Hackett, Francesco I, Milano, dall'Oglio, 1964 [1937], ISBN 8877182393, SBN RMS0167096.)
15. Martha Walker Freer: The Life of Marguerite D'Angoulême, Queen of Navarre, Duchesse D'Alençon and de Berry, Sister of Francis I, King of France. 1895, s. 44-45. ISBN 0-260-03848-2.
16. journal de Louise de Savoie.
17. (EN) Jules Isaac, Francis I of France, in Hugh Chisholm (a cura di), Enciclopedia Britannica, XIª ed., Cambridge University Press, 1911.
18. A.M. Lecoq, François Ier imaginaire : symbolique et politique à l'aube de la Renaissance française, Paris, 1987, p. 229-231 et 426-427.
19. Lang, 1999, p. 28. (Jack Lang, Francesco I. Il sovrano francese che s'innamorò dell'Italia, Collezione Le Scie, Milano, Mondadori, 1999, ISBN 9788804454458, SBN RLZ0225838.)
20. Hackett, 1937, pp. 97-98. (Francis Hackett, Francesco I, Milano, dall'Oglio, 1964 [1937], ISBN 8877182393, SBN RMS0167096.)
21. Guerdan 1986, p. 59.
22. Brown, Cynthia J. The Queen's Library: Image-Making at the Court of Anne of Brittany, 1477-1514 (en anglès). University of Pennsylvania Press, 2011, p. 246. ISBN 0812204905.
23. Hackett, 1937, pp. 105-106. (Francis Hackett, Francesco I, Milano, dall'Oglio, 1964 [1937], ISBN 8877182393, SBN RMS0167096.)
24. Le Gall, Jean-Marie «François Ier et la guerre» (en francès). Réforme, Humanisme, Renaissance, 79, 2014, p. 35-36.
25. André Debord in Jean Combes (dir.) et Michel Luc (dir.), La Charente de la Préhistoire à nos jours (ouvrage collectif), St-Jean-d'Y, Imprimerie Bordessoules, coll. « L'histoire par les documents », 1986, 429 p. (ISBN 2-903504-21-0, BNF 34901024, présentation en ligne), p. 146.
26. Knecht (1982), pp. 8, 9. (Knecht, Robert J. (1982). Francis I. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0-521-24344-5. OL 7735278M.)
27. Auguste Bailly, François Ier : restaurateur des lettres et des arts, Livre club du librairie, 1961, p. 5.
28. Hackett, 1937, pp. 106-107. (Francis Hackett, Francesco I, Milano, dall'Oglio, 1964 [1937], ISBN 8877182393, SBN RMS0167096.)
29. Georges Bordonove: Les rois qui ont fait la France. (IV. kötet) Párizs, Pygmalion, 2006. p. 65
30. Lang, 1999, pp. 29-30. (Jack Lang, Francesco I. Il sovrano francese che s'innamorò dell'Italia, Collezione Le Scie, Milano, Mondadori, 1999, ISBN 9788804454458, SBN RLZ0225838.)
31. Antonius Lux (Hrsg.): Große Frauen der Weltgeschichte. Tausend Biographien in Wort und Bild. Sebastian Lux Verlag, München 1963, S. 111.
32. Knecht (1982), p. 11. (Knecht, Robert J. (1982). Francis I. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0-521-24344-5. OL 7735278M.)
33. René Guerdan, François Ier : Le Roi de la Renaissance, 1986 (ISBN 9782277218524), p. 53.
34. René Guerdan: François 1er, side 53.
35. Knecht (1982), p. 16. (Knecht, Robert J. (1982). Francis I. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0-521-24344-5. OL 7735278M.)
36. Hackett, 1937, pp. 111-113. (Francis Hackett, Francesco I, Milano, dall'Oglio, 1964 [1937], ISBN 8877182393, SBN RMS0167096.)
37. Knecht, 1984, p. 16. ((EN) Robert Knecht, Francis I, Cambridge University Press, 1984, ISBN 9780521278874, SBN TO00709836.)
38. Bailey, Alfred. The Succession to the English Crown: A Historical Sketch (en anglès). Macmillan, 1879.
39. Bailly 1961, p. 9.
40. Alfred Kohler: Die französischen Könige und Kaiser der Neuzeit 1498–1870. S. 52.
41. Pierre Gringore, Les entrées royales à Paris de Marie d'Angleterre (1514) et Claude de France (1517), Librairie Droz, 2005, p. 28.
42. Georges Bordonove, Les rois qui ont fait la France. François Ier, Paris, Pygmalion, 1987, 318 p. (ISBN 9782857042327), p. 65 : « Et lui, percevant cette montée d'amour, saluait, souriait, jetait à poignée les piécettes ».
43. Sébastien Nadot, Rompez les lances ! Chevaliers et tournois au Moyen Âge, éd. Autrement, Paris, 2010.
44. Richardson (2015). (—— (May 2015). "The Greatest French King". History Today. 65 (5): 39–45.)
45. Alain Erlande-Brandenburg, « La Salamandre de François Ier », Bulletin monumental, t. 134, no 1,‎ 1976, p. 69 (ISSN 0007-473X, lire en ligne).
46. 存档副本. [2013-02-13]. （原始内容存档于2013-02-13）.
47. Guy de Tervarent, Attributs et symboles dans l'art profane, Librairie Droz, 1997 (lire en ligne), p. 389.
48. J.J. Boucher, Chambord, Fernand Lanore, 1980, p. 75-76.
49. Encyclopædia universalis, Volume 20, 1975, p. 1 713.
50. « Armure équestre de François Ier », sur Musée de l'Armée.
51. Sandra Di Giusto, « Armure équestre de François Ier », sur Les Chroniques de l'Histoire, 13 juillet 2019 (consulté le 6 septembre 2022).
52. Jean-Marie Le Gall et Antoine Hotman, Un idéal masculin ? barbes et moustaches, XVe-XVIIIe siècles, Payot, coll. « Histoire Payot », 2011 (ISBN 978-2-228-90690-6, OCLC 757464122).
53. Girault 2006, p. 11.
54. Robert Knecht, article « Un souverain en toute intimité », Historia no 101.
55. Niccolo Tommaseo, Relations des ambassadeurs vénitiens sur les affaires de France au XVIe siècle, t. 1, Paris, Impr. royale, 1838.
56. Robert-Jean Knecht, Un Prince de la Renaissance : François Ier et son royaume, Paris, Fayard, 1998, p. 75 et 77.
57. Lang, 1999, p. 61. (Jack Lang, Francesco I. Il sovrano francese che s'innamorò dell'Italia, Collezione Le Scie, Milano, Mondadori, 1999, ISBN 9788804454458, SBN RLZ0225838.)
58. Die französischen Könige und Kaiser. S. 61.
59. Avec Charles, le jeune souverain des Pays-Bas et duc de Bourgogne, le traité de Paris (24 mars 1515), avec Henri VIII d'Angleterre, le traité de Londres (5 avril 1515). Robert-Jean Knecht, Un Prince de la Renaissance : François Ier et son royaume, Paris, Fayard, 1998, p. 77-78.
60. .Louis XII avait dû reculer face aux attaques de la Sainte Ligue. Peu de temps avant le règne de François Ier, deux des éléments essentiels de cette ligue reviennent à de meilleurs sentiments envers le royaume de France : Henri VIII signe en 1514 le traité de paix et d’alliance de Tournai et le pape Léon X, élu en 1513, envisage des relations avec la France moins tumultueuses que celles de son prédécesseur Jules II. Le traité de Dijon n’ayant jamais été ratifié par Louis XII, François Ier ne s’estime pas tenu par les clauses prévoyant la renonciation des droits de sa famille sur le duché de Milan et passe une alliance avec la république de Venise. Du côté du Saint-Empire romain germanique, le futur Charles Quint est alors seigneur des Pays-Bas bourguignons et l’empereur Maximilien Ier est concentré sur sa diplomatie vers l’est (Bohême, Hongrie, Pologne et Lituanie).
61. фр. col de l'Argentière; итал. colle della Maddalena.
62. Lang, 1999, p. 64. (Jack Lang, Francesco I. Il sovrano francese che s'innamorò dell'Italia, Collezione Le Scie, Milano, Mondadori, 1999, ISBN 9788804454458, SBN RLZ0225838.)
63. Lang, 1999, pp. 65-66. (Jack Lang, Francesco I. Il sovrano francese che s'innamorò dell'Italia, Collezione Le Scie, Milano, Mondadori, 1999, ISBN 9788804454458, SBN RLZ0225838.)
64. Volker Reinhardt: Die Geschichte der Schweiz. C. H. Beck, München 2011.
65. Pellegrini, 2009, pp. 145-146. (Marco Pellegrini, Le guerre d'Italia: 1494-1559, Bologna, il Mulino, 2009, ISBN 978-88-15-27270-6, SBN RAV2066701.)
66. Lang, 1999, p. 67. (Jack Lang, Francesco I. Il sovrano francese che s'innamorò dell'Italia, Collezione Le Scie, Milano, Mondadori, 1999, ISBN 9788804454458, SBN RLZ0225838.)
67. Lang, 1999, pp. 68-69. (Jack Lang, Francesco I. Il sovrano francese che s'innamorò dell'Italia, Collezione Le Scie, Milano, Mondadori, 1999, ISBN 9788804454458, SBN RLZ0225838.)
68. Lang, 1999, pp. 70-71. (Jack Lang, Francesco I. Il sovrano francese che s'innamorò dell'Italia, Collezione Le Scie, Milano, Mondadori, 1999, ISBN 9788804454458, SBN RLZ0225838.)
69. Didier Le Fur, La France de la Renaissance, Taillandier, 2013, 264 p. (ISBN 979-10-210-0184-8, lire en ligne).
70. Jacky Lorette, 1515 - L'année des ruptures, Éditions de l'Archipel, 4 février 2015, 368 p. (ISBN 978-2-8098-1645-7, lire en ligne).
71. J.H. Shennan: Burbonowie. Dzieje dynastii. Warszawa: Bellona, 2009, s. 34. ISBN 978-83-11-11458-6.
72. Lang, 1999, p. 73. (Jack Lang, Francesco I. Il sovrano francese che s'innamorò dell'Italia, Collezione Le Scie, Milano, Mondadori, 1999, ISBN 9788804454458, SBN RLZ0225838.)
73. Lang, 1999, p. 76. (Jack Lang, Francesco I. Il sovrano francese che s'innamorò dell'Italia, Collezione Le Scie, Milano, Mondadori, 1999, ISBN 9788804454458, SBN RLZ0225838.)
74. Die französischen Könige und Kaiser der Neuzeit. S. 59.
75. Hackett, 1937, p. 206. (Francis Hackett, Francesco I, Milano, dall'Oglio, 1964 [1937], ISBN 8877182393, SBN RMS0167096.)
76. Heinz Schilling: Aufbruch und Krise. Deutschland 1517–1648. Siedler, Berlin 1994, S. 198.
77. Pierre Vilar, Or et monnaie dans l'Histoire, Flammarion, 1974, p. 89.
78. Hackett, 1937, pp. 206-207. (Francis Hackett, Francesco I, Milano, dall'Oglio, 1964 [1937], ISBN 8877182393, SBN RMS0167096.)
79. Hackett, 1937, pp. 208-209. (Francis Hackett, Francesco I, Milano, dall'Oglio, 1964 [1937], ISBN 8877182393, SBN RMS0167096.)
80. Hackett, 1937, p. 209. (Francis Hackett, Francesco I, Milano, dall'Oglio, 1964 [1937], ISBN 8877182393, SBN RMS0167096.)
81. Hackett, 1937, pp. 210-211. (Francis Hackett, Francesco I, Milano, dall'Oglio, 1964 [1937], ISBN 8877182393, SBN RMS0167096.)
82. Gerosa, 1989, p. 104. (Guido Gerosa, Carlo V. Un sovrano per due mondi, Oscar Mondadori, 1989, ISBN 8804434295, SBN RLZ0032360.)
83. Lang, 1999, pp. 252-253. (Jack Lang, Francesco I. Il sovrano francese che s'innamorò dell'Italia, Collezione Le Scie, Milano, Mondadori, 1999, ISBN 9788804454458, SBN RLZ0225838.)
84. Knecht (1982), pp. 77, 78. (Knecht, Robert J. (1982). Francis I. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0-521-24344-5. OL 7735278M.)
85. Hackett, 1937, p. 216. (Francis Hackett, Francesco I, Milano, dall'Oglio, 1964 [1937], ISBN 8877182393, SBN RMS0167096.)
86. Lang, 1999, pp. 254-256. (Jack Lang, Francesco I. Il sovrano francese che s'innamorò dell'Italia, Collezione Le Scie, Milano, Mondadori, 1999, ISBN 9788804454458, SBN RLZ0225838.)
87. Hackett, 1937, pp. 217-218. (Francis Hackett, Francesco I, Milano, dall'Oglio, 1964 [1937], ISBN 8877182393, SBN RMS0167096.)
88. Hackett, 1937, p. 218. (Francis Hackett, Francesco I, Milano, dall'Oglio, 1964 [1937], ISBN 8877182393, SBN RMS0167096.)
89. Hackett, 1937, pp. 220-221. (Francis Hackett, Francesco I, Milano, dall'Oglio, 1964 [1937], ISBN 8877182393, SBN RMS0167096.)
90. Hackett, 1937, pp. 229-230. (Francis Hackett, Francesco I, Milano, dall'Oglio, 1964 [1937], ISBN 8877182393, SBN RMS0167096.)
91. Hackett, 1937, p. 230. (Francis Hackett, Francesco I, Milano, dall'Oglio, 1964 [1937], ISBN 8877182393, SBN RMS0167096.)
92. Oman, 1937, pp. 173-174. ((EN) Charles Oman, A History of the Art of War in the Sixteenth Century, Londra, Methuen & * Co., 1937, ISBN non esistente, SBN NAP0191684.)
93. Dans le tome X de son Histoire de France, le père Daniel rapporte une lettre curieuse qu’il transcrit de l’original, écrite par François Ier à sa mère, lorsque les Impériaux lèvent le siège de Mézières. Le « Père des Lettres », comme on peut le voir, traite assez cavalièrement l’orthographe. « Madame, tout asetheure (à cette heure), ynsy que je me vouoys mettre o lyt, est aryve Laval, leque m’a aporté la serteneté (la certitude) deu lèvement du siège de Mésyères. Je croy que nos anemys sont en grant pène, vu la honteuse retrète qu’yl ont fet : pour tout le jour de demayn, je soré le chemin qu’ys prandront. Et selon sela, il nous fodra gouverner. Et s’yl on joué le pasyon, nous jourons la vanganse. Vous suplyant vouloyr mander partout pour fère remercier Dieu : car sans poynt de foie, il a montré se coup qu’yl est bon François. Et fesant fyn à ma lettre, remettant le tout seur le porteur, pry à Dieu qu’il vous doynt très bonne vye et longue. Vostre très-humble et très-obéyant fyls. François. ».
94. Hackett, 1937, pp. 248-251. (Francis Hackett, Francesco I, Milano, dall'Oglio, 1964 [1937], ISBN 8877182393, SBN RMS0167096.)
95. Blockmans, 2002, p. 52. ((EN) Wim Blockmans, Emperor Charles V, 1500–1558, New York, Oxford University Press, 2002, ISBN 0-340-73110-9.)
96. Richard Reifenscheid: Die Habsburger in Lebensbildern. Von Rudolf I. bis Karl I. Piper, München 1984, S. 109.
97. Hackett, 1937, pp. 256-257. (Francis Hackett, Francesco I, Milano, dall'Oglio, 1964 [1937], ISBN 8877182393, SBN RMS0167096.)
98. Hackett, 1937, pp. 254-255, 257. (Francis Hackett, Francesco I, Milano, dall'Oglio, 1964 [1937], ISBN 8877182393, SBN RMS0167096.)
99. Charles de Bourbon avait épousé sa cousine Suzanne de Bourbon, fille d’Anne de Beaujeu. Il se trouve donc à la tête d’un des plus vastes ensembles de territoires non encore réunis à la couronne. Suzanne meurt en 1521, sans héritier. Les biens en apanage (Auvergne, Montpensier, Clermont-en-Beauvaisis) reviennent à la couronne et Louise de Savoie, cousine de Suzanne et petite-fille du duc Charles Ier de Bourbon, revendique le Bourbonnais et Chatellerault. De procès en confiscation puis en ordres d’arrestation, le connétable finit par s’enfuir, rejoint l’empereur et meurt à Rome sans récupérer ses fiefs qui sont définitivement rattachés à la couronne.
100. Hackett, 1937, pp. 260-261. (Francis Hackett, Francesco I, Milano, dall'Oglio, 1964 [1937], ISBN 8877182393, SBN RMS0167096.)
101. René Guerdan: Franz I. König der Renaissance. Frankfurt a. M. 1978, S. 145 ff.
102. Konstam, 1996, pp. 41-43.
103. Hackett, 1937, pp. 265-273. (Francis Hackett, Francesco I, Milano, dall'Oglio, 1964 [1937], ISBN 8877182393, SBN RMS0167096.)
104. Lang, 1999, pp. 132-133, 137. (Jack Lang, Francesco I. Il sovrano francese che s'innamorò dell'Italia, Collezione Le Scie, Milano, Mondadori, 1999, ISBN 9788804454458, SBN RLZ0225838.)
105. Jean Rey, Histoire de la captivité de François Ier, Chez Techener, 1837, 356 p..
106. Konstam, 1996, p. 44.
107. Hackett, 1937, pp. 281-282. (Francis Hackett, Francesco I, Milano, dall'Oglio, 1964 [1937], ISBN 8877182393, SBN RMS0167096.)
108. Hackett, 1937, p. 285. (Francis Hackett, Francesco I, Milano, dall'Oglio, 1964 [1937], ISBN 8877182393, SBN RMS0167096.)
109. Konstam, 1996, pp. 55-56.
110. Konstam, 1996, pp. 60-64.
111. Hackett, 1937, pp. 290-291. (Francis Hackett, Francesco I, Milano, dall'Oglio, 1964 [1937], ISBN 8877182393, SBN RMS0167096.)
112. Blockmans, 2002, p. 57. ((EN) Wim Blockmans, Emperor Charles V, 1500–1558, New York, Oxford University Press, 2002, ISBN 0-340-73110-9.)
113. Konstam, 1996, pp. 67-69.
114. Blockmans, 2002, p. 59. ((EN) Wim Blockmans, Emperor Charles V, 1500–1558, New York, Oxford University Press, 2002, ISBN 0-340-73110-9.)
115. Konstam, 1996, pp. 70-77.
116. Konstam, 1996, pp. 83-84, 88-89.
117. Hackett, 1937, pp. 292-294. (Francis Hackett, Francesco I, Milano, dall'Oglio, 1964 [1937], ISBN 8877182393, SBN RMS0167096.)
118. Pita da Veiga Goyanes, Gabriel; Pita da Veiga Subirats, Joaquín (3 de julio de 2020). «La prisión del rey de Francia: consideraciones sobre la captura de Francisco I y sus verdaderos protagonistas». Revista de Historia Militar, ISSN: 0482-5748 (Instituto de Historia y Cultura Militar). 127 (2020): pp. 144-192. Consultado el 6 de julio de 2020.
119. Pasqui, 2012, p. 158. (Umberto Pasqui, Storie di Forlì, Lulu.com, 2012, ISBN 9781291231755.)
120. Andrews, Colman. (2012)Country Cooking of Italy. San Francisco: Chronicle Books, p. 60. ISBN 978-1-4521-2392-9.
121. Hackett, 1937, p. 301. (Francis Hackett, Francesco I, Milano, dall'Oglio, 1964 [1937], ISBN 8877182393, SBN RMS0167096.)
122. Hackett, 1937, p. 302. (Francis Hackett, Francesco I, Milano, dall'Oglio, 1964 [1937], ISBN 8877182393, SBN RMS0167096.)
123. Isaac, Jules (1911). "Francis I. of France" . In Chisholm, Hugh (ed.). Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 10 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 935.
124. Gerosa, 1989, pp. 169-170. (Guido Gerosa, Carlo V. Un sovrano per due mondi, Oscar Mondadori, 1989, ISBN 8804434295, SBN RLZ0032360.)
125. Hackett, 1937, p. 317. (Francis Hackett, Francesco I, Milano, dall'Oglio, 1964 [1937], ISBN 8877182393, SBN RMS0167096.)
126. Knecht (1982), pp. 224–225, 230. (Knecht, Robert J. (1982). Francis I. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0-521-24344-5. OL 7735278M.)
127. Hackett, 1937, p. 306. (Francis Hackett, Francesco I, Milano, dall'Oglio, 1964 [1937], ISBN 8877182393, SBN RMS0167096.)
128. Lang, 1999, pp. 159-160. (Jack Lang, Francesco I. Il sovrano francese che s'innamorò dell'Italia, Collezione Le Scie, Milano, Mondadori, 1999, ISBN 9788804454458, SBN RLZ0225838.)
129. Francis I | King of France & Renaissance Monarch | Britannica www.britannica.com. Viitattu 8.2.2024. (englanniksi)
130. Gerosa, 1989, p. 170. (Guido Gerosa, Carlo V. Un sovrano per due mondi, Oscar Mondadori, 1989, ISBN 8804434295, SBN RLZ0032360.)
131. Hackett, 1937, pp. 318-320. (Francis Hackett, Francesco I, Milano, dall'Oglio, 1964 [1937], ISBN 8877182393, SBN RMS0167096.)
132. Hackett, 1937, pp. 323-324. (Francis Hackett, Francesco I, Milano, dall'Oglio, 1964 [1937], ISBN 8877182393, SBN RMS0167096.)
133. Hackett, 1937, p. 313. (Francis Hackett, Francesco I, Milano, dall'Oglio, 1964 [1937], ISBN 8877182393, SBN RMS0167096.)
134. Hackett, 1937, p. 322. (Francis Hackett, Francesco I, Milano, dall'Oglio, 1964 [1937], ISBN 8877182393, SBN RMS0167096.)
135. Hackett, 1937, p. 325. (Francis Hackett, Francesco I, Milano, dall'Oglio, 1964 [1937], ISBN 8877182393, SBN RMS0167096.)
136. Mallet, Michael; Shaw, Christine. The Italian Wars: 1494–1559 (Harlow, England: Pearson Education Limited, 2012) p. 153.
137. Kendall, Paul Murray. Louis XI: The Universal Spider (New York: W. W. Norton and Company, 1971), p. 314.
138. Lang, 1999, p. 158. (Jack Lang, Francesco I. Il sovrano francese che s'innamorò dell'Italia, Collezione Le Scie, Milano, Mondadori, 1999, ISBN 9788804454458, SBN RLZ0225838.)
139. Hackett, 1937, pp. 326, 329. (Francis Hackett, Francesco I, Milano, dall'Oglio, 1964 [1937], ISBN 8877182393, SBN RMS0167096.)
140. Hackett, 1937, p. 331. (Francis Hackett, Francesco I, Milano, dall'Oglio, 1964 [1937], ISBN 8877182393, SBN RMS0167096.)
141. Mallett, Michael; Shaw, Christine. The Italian Wars: 1494–1559. p. 155.
142. Hackett, 1937, p. 332. (Francis Hackett, Francesco I, Milano, dall'Oglio, 1964 [1937], ISBN 8877182393, SBN RMS0167096.)
143. Hackett, 1937, p. 333. (Francis Hackett, Francesco I, Milano, dall'Oglio, 1964 [1937], ISBN 8877182393, SBN RMS0167096.)
144. Hackett, 1937, pp. 336-342. (Francis Hackett, Francesco I, Milano, dall'Oglio, 1964 [1937], ISBN 8877182393, SBN RMS0167096.)
145. Hackett, 1937, pp. 342-344, 350, 355-356. (Francis Hackett, Francesco I, Milano, dall'Oglio, 1964 [1937], ISBN 8877182393, SBN RMS0167096.)
146. Francesco Guicciardini, Storia d'Italia, Llib. 19, cap. 4
147. Richardson (2015), p. 41. (—— (May 2015). "The Greatest French King". History Today. 65 (5): 39–45.)
148. Philippe Hamon, « La rançon d'un roi : deux millions pour libérer François Ier !» , L'Histoire, 207, février 1997.
149. Hackett, 1937, p. 361. (Francis Hackett, Francesco I, Milano, dall'Oglio, 1964 [1937], ISBN 8877182393, SBN RMS0167096.)
150. Hackett, 1937, p. 362. (Francis Hackett, Francesco I, Milano, dall'Oglio, 1964 [1937], ISBN 8877182393, SBN RMS0167096.)
151. « Ils sont venus à Mont-de-Marsan », Office de Tourisme de Mont-de-Marsan. Dans le livre de Pierre Ripert, Elles ont régné sur la France, il est indiqué que le mariage a eu lieu le 4 juillet 1530 à Captieux (actuel département de Gironde). D'autres sources indiquent un mariage à la cathédrale de Bazas (« Ancienne cathédrale de Bazas », notice no PA00083131, sur la plateforme ouverte du patrimoine, base Mérimée, ministère français de la Culture), aussi en Gironde.
152. Hackett, 1937, p. 389. (Francis Hackett, Francesco I, Milano, dall'Oglio, 1964 [1937], ISBN 8877182393, SBN RMS0167096.)
153. Wurzbach, Constantin von (1860). "Habsburg, Eleonore von Oesterreich (Tochter Philipp's von Oesterreich)". Biographisches Lexikon des Kaiserthums Oesterreich. Vienna: Verlag L. C. Zamarski.
154. Parker, Geoffrey (2019). Emperor, pp 308–312.
155. Mallett e Shaw, 2012, pp. 228, 231. ((EN) Michael Mallett e Christine Shaw, The Italian Wars: 1494–1559, Pearson Education, Inc., 2012, ISBN 978-0-582-05758-6.)
156. Mallett e Shaw, 2012, p. 2233. ((EN) Michael Mallett e Christine Shaw, The Italian Wars: 1494–1559, Pearson Education, Inc., 2012, ISBN 978-0-582-05758-6.)
157. Hoyt, Robert S. & Stanley Chodorow, Europe in the Middle Ages (Harcourt, Brace & Jovanovich Inc.: New York, 1976), p. 619.
158. Cavendish, Richard. "The Marriage of Mary, Queen of Scots". historytoday.com.
159. (EN) Hayward Keniston, Peace Negotiations between Charles V and Francis I (1537-1538), in Proceedings of the American Philosophical Society, vol. 102, n. 2, 30 aprile 1958, pp. 142-147.
160. Léon Bodin, Éloge de Pierre Rat, Poitiers, Imprimerie A. Dupré, 1878, 36 p. (BNF 30118116, lire en ligne), p. 19 « Ce fut le 8 décembre de cette année 1539, vers les cinq heures du soir, que l’empereur Charles-Quint, venant de Lusignan où il avait « couché », disent les chroniques, fit son entrée dans la ville, accompagné du Dauphin et du duc d’Orléans. » .
161. Lang, 1999, p. 308. (Jack Lang, Francesco I. Il sovrano francese che s'innamorò dell'Italia, Collezione Le Scie, Milano, Mondadori, 1999, ISBN 9788804454458, SBN RLZ0225838.)
162. Lang, 1999, p. 307. (Jack Lang, Francesco I. Il sovrano francese che s'innamorò dell'Italia, Collezione Le Scie, Milano, Mondadori, 1999, ISBN 9788804454458, SBN RLZ0225838.)
163. Klaus-Peter Matschke: Das Kreuz und der Halbmond. Die Geschichte der Türkenkriege. Artemis & Winkler, Düsseldorf/Zürich 2004, S. 276.
164. Lang, 1999, pp. 311-312. (Jack Lang, Francesco I. Il sovrano francese che s'innamorò dell'Italia, Collezione Le Scie, Milano, Mondadori, 1999, ISBN 9788804454458, SBN RLZ0225838.)
165. Lang, 1999, p. 309. (Jack Lang, Francesco I. Il sovrano francese che s'innamorò dell'Italia, Collezione Le Scie, Milano, Mondadori, 1999, ISBN 9788804454458, SBN RLZ0225838.)
166. Pierwszą żoną Henryka VIII była Katarzyna Aragońska, ciotka cesarza Karola V.
167. Lang, 1999, p. 312. (Jack Lang, Francesco I. Il sovrano francese che s'innamorò dell'Italia, Collezione Le Scie, Milano, Mondadori, 1999, ISBN 9788804454458, SBN RLZ0225838.)
168. Lang, 1999, p. 314. (Jack Lang, Francesco I. Il sovrano francese che s'innamorò dell'Italia, Collezione Le Scie, Milano, Mondadori, 1999, ISBN 9788804454458, SBN RLZ0225838.)
169. Lang, 1999, pp. 312-313. (Jack Lang, Francesco I. Il sovrano francese che s'innamorò dell'Italia, Collezione Le Scie, Milano, Mondadori, 1999, ISBN 9788804454458, SBN RLZ0225838.)
170. Kann, Robert A. (1980). Kann. University of California Press. p. 62. ISBN 978-0-520-04206-3. Retrieved 23 August 2012.
171. Miller, p. 2
172. Girault 2006, p. 15.
173. R. A. Kann, A History of Habsburg Empire 1526-1918, University of California Press, 1980, p. 62.
174. Mohaç Zaferi (29 Ağustos 1526) 11 Mayıs 2012 tarihinde Wayback Machine sitesinde arşivlendi., Genelkurmay Başkanlığı.
175. Historia no 700, p. 24-28.
176. Klaus-Peter Matschke: Das Kreuz und der Halbmond. Die Geschichte der Türkenkriege. Artemis & Winkler, Düsseldorf und Zürich 2004, S. 270 ff.
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207. Pierre-Olivier Chaumet explique : « Depuis François Ier, la théorie de la monarchie absolue est contenue dans la formule prenant place à la fin des actes royaux : « car tel est notre bon plaisir ». Le mot « plaisir » est seulement la traduction latine de placere, qui signifie « paraître bon » ou « volonté ». il ne s'agit aucunement de caractériser les effets d'un arbitraire royal. Par cette phrase, il est signifié que seul un monarque, au sens étymologique du terme, gouverne l'État. » (Pierre-Olivier Chaumet, Introduction historique au droit : de la fin de l'Antiquité à la codification napoléonienne, Paris, Ellipses, 2016, 283 p. (ISBN 9782340014008), p. 76).
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219. O concordao do 1516 ch'o metteiva effettivamente in so man o quarto circa do sœu françeize; a lotta co-o connestabile pe l'ereditæ de Suzanna de Borbon; a preteiza no mai abbandonâ, a l'ereditæ milaneize, en solo che e prœuve ciu appaiscente de tâ pratiçitæ irreduxibile.
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222. Iwan Bloch: Die Prostitution. Erster Band. Berlin 1912, S. 764. Außerdem wurde Franz I. offenbar Opfer des Racheaktes eines Rechtsanwalts, der bewusst erst sich (bei einer Dirne) und dann seine Frau, eine Mätresse des Königs, mit Syphilis infizierte, um am Tod des Königs das Berechtigte seines Verdachts bestätigt zu bekommen. Vgl. Christian Niemeyer: Sozialpädagogik als Sexualpädagogik. Weinheim/Basel 2019, S. 212 f.; Hans Bankl: Kolumbus brachte nicht nur Tomaten. Wien 2012, S. 34.
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235. Knecht, R.J. Francis I, (Cambridge University Press, 1984), 1–2.
236. Lang, 1999, pp. 81-82. (Jack Lang, Francesco I. Il sovrano francese che s'innamorò dell'Italia, Collezione Le Scie, Milano, Mondadori, 1999, ISBN 9788804454458, SBN RLZ0225838.)
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242. Il existe à la Bibliothèque nationale de France un manuscrit des poésies de François Ier, provenant de la succession Chatre-Imbert de Cangé. On y remarque une lettre en prose et en vers que ce prince adressa de sa prison à l’une de ses maîtresses, une églogue intitulée Admetus, et un très grand nombre de petites pièces. Nous en extrayons quelques-unes : « Le mal d’amour est plus grand que ne pense Celui qui l’a seulement ouï dire ; Ce qui nous semble ailleurs légère offense, Et amitié se répute martyre. Chacun se plaint, et gémit, et soupire. Mais s’il survient une seule heure d’aise, La douleur cesse, et le tourment s’apaise. Elle jura par ses yeux et mes yeux Ayant pitié de ma longue entreprise. Que mes malheurs se tourneraient en biens, Et pour cela me fut heure promise. Je crois que Dieu les femmes favorise, Car de quatre yeux qui furent parjures, Rouges les miens devinrent sans feintise, Les siens en sont plus beaux et azurés. » Les vers qu’il fit sur Agnès Sorel sont plus connus. Le manuscrit dont nous avons parlé, les reproduit ainsi avec quelques variantes : « Ici dessoubz des belles git l’eslite, Car de louanges sa beauté plus mérite, Estant cause de France recouvrer, Que tout cela que en cloître put ouvrer Clause nonnain, ou en désert hermite. » Source :John Grand-Carteret, L'Histoire, la vie, les mœurs et la curiosité par l'Image, le Pamphlet et le document (1450-1900), Librairie de la curiosité et des beaux-arts, 1927 [détail des éditions].
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253. Stephan Skalweit: Gestalten und Probleme der frühen Neuzeit. S. 58.
254. Lang, 1999, pp. 221-222. (Jack Lang, Francesco I. Il sovrano francese che s'innamorò dell'Italia, Collezione Le Scie, Milano, Mondadori, 1999, ISBN 9788804454458, SBN RLZ0225838.)
255. Knecht 1997, p. 69. (—— (1997). French Renaissance Monarchy: Francis I and Henry II (2nd ed.). Routledge.)
256. Patrice Gueniffey, Les derniers jours des rois, Librairie Académique Perrin, 2014, p. 87.
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