Sunday, September 17, 2017

Damn, Girl-Louise of Savoy

Louise of Savoy was the mother of a King, and one of the most powerful women in Europe at her time. She ruled France in her son's absence, and, along with Margaret of Austria, negotiated the Peace of Cambrai or 'Women's Peace', which would end the war between France and Spain for nearly a decade. She was an amazing diplomat, and held her country and family together during times of great political stress.

Image result for Louise of Savoy
Louise
Louise was born in 1476 to the poor, more or less landless, Duke of Savoy. He wasn't a very good father, and Louise's mother died when she was seven, so she was packed off to the French court to be raised by her aunt, Anne of Beaujeu.

At the time, Anne basically ran France. She, along with her husband Pierre, had been appointed as regents until Charles VIII reached majority. Though Pierre was technically a regent as well, it was Anne who ran the country. She wasn't an overly affectionate woman, but from her Louise learned the art of diplomacy and statecraft.

While under Anne's care she also met Margaret of Austria; a favorite to marry King Charles when he came of age. Though Margaret and Charles never married, Louise and Margaret stayed in close contact throughout their lives.

In 1488, at age twelve, Louise married Charles of Orleans. Charles was much older than Louise, and had two mistresses--Antoinette of Polignac and Jeanne Comte--who lived with him. Despite all this, Louise and Charles had a relatively happy marriage. Louise befriended both Jeanne and Antoinette, and later entrusted Jeanne with guardianship of her children, and took Antoinette into her service as her companion.

Charles died in 1496. Leaving 19 year old Louise a widow with two small children, one of whom, Francis, was second in line for the throne

Image result for Francis I
Francis I
Despite challenges from her male relatives, Louise managed to keep custody and guardianship of her children. When Charles XIII died in 1498, Francis became heir to the throne. His uncle, Louis XII, had been unable to produce any living sons, and had only two daughters, Renee and Claude. Much to Louise's chagrin, Francis and Claude were married in 1514

After Louis' death later that year Francis ascended to the throne, and relied heavily on Louise for help with ruling. It was she who made many of the state appointments, and it was to her that Francis left the responsibilities of ruling to when he decided to go to war against the Italian States.

Francis was only 21 when he came to the throne, and he was eager to prove himself just as much of a military man as his Spanish and English counterparts. Louise was unable to talk him out of it, so she dutifully helped raise the funds for his wars, and served as regent while he was away.

Louise's first regency lasted for less than a year, and was fairly unremarkable. Her second regency in 1525, however, was considerably more stressful. While fighting in Pavia, Italy Francis was captured by the Spanish-Italian forces, and taken off to Madrid.

Louise must have been devastated, not to mention worried sick, but she didn't let it affect her judgement. She was responsible for France, and she would see that France was taken care of. She took up residence in Lyon, and summoned the members from the parliaments of Paris, Rouen, and Bordeaux to advise her. She tasked the Paris Parliament with defending Northern France, and set the rest to raising the necessary funds. All the while, she was in contact with the Spanish king in Madrid.

With the help of her old friend Margaret of Austria, Louise was able to arrange for the release of her son, and a temporary peace with the Spaniards and Italians. The terms were steep. Two of Francis' sons would be sent to Madrid as hostages, and France would have to cede Burgundy. Despite the unappealing terms, Louise agreed, and traded two of her grandsons for her son.

Image result for margaret of austria
Margaret of Austria 
As for the rest of the treaty, well, in Louise's own words, promises made under duress were meaningless. Burgundy stayed with France, and Francis went back to waging merry war against the Spanish and Italians. Unamused, the Spanish king took out his frustrations on Francis' sons. That was around when Louise decided that this war needed to end.

In 1528, Louise and Margaret of Austria, the Spanish regent in the Netherlands, started covertly talking about making peace. There were a lot of issues on both ends, but thankfully Louise and Margaret were both much wiser than their counterparts. In July of 1529 they met in Cambrai to officially make peace. Under the terms of their treaty, France would keep Burgundy, and Francis could ransom his sons in exchange for an unholy amount of money. Francis would marry Eleanor of Portugal, the Spanish King's sister, and the war would stop. This peace held for seven years.

However, Louise's health didn't. Louise suffered from gout, colic, stomach pains, and a number of other illnesses. Her infirmity was only further aggravated by the fact that she refused to slow down. in 1531, just two years after she negotiated the Ladies Peace with her friend Margaret of Austria, Louise died.


Sources
Louise of Savoy: The 'King's Mother' and Regent of France
Louise of Savoy
Louise of Savoy (1476-1531)

No comments:

Post a Comment

Thank you so much for commenting! We have turned on comment moderation in order to cut down on the amount of spam and promotional material being sent to us. Provided your comment is not attempting to sell something, your comment will be published within the next 48 hours.