Louise of Savoy

Louise was born into the family of the Duke of Savoy, Philip Landless and Margarita de Bourbon - the daughter of Charles I de Bourbon from her marriage to Agnes Burgundy, daughter of the Duke of Burgundy Jean the Fearless .

She was brought up at the court of her cousin, Anna de God . There she became friends with Margarita of Austria , who, being the Dauphin's bride, lived at the French court. Subsequently, their friendship helped reconcile Spain and France thanks to peace in Cambrai .

At age 12, she was married to Karl of Angouleme from the Orleans branch of the ruling house of Valois . The main seat of the spouses was Cognac . At 18, she became a widow and wore a black dress for the rest of her life. At the invitation of Louis XII, she lived with her children in the royal castle of Amboise . In August 1508, the son and daughter of Louise of Savoy moved to Paris, but she retired to Angouleme .

After the death of Anna of Breton in 1514, Louise of Savoy moved to Paris. She was the unofficial head of government at the beginning of the reign of her son, in 1515-1525, and the official regent during the years of the Spanish captivity, Francis, who followed his capture under Pavia . She surrounded herself with Italians and settled at the court of her brothers - Rene and Philip (from the latter comes the House of Savoy-Nemur ). She pursued a policy of family unions, which Catherine de Medici would subsequently try to continue without much success. As an example, Louise organized the marriage of her sister Philibert with the Florentine ruler Giuliano Medici .

In 1523, she offered her hand to the just-widowed Duke Karl Bourbon and, having been refused, along with the newly-minted favorite Bonive began to pursue him, hiding behind her mother's dubious rights to the Bourbon inheritance , which contributed to the change of the duke and the confiscation of his possessions. After that, a huge feudal domain was concentrated in her hands, which included Bourbonnet , Beaujolais , Auvergne , Marsh , Angumua , Maine and Anjou . The Duchy of Nemur, she lost to brother Philip.

After the death of Louise of Savoy (according to legend, she died of fear of a comet ), her son, the French monarch, presented his claim to the throne of Duke Charles III (1504-1553), who was his uncle. Resuming the Italian Wars in 1538, French troops occupied Savoy and almost all of Piedmont . The French settled firmly in the conquered lands and only in 1559 in the Cato-Cambrian world were forced to return them to their son Charles III, Emmanuel Philibert (1553-1580).

Louise of Savoy was considered an outstanding chess player of her time. By her order, the court miniaturist Robin Testar created for the library in Cognac manuscripts of the chess treatises Livre des échecs amoureux and the Ethics Book of Love Chess by Evrara de Conti, as well as Les échecs moralisés Jacques de Cessoles. In his miniature, Louise of Savoy plays chess with a courtier in the presence of her husband.

• Paule Henry-Bordeaux: Louise de Savoie, roi de France . Perrin, Paris 1971.
• Gilbert Jacqueton: La politique extérieure de Louise de Savoie. Relations diplomatiques de la France et de l'Angleterre, pendant la captivité de François Ier. 1525-1526 . Bouillon, Paris 1892 ( online ).
• René Maulde-La-Clavière: Louise de Savoie et François Ier. Trente ans de jeunesse (1485-1515) . Perrin, Paris 1895 ( PDF ; 16 MB).
• Claude-Bernard Petitot (Ed.): Collection complète des mémoires relatifs à l'histoire de France. Band 16., S. 385-408 ( online ).
• Ernest Quentin-Bauchart: Les femmes bibliophiles de France (XVIe, XVIIe, & XVIIIe siècles) . Band 1. Damascène Morgand, Paris 1886, S. 11-23 ( PDF ; 15.0 MB).
• Edith Helen Sichel: Women and Men of the French Renaissance . Archibald Constable & Co., Westminster 1903, S. 77-95 ( PDF ; 10.5 MB).