Avançar para o conteúdo principal

Claude of France

Claude was born on 13 October 1499, in Romorantin-Lanthenay, France. She was the eldest daughter of King Louis XII of France and his wife, Anne of Brittany.


 Claude was named after Claudius of Besançon, a saint her mother had invoked so she could give birth to a living child. During her two marriages, Anne had at least fourteen pregnancies, but only two children survived to adulthood: Claude and her younger sister, Renée.
On 9 January 1514, when her mother died, Claude became Duchess of Brittany in her own right. Four months later, she married her cousin Francis, Duke of Valois. With this union, it was secured that Brittany would remain united to the French crown, if the third marriage of Louis XII with Mary Tudor would not produce an heir. However, this union was short-lived and childless: Louis died less than three months later, on 1 January 1515. Francis succeeded him and they were now King Francis I and Queen Claude of France.

 As Queen, Claude was eclipsed at court by her mother-in-law, Louise of Savoy, and her sister-in-law, Margaret of Angoulême. Unlike her younger sister Renée, Claude never showed any interest in her inheritance nor had any disposition for politics; she preferred to devote herself to religion.

 After Francis became King, Anne Boleyn stayed as a member of Claude's household. Anne would return to England in 1521, where she eventually became Queen of England as Henry VIII's second wife. Diane de Poitiers was another of Claude's famous ladies: she would become the lifelong mistress of Claude's son, Henry.

 Claude spent almost all her marriage in an endless round of annual pregnancies (poor thing...). Her husband had many mistresses, but was usually relatively discreet. The pawn of so much dynastic manoeuvring, Claude was short in stature and was afflicted with scoliosis. The successive pregnancies made her appear continuously plump, which drew mockeries at court. Foreign ambassadors also noted her claudication, the strabismus affecting her left eye, her small size and her ugliness. They did acknowledge her good qualities, though. Claude was little loved at court after the death of her parents.

 Claude and Francis would have seven children: Louise, Charlotte, Francis, Henry, Madeleine, Charles and Margaret. Only two of them lived past the age of 30.

 Queen Claude died on 20 July 1524, at the Château de Blois; she was only 24 years old. The exact cause of her death is disputed: some alleged she died in childbirth or after a miscarriage; others thought she died of exhaustion after her many pregnancies or after suffering from bone tuberculosis like her mother; and, finally, some believed she died from syphilis caught from her husband.

Queen Claude 
(16th century)

Claude of France surrounded by her daughters, 
her sister and her husband's second wife 
(1550)


Etiquetas:

Comentários

Enviar um comentário

Mensagens populares deste blogue

Mihrimah Sultan

Mihrimah was born in Istanbul in 1522; she was the daughter of Sultan Süleyman I (aka The Magnificent) and his concubine, Hürrem Sultan . Her mother was freed in 1533 or 1534 and became the Sultan’s legal wife. On 26 November 1539, Mihrimah, aged 17, married Rüstem Pasha, who later rose to become her father’s Grand Vizier. Though this union was unhappy, Mihrimah flourished as a patroness of the arts and continued her travels with her father until her husband’s death. Mihrimah had two children: Osman and Hümaşah. Mihrimah travelled the Ottoman Empire with her father as he surveyed the lands and conquered new ones. In international politics, her mother sent letters to the Sigismund II, King of Poland, and the contents of these letters were mirrored in the letters Mihrimah sent. Although there is no proof of Hürrem and Mihrimah’s direct involvement in her half-brother Mustafa’s downfall, Ottoman sources and foreign accounts indicate that it was widely believed they worke...
1 comentário
Ler mais

Margaret of Provence

Margaret (French: Marguerite) was born during the spring of 1221, in Forcalquier. She was the eldest daughter of Ramon Berenguer IV, Count of Provence, and Beatrice of Savoy. She had three younger sisters, who would all become queens like her: Eleanor (Queen of England), Sanchia (Queen of Germany) and Beatrice (Queen of Sicily). Margaret has a especially close relationship with Eleanor, and they remained friends until they grew old. In 1233, Blanche of Castile sent one of her knights to Provence to meet Margaret, whose grace and beauty was famous. Margaret and her father entertained the knight well, and soon Blanche and Ramon Berenguer were negotiating a marriage contract between Margaret and Louis IX of France, Blanche's son. Margaret was escorted to Lyon by her parents, where the marriage treaty was signed. From there, she was escorted to her wedding ceremony, in Sens. On 27 May 1234, Margaret became the wife of Louis IX and Queen of France; she was just 13. The marriage...
Enviar um comentário
Ler mais

Tamar of Georgia

Tamar (Georgian: თამარი, Tamari) was born circa 1160 to George III, King of Georgia, and his wife, Burdukhan of Alania. The name Tamar is of Hebrew origin and, like other biblical names, was favoured by the Georgian Bagrationi dynasty because of their claim to be descended from David, the second King of Israel. Tamar's youth coincided with a major upheaval in Georgia. In 1177, her father was confronted by a rebellious faction of nobles. The intention was to dethrone George III in favour of the King's nephew, Demna, who was considered by many to be a legitimate royal heir of his murdered father, David V. Demna's cause was just a pretext for the nobles to, led by the pretender's father-in-law Ivane Orbeli, to weaken the crown. George III managed to crush the revolt and embarked on a repression campaign on the defiant aristocratic clans. Ivane Orbeli was put to death and the surviving family was driven out of Georgia. Demna was castrated and blinded on his uncle'...
Enviar um comentário
Ler mais