Charlotte of Albret
Charlotte of Albret | |
---|---|
Dame de Châlus | |
Louise Borgia, Duchess of Valentinois | |
Father | Alain I of Albret, Lord of Albret |
Mother | Frances, Countess of Périgord |
Charlotte of Albret (1480 – 11 March 1514), Dame de
Family
Charlotte was born in 1480, the daughter of
Marriage to Cesare Borgia
On arrival to the throne,
The Navarrese monarchs Catherine and John started a rapprochement to Louis XII in order to appease his ambitions in Béarn, by supporting Louis XII in his attempt to marry the Breton princess. Louis XII demanded that Pope Alexander VI issue an annulment of his marriage to Joan. The latter responded in kind by requiring a princess of royal blood to marry his son Cesare. The monarchs of Navarre proposed in turn Charlotte for the bargain.[2]
The political move would get the monarchs Catherine and John peace of mind to the north of the Pyrenees, while at the same time establishing friendly diplomatic relations with Rome that could pave the way to solve their conflict over ecclesiastic appointments in Navarre, especially concerning the bishop of Pamplona Pallaviccini, a designation contested by the Navarrese monarchs. The conditions were set down on the contract of the wedding held in the spring of 1499.[2] The bride's brother Amanieu d'Albret was also to be made a cardinal.
On 10 May 1499, at the age of 19 at Blois, Charlotte married Cesare Borgia, the notorious illegitimate son of Pope Alexander VI Borgia and Vannozza dei Cattanei.[3] He had recently been created Duke of Valentinois by King Louis XII of France.[3] The marriage was political, arranged with the purpose of strengthening Cesare's alliance with France. Cesare did not remain for long in the territories under the rule of the Foix-Albret, since he departed to Italy soon after the wedding and getting Charlotte pregnant, neither coming back to know his newborn daughter.[2] Cesare accompanied King Louis in his invasion of Italy.
Charlotte was described as having been "beautiful and rich".[4] In 1504, she became the owner of the properties of Feusines, Néret, and La Motte-Feuilly. Cesare and Charlotte had one daughter together:
- Louise Borgia, suo jure Dame de Châlus, suo jure Duchess of Valentinois (17 May 1500 – 1553),[5] she first married on 7 April 1517 Louis II de la Trémoille, Governor of Burgundy; she married secondly on 3 February 1530, Philippe de Bourbon, Siegneur de Busset, by whom she had issue.
After escaping from a Spanish prison, Cesare died at the siege of Viana on 12 March 1507 in the service of Charlotte's brother, the king of Navarre with whom he had sought refuge. Following his death, Charlotte acted as regent for their only daughter, Louise, who had succeeded her father as Duchess of Valentinois. Almost seven years after Cesare's death, on 11 March 1514, at the Chateau of La Motte-Feuilly, Charlotte died. She was buried in a tomb at the church at La Motte-Feuilly.
As of the 21st century, there are many living descendants of Cesare Borgia and Charlotte of Albret, including Prince Sixtus Henry of Bourbon-Parma.
References
- ^ Crabb, George (1825). Universal Historical Dictionary: Or, Explanation of the Names of Persons and Places in the Departments of Biblical, Political, and Ecclesiastical History, Mythology, Heraldry, Biography, Bibliography, Geography, and Numismatics. Illustrated by Portraits and Medallic Cuts. Vol. 1. Baldwin, Cradock, and Joy. p. 108.
- ^ ISBN 84-7681-443-7.
- ^ a b Mackie 1991, p. 152.
- ^ Marek 1976, p. 74.
- ^ Jansen 2002, p. 250.
Sources
- Henry Gardiner Adams, ed. (1857). "Wikidata Q115583441.
- Jansen, Sharon L. (2002). The Monstrous Regiment of Women: Female Rulers in Early Modern Europe. Palgrave Macmillan.
- Mackie, John Duncan (1991). The Earlier Tudors, 1485-1558. Oxford University Press.
- Marek, George Richard (1976). The Bed and the Throne: the Life of Isabella D'Este. Harper & Row.