François I, Duke of Nevers
François I de Clèves | |
|---|---|
Count of Rethel | |
 François I de Clèves, Duke of Nevers (by François Clouet) | |
| Born | 2 September 1516 |
| Died | 13 February 1561 (aged 44) |
| Noble family | La Marck |
| Spouse(s) | Marguerite of Bourbon-Vendôme Marie of Bourbon-Saint-Pol |
| Issue | François II, Duke of Nevers Henriette, Duchess of Nevers Jacques, Duke of Nevers Catherine of Cleves Marie of Cleves |
| Father | Charles II, Count of Nevers |
| Mother | Marie d'Albret, Countess of Rethel |
François I de Clèves, (2 September 1516 – 13 February 1561) was a French Prince étranger and military commander during the Italian Wars. He was the first duke of Nevers, his county being elevated to a duchy in 1539. In deference to the large amount of land he held in Champagne, and lands he was set to inherit there from his mother, François was made governor of Champagne in 1545.
Upon the ascent of
Upon the death of Henri II, François attempted to control the Protestants of his governorship, who were growing increasingly bold, but was unable to do much to slow the growth of their community. Increasingly ill, he died the following year, resigning his governorship in favour of his son on his deathbed. Throughout his career François had attempted to tie his children into the leading princely families of the northern frontier, who were largely Protestant, those of La Marck and Croÿ. His son, François, would only outlive him by a year, and upon his death his second son Jacques would die in 1564, extinguishing the male line of his house, leading to the duchy of Nevers being inherited by
Early life and family
The only son of
In 1538, Nevers married Marguerite of Bourbon-La Marche (1516–1589), daughter of
They had:
- Louis, Duke of Montpensier, no issue.
- Louis Gonzaga, Duke of Nevers,[1]and became 4th Duchess of Nevers after the death of her brothers.
- Jacques, Duke of Nevers (1544–1564), 3rd Duke,[1] married Diane de la Marck[3]
- Catherine of Cleves (1548–1633); married Antoine III de Croÿ and Henry I, Duke of Guise.[1]
- Henri I de Bourbon, prince de Condé.[1]
In 1560 Nevers remarried in an elaborate double wedding, occurring simultaneously to that of his daughter with Porcien. The event was hosted at the royal château of Saint-Germain-en-Laye with the attendance of all the French princes except the Bourbon-Vendôme.[4]
Reign of François I
In 1539, his county was elevated and he became
Reign of Henri II
In 1545 Nevers was named governor of
He spent little time in his governorship, most of the following years consumed fighting the Italian Wars. In 1552 he fought at the defence of Metz.[7]
In the 1554 campaign season he led one of the three armies Henri sent into
After the disaster at the
In 1557 several Protestant pastors wrote to the Swiss cantons urging them to intercede on behalf of those who had been arrested after the rue Saint-Jacques affair. The pastors told the Swiss that if the council wrote to the court, there were several influential nobles who would support the arrested worshippers, among them Nevers.[10]
At the peace celebrations for the end of the Italian Wars, Nevers was among the nobles jousting with the king, before the king would find himself accidentally killed by another of his jousting opponents.[11]
Reign of François II
As the Protestants grew in confidence in France in the late 1550s they began to assert themselves inside Nevers' governorship. In Troyes some Protestants attacked a statue of the virgin Mary. In response a procession of absolution was organised by the local Catholic community. However the procession would disperse when they heard that Huguenot artisans were lying in wait to ambush them. Nevers would prohibit further attempted processions arguing that it was not safe for them to be conducted.[12]
Reign of Charles IX
On his deathbed in 1561, Nevers would be granted the privilege to resign his governorship of Champagne directly to his son. Only once in the years 1494-1547 had a major governor been granted the permission to resign their governorship in favour of a specific candidate of their choosing.[13]
His many campaigns, upon which he had spent a large part of his fortune meant that his son would be forced to declare bankruptcy shortly after inheriting his fathers titles, unable to meet the interest payments on the loans his father had taken out to fund his troops.[7]
References
- ^ a b c d e f Boltanski 2006, p. 501.
- ^ Potter 1995, p. 378.
- ^ Potter 1990, p. 23.
- ^ Carroll 2009, p. 139.
- ^ Antonetti 2000, p. 39.
- ^ Harding 1978, p. 143.
- ^ a b c Harding 1978, p. 144.
- ^ Baumgartner 1988, pp. 168–169.
- ^ Baumgartner 1988, p. 195.
- ^ Knecht 1998, p. 54.
- ^ Baumgartner 1988, p. 250.
- ^ Roberts 1996, p. 46.
- ^ Harding 1978, p. 120.
Sources
- Antonetti, Guy (2000). "Les Princes Etrangers". In Bardet, Jean-Pierre (ed.). Etat et société en France aux XVIIe et XVIIIe siècles (in French). Presses l'Universite de Paris-Sorbonne.
- Baumgartner, Frederic (1988). Henry II: King of France 1547-1559. Duke University Press.
- Boltanski, Ariane (2006). Les ducs de Nevers et l'État royal: genèse d'un compromis (ca 1550 - ca 1600) (in French). Librairie Droz.
- Carroll, Stuart (2009). Martyrs and Murderers: The Guise Family and the Making of Europe. Oxford University Press.
- Harding, Robert (1978). Anatomy of a Power Elite: the Provincial Governors in Early Modern France. Yale University Press.
- Knecht, Robert (1998). Catherine de' Medici. Routledge.
- Potter, David (1990). "Marriage and Cruelty among the Protestant Nobility in Sixteenth-Century France: Diane de Barbançon and Jean de Rohan, 1561-7". European History Quarterly. 20 (January 1): 5–38. S2CID 144245625.
- Potter, David (1995). Keen, Maurice (ed.). A History of France, 1460–1560: The Emergence of a Nation State. Macmillan.
- Roberts, Penny (1996). A City in Conflict: Troyes during the French Wars of Religion. Manchester University Press.
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