General Notes

Francis I, the autocratic king who ruled France from 1515 to 1547, personified
the splendors of the Renaissance. He was born at Cognac on Sept. 12, 1494, the
son of Charles of Angouleme and Louise of Savoy. His marriage (1514) with
Claude, daughter of Anne of Brittany and his predecessor, Louis XII, continued
the association of Brittany with the crown.
In July 1515, seven months after his accession, Francis led an army across the
Alps and conquered Milan with his victory at Marignano. Four years later his
rivalry with the house of Habsburg intensified when he became a candidate for
the imperial crown in Germany. The election was won by the Habsburg king of
Spain, who became Holy Roman emperor as Charles V. Francis's subsequent war
against Charles ended in total defeat at the Battle of Pavia (1525), in which
Francis himself was captured. Released in 1526, he disavowed his promise to
cede Burgundy and began a new war, which lasted until the Peace of Cambrai in
1529. Francis sought alliances with the German Protestant princes and the
Turkish sultan, and he fought further wars against Charles V in 1536-38 and
1542-44.
Like his elder sister, Margaret of Angouleme, the king became a patron of the
arts and humanist learning. He founded (1529) the College de France, brought
Leonardo da Vinci to Amboise, and built magnificent chateaus, such as Chanbord
and Fontainebleau.
Francis's concordat with the papacy at Bologna in 1516 gave him control of
church appointments, but the church became increasingly corrupt under the
government of his chancellor, Cardinal Duprat, himself a great pluralist.
Until 1534, the king was tolerant of Protestantism, but in that year a series
of extremist Protestant placards gave him personal offense. Persecution
increased toward the end of his reign.
At the same time, the royal court was divided into factions under the
influence of Francis's favorites and his mistress, the duchesse d'Etampes. War
and patronage so strained the royal resources that Francis had to adopt
devices such as the sale of government offices and the prosecution of his own
financiers. By the time of the king's death at Rambouillet on Mar. 31, 1547,
the early glamour of his reign had become tarnished.