22 March 2024

Francis I, King of France (1515-1547) ~ The Great King


Son of Charles of Angoulême and Louise of Savoy, Francis I succeeded his cousin Louis XII in 1515, whose daughter Claude he married. Widowed later in life, he remarried with Éléonore de Habsbourg, the sister of Charles Quint. 

Francis I is undoubtedly one of the builders of the modern state in France. He reorganized state finances and reformed the judicial system with the Villers-Cotterêts ordinance (1539). King Francis I also promoted the art of the Renaissance, which flourished in the construction and decoration of royal residences (Blois, Chambord, Fontainebleau), where he commissioned Italian artists (Leonardo da Vinci, Rosso , the Primatice). He also encouraged translations by philosophers and founded the future Collège de France. When he died in 1547, his son Henri II succeeded him.

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