As a dominating mother, did Louise de Savoie rule for King François I? She played a powerful political domestic and international political role in his Council. Twice she acted for him as Regent. Many say Louise de Savoie was the ruling force behind King François’s government until her death in 1531. Louise’s Early Life In …
In 1519 Françoise de Foix became the first official mistress to King François 1. Countess Françoise de Chateaubriant, an exceptional beauty, was already married. Her husband, Jean de Laval, Count de Chateaubriant, did not take it well, being a jealous man and head of a leading Breton family. But François was king when royal power …
On 1 January 1515 Louise of Savoy’s son became king and by July, François I was at war in Italy, leaving the Regent, Louise de Savoy in charge. He was away until early in 1516. Her contemporaries, among them Pope Leo X, acknowledged and appreciated her status as a powerful mater regis. Charles Brandon, the Duke …
