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LOUISE OF SAVOY (1476-1531)

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Originally appearing in Volume V17, Page 53 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
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LOUISE OF See also:SAVOY (1476-1531)  , duchess of See also:Angouleme, See also:mother of See also:Francis I. of See also:France, was daughter of a See also:cadet of the See also:house of See also:Savoy, See also:Philip, See also:count of See also:Bresse, afterwards See also:duke of Savoy . Through her mother, See also:Marguerite de See also:Bourbon, she was niece of See also:Pierre de Bourbon, sire de See also:Beaujeu, afterwards duke of Bourbon . At the See also:age of twelve she was married to See also:Charles of See also:Valois, count of Angouleme, See also:great-See also:grandson of See also:King Charles V . The count died in 1496, leaving her the mother of two See also:children, Marguerite (b . 1492) and Francis (b . 1494) . The See also:accession of See also:Louis XII., who was childless, made Francis of Angouleme the See also:heir-presumptive to the See also:throne of .France . See also:Louise brought her children to the See also:court, and received See also:Amboise as her See also:residence . She lived henceforth in fear lest Louis should have a son; and in consequence there was a See also:secret rivalry between her and the See also:queen, See also:Anne of See also:Brittany . Finally, her son became king on the 1st of See also:January 1515 ,by the See also:death of Louis XII . From him Louise received the See also:county of Angouleme, which was erected into a duchy, the duchy of See also:Anjou, and the counties of See also:Maine and See also:Beaufort . She was then given the See also:title of "Madame." From 1515 to her death, she took the See also:chief See also:share in the See also:government .

The See also:

part she played has been variously judged, and is not yet completely elucidated . It is certain that Louise had a clear See also:head, See also:practical See also:good sense and tenacity . In the See also:critical situation after the See also:battle of See also:Pavia (1525) she proved herself equal to the emergency, maintained See also:order in the See also:kingdom, and manceuvred very skilfully to detach See also:Henry VIII. of See also:England from the imperial See also:alliance . But she appears to have been passionate, exceedingly rapacious and ever careful of her own See also:interest . In her See also:malignant disputes with the See also:constable de Bourbon on the question of his wife's See also:succession, she goaded him to extreme See also:measures, and her rapacity showed itself also in her dealings with the surintendant See also:des finances, J. de See also:Beaune, See also:baron de Samblancay (d . 1527), who diverted the See also:money intended for the See also:French soldiers in See also:Italy into the coffers of the queen, and suffered death in consequence . She died in 1531, and Francis reunited to the See also:crown her domains, which comprised the Bourbonnais, Beaujolais, See also:Auvergne, la See also:Marche, See also:Angoumois, Maine and Anjou . There is extant a See also:Journal of Louise of Savoy, the authenticity of which seems certain . It consists of brief notes—generally very exact and sometimes ironical—which go as far as the See also:year 1522 . The only trustworthy See also:text is that published by Guichenon in his Histoire genealogique de la maison de See also:Savoie (ed. of 1778-1780, vol. iv.) . See Poesies de See also:Francois I' et de Louise de Savoie ed. by See also:Champollion-See also:Figeac (1847); De Maulde, Louise de Savoie et Francois I" (1895); G . Jacqueton, La Politique extirieure de Louise de Savoie .

(1892); H . See also:

Hauser, " Etude critique sur le Journal de Louise de Savoie," in the Revue historique, vol . 86 (1904) .

End of Article: LOUISE OF SAVOY (1476-1531)
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