1508) Charles, Count of Angoulême

Charles of Orléans (1459 – 1496). Count of Angoulême from 1467 until his death. He succeeded his father, John, and was initially under the regency of his mother, Marguerite de Rohan, assisted by Jean I de La Rochefoucauld, one of his vassals.

Charles commissioned the luxuriously illustrated Heures de Charles d'Angoulême.

Charles married Louise of Savoy, daughter of Philip the Landless and Margaret of Bourbon. They had two children: Marguerite of Angoulême and François of Angoulême, who became King of France as Francis I.

 

 

1283) John II of France

John II (1319 – 1364), called John the Good (French: Jean le Bon). King of France from 1350 until his death.
He was the son of Philip VI of France and Joan of Burgundy.
During the Battle of Poitiers of 1356 he was captured, and while he was a prisoner in London, his son Charles became regent and faced several rebellions, which he overcame. To liberate his father, he concluded the Treaty of Brétigny (1360), by which France lost many territories and paid an enormous ransom. In an exchange of hostages, which included his second son Louis, Duke of Anjou, John was released from captivity to raise funds for his ransom. Upon his return to France, he created the franc to stabilize the currency and tried to get rid of the free companies by sending them to a crusade, but Pope Innocent VI died shortly before their meeting in Avignon. When John was informed that Louis had escaped from captivity, he voluntarily returned to England, where he died in 1364. He was succeeded by his son Charles V.

326) Margaret of Valois

Margaret of Valois (1553 – 1615). Popularly known as La Reine Margot, she was a French princess of the Valois dynasty who became Queen of Navarre by marriage to Henry III of Navarre and then also Queen of France at her husband's 1589 accession to the latter throne as Henry IV.

She was the daughter of Catherine de' Medici and Henry II of France. Her union with the King of Navarre, which had been intended to contribute to the reconciliation of Roman Catholics and the Huguenots in France, was tarnished six days after the marriage ceremony by the St Bartholomew's Day massacre and the resumption of the French Wars of Religion. In the conflict between Henry III of France and the Malcontents, she took the side of Francis, Duke of Anjou, her younger brother, which caused Henry to have a deep aversion towards her.

A well-known woman of letters, an enlightened mind as well as an extremely generous patron, she played a considerable part in the cultural life of the court, especially after her return from exile in 1605. She was a vector of Neoplatonism, which preached the supremacy of platonic love over physical love. During her imprisonment, she took advantage of the time to write her Memoirs, the first woman to have done so. She was one of the most fashionable women of her time and influenced many of Europe's royal courts with her clothing.

After her death, the anecdotes and slanders circulated about her created a legend, which was consolidated around the nickname La Reine Margot, invented by Alexandre Dumas père, They were handed down through the centuries on the myth of a nymphomaniac and incestuous woman. In the late 20th and the early 21st centuries, historians have reviewed the extensive chronicles of her life and concluded that many elements of her scandalous reputation stemmed from anti-Valois propaganda.

 Sister of Claude of France.

Margaret with Henry IV

259) Louis XII of France

Louis XII (1462 –1515). King of France from 1498 to 1515 and King of Naples from 1501 to 1504. The son of Charles, Duke of Orléans, and Maria of Cleves, he succeeded his 2nd cousin once removed and brother in law at the time, Charles VIII, who died without direct heirs in 1498.

When Louis XII became king in 1498, he had his first marriage with his cousin Joan annulled by Pope Alexander VI and instead married Anne of Brittany, the widow of his cousin Charles VIII. This marriage allowed Louis to reinforce the personal Union of Brittany and France.

Louis persevered in the Italian Wars, initiating a second Italian campaign for the control of the Kingdom of Naples. Louis conquered the Duchy of Milan in 1500 and pushed forward to the Kingdom of Naples, which fell to him in 1501. Proclaimed King of Naples, Louis faced a new coalition gathered by Ferdinand II of Aragon and was forced to cede Naples to Spain in 1504.

Louis XII did not encroach on the power of local governments or the privileges of the nobility, in opposition with the long tradition of the French kings to attempt to impose absolute monarchy in France. A popular king, Louis was proclaimed "Father of the People" in 1506 by the Estates-General of Tours for his reduction of the tax known as taille, legal reforms, and civil peace within France.

Louis, who remained Duke of Milan after the second Italian War, was interested in further expansion in the Italian Peninsula and launched a third Italian War (1508–1516), which was marked by the military prowess of the Chevalier de Bayard.

Louis XII died in 1515 without a male heir. He was succeeded by his cousin and son-in-law Francis (King Francis I) from the Angoulême cadet branch of the House of Valois.

His third wife was Mary Tudor.

He was a descendant of Gian Galezzo Visconti.
In some of his portraits, Louis’ hair looks dark red.

243) Charlotte of France

Charlotte of France (1516 – 1524). Second child and second daughter of King Francis I and his wife Claude, Duchess of Brittany. Sister of King Henry II and Madeleine of Valois.

- "Charlotte was born in the Château d'Amboise, on 23 October 1516, the second daughter and child of King Francis I and Queen Claude. She had greenish blue eyes and bright red hair." https://www.revolvy.com/…/Charlotte%20of%20Valois&item_type…

242) Henry II of France

Henry II (1519 – 1559). King of France from 31 March 1547 until his death in 1559. The second son of Francis I and Duchess Claude of Brittany, he became Dauphin of France upon the death of his elder brother Francis in 1536.

As a child, Henry and his elder brother spent over four years in captivity in Spain as hostages in exchange for their father. Henry pursued his father's policies in matters of art, war, and religion. He persevered in the Italian Wars against the Habsburgs and tried to suppress the Reformation, even as the Huguenot numbers were increasing drastically in France during his reign.

Henry II introduced the concept of publishing the description of an invention in the form of a patent. The idea was to require an inventor to disclose his invention in exchange for monopoly rights to the patent. The description is called a patent "specification". The first patent specification was submitted by the inventor Abel Foullon for "Usaige & Description de l'holmetre" (a type of rangefinder).

In July 1559, Henry was injured in a jousting tournament held to celebrate the Peace of Cateau-Cambrésis and died ten days later after his surgeon, Ambroise Paré, was unable to cure the wound inflicted by Gabriel de Montgomery, the captain of his Scottish Guard. Though he died early, the succession appeared secure as he left four young sons, as well as a wife in Catherine de' Medici, to lead a capable regency during their minority. Three of those sons would all live long enough to be king themselves, but their ineffectual reigns, and the unpopularity of Catherine's regency, helped to spark the French Wars of Religion between Catholics and Protestants, and an eventual end to the House of Valois as France's ruling dynasty.

He and Catherine de' Medici had ten children, included Claude of France and Margaret of Valois.

He was the brother of Charlotte of France and Madeleine of Valois.

221) Claude of France

Claude of France (1547 – 1575). French Princess as the second daughter of King Henry II of France and Catherine de' Medici, and Duchess consort of Lorraine by marriage to Charles III, Duke of Lorraine. Sister of Margaret of Valois.

206) Madeleine of Valois

Madeleine of Valois (1520 – 1537). French princess who became Queen of Scots as the first spouse of King James V. She was the daughter of Francis I of France and Claude of Brittany. Sister of King Henry II and Charlotte.