Charles d'Amboise, Seigneur de Chaumont (1473 – 11 February 1511) was a French

French people

The French are a nation that share a common French culture and speak the French language as a mother tongue. Historically, the French population are descended from peoples of Celtic, Latin and Germanic origin, and are today a mixture of several ethnic groups...

 politician and military figure, who was the French governor

Kingdom of France

The Kingdom of France was one of the most powerful states to exist in Europe during the second millennium.It originated from the Western portion of the Frankish empire, and consolidated significant power and influence over the next thousand years. Louis XIV, also known as the Sun King, developed a...

 of Milan

Milan

Milan is the second-largest city in Italy and the capital city of the region of Lombardy and of the province of Milan. The city proper has a population of about 1.3 million, while its urban area, roughly coinciding with its administrative province and the bordering Province of Monza and Brianza ,...

 during the reign of Louis XII

Louis XII of France

Louis proved to be a popular king. At the end of his reign the crown deficit was no greater than it had been when he succeeded Charles VIII in 1498, despite several expensive military campaigns in Italy. His fiscal reforms of 1504 and 1508 tightened and improved procedures for the collection of taxes...

, and a French commander during the War of the League of Cambrai

War of the League of Cambrai

The War of the League of Cambrai, sometimes known as the War of the Holy League and by several other names, was a major conflict in the Italian Wars...

.

Biography

Born at Chaumont-sur-Loire

Chaumont-sur-Loire

Chaumont-sur-Loire is a commune in the Loir-et-Cher département in central France.-See also:* Château de Chaumont* Communes of the Loir-et-Cher department...

 into the House of Amboise

House of Amboise

The House of Amboise was a French noble house, taking its name from Amboise, a town which it possessed as a seigneurie. The oldest of the house's family lines to be attested in the written sources comes from Touraine and dates to 1155...

, Charles was the nephew of Cardinal Georges d'Amboise

Georges d'Amboise

Georges d'Amboise was a French Roman Catholic cardinal and minister of state. He belonged to the house of Amboise, a noble family possessed of considerable influence: of his nine brothers, four were bishops. His father, Pierre d'Amboise, seigneur de Chaumont, was chamberlain to Charles VII and...

, prime minister of King Louis XII of France

Louis XII of France

Louis proved to be a popular king. At the end of his reign the crown deficit was no greater than it had been when he succeeded Charles VIII in 1498, despite several expensive military campaigns in Italy. His fiscal reforms of 1504 and 1508 tightened and improved procedures for the collection of taxes...

, and the son of Charles I d'Amboise, governor of Champagne and Bourgogne

Bourgogne

Burgundy is one of the 27 regions of France.The name comes from the Burgundians, an ancient Germanic people who settled in the area in early Middle-age. The region of Burgundy is both larger than the old Duchy of Burgundy and smaller than the area ruled by the Dukes of Burgundy, from the modern...

. He was governor of Paris

Paris

Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...

, of the Duchy of Milan

Duchy of Milan

The Duchy of Milan , was created on the 1st of may 1395, when Gian Galeazzo Visconti, Lord of Milan, purchased a diploma for 100,000 Florins from King Wenceslaus. It was this diploma that installed, Gian Galeazzo as Duke of Milan and Count of Pavia...

, of the seignory of Genoa

Genoa

Genoa |Ligurian]] Zena ; Latin and, archaically, English Genua) is a city and an important seaport in northern Italy, the capital of the Province of Genoa and of the region of Liguria....

 and of the province of Normandie

Normandie

Normandie may refer to:* The region of Normandy in north-west France and the Channel Islands* Normandie , iron-clad battleship of the 1860s.* Normandie class battleships from World War I...

. In 1501 he was made French lieutenant general and then vice-roy for Lombardy

Lombardy

Lombardy is one of the 20 regions of Italy. The capital is Milan. One-sixth of Italy's population lives in Lombardy and about one fifth of Italy's GDP is produced in this region, making it the most populous and richest region in the country and one of the richest in the whole of Europe...

, becoming a friend of Leonardo da Vinci

Leonardo da Vinci

Leonardo di ser Piero da Vinci was an Italian Renaissance polymath: painter, sculptor, architect, musician, scientist, mathematician, engineer, inventor, anatomist, geologist, cartographer, botanist and writer whose genius, perhaps more than that of any other figure, epitomized the Renaissance...

 during his stay in Milan. He was Grand Master of France

Grand Master of France

The Grand Master of France was, during the Ancien Régime and Bourbon Restoration in France, one of the Great Officers of the Crown of France and head of the "Maison du Roi", the king's royal household...

 from 1502 to 1504 when he was made Marshal of France

Marshal of France

The Marshal of France is a military distinction in contemporary France, not a military rank. It is granted to generals for exceptional achievements...

. From 1508 to 1510 he was also admiral of France

Admiral of France

The title Admiral of France is one of the Great Officers of the Crown of France, the naval equivalent of Marshal of France.The title was created in 1270 by Louis IX of France, during the Eighth Crusade. At the time it was equivalent to the office of Constable of France. The Admiral was responsible...

 and, in 1507, he suppressed a revolt in Genoa.

At the battle of Agnadello

Battle of Agnadello

The Battle of Agnadello, also known as Vailà, was one of the more significant battles of the War of the League of Cambrai and one of the major battles of the Italian Wars....

 (1509), he commanded the French vanguard. In 1510, he took command of the French forces fighting against Pope Julius II

Pope Julius II

Pope Julius II , nicknamed "The Fearsome Pope" and "The Warrior Pope" , born Giuliano della Rovere, was Pope from 1503 to 1513...

 in the Romagna

Romagna

Romagna is an Italian historical region that approximately corresponds to the south-eastern portion of present-day Emilia-Romagna. Traditionally, it is limited by the Apennines to the south-west, the Adriatic to the east, and the rivers Reno and Sillaro to the north and west...

, for which he was excommunicated; he failed to prevent Julius from capturing Bologna

Bologna

Bologna is the capital city of Emilia-Romagna, in the Po Valley of Northern Italy. The city lies between the Po River and the Apennine Mountains, more specifically, between the Reno River and the Savena River. Bologna is a lively and cosmopolitan Italian college city, with spectacular history,...

 and Mirandola

Mirandola

Mirandola is a city and comune of Emilia-Romagna, Italy, in the Province of Modena, 31 km northeast of the provincial capital by railway.- History :Mirandola originated as a Renaissance city-fortress...

, and died of illness at Correggio during the 1511 campaign.

His son George died in the Battle of Pavia

Battle of Pavia

The Battle of Pavia, fought on the morning of 24 February 1525, was the decisive engagement of the Italian War of 1521–26.A Spanish-Imperial army under the nominal command of Charles de Lannoy attacked the French army under the personal command of Francis I of France in the great hunting preserve...

(1525).