Claude of France
Encyclopedia
Claude of France (13 October 1499 – 26 July 1524) was a princess and queen consort of France and ruling Duchess of Brittany. She was the eldest daughter of Louis XII of France
and Anne, Duchess of Brittany
.
As the first spouse of Francis I of France
, she was the mother of Henry II
, and thus grandmother of the last three kings of the Valois line and also of Elisabeth, Queen consort of Spain
; Claude, Duchess consort of Lorraine
; and Margaret, the Queen consort of Henry IV of France
. She is also the maternal grandmother of Charles Emmanuel I, Duke of Savoy
.
Queen Claude was named after St. Claude, a saint her mother had invoked during a pilgrimage so she could give birth to a living child.
. In 1504, Anne, eager to keep Brittany separate from the French crown, effected the Treaty of Blois
, which promised Claude's hand in marriage to the future Holy Roman Emperor Charles V
with the promise of Brittany and the Duchy of Burgundy
. The prospect of a reduced France surrounded on several sides was unacceptable to the Valois, and so the betrothal was soon canceled.
The French nobles argued against a betrothal to a foreigner, urging Louis XII to marry Claude to her cousin Francis, Duke of Angoulême
, "who is at least all French", and was also the heir-presumptive to the French crown. In 1506, the child was betrothed to Francis. In 1514, when her mother died, Claude became Duchess of Brittany; and on 18 May 1514, at Saint-Germain-en-Laye
, she married Francis.
, which gave her a hunched back. She was eclipsed at court by her mother-in-law, Louise of Savoy
, and her sister-in-law, the literary Marguerite, Queen consort of Navarre
.
When Francis became King in 1515, two of Claude's ladies-in-waiting were the English sisters Mary
and Anne Boleyn
, and another was Diane de Poitiers
. Mary became the king's mistress before returning home in about 1519. Anne served as Claude's official translator whenever there were English visitors, such as in 1520. Anne was also a temporary companion to Claude's younger sister, Renée
. Anne Boleyn returned to England in 1521, where she eventually became Queen of England as the second wife of Henry VIII
. Diane de Poitiers was a principal inspiration of the School of Fontainebleau
of the French Renaissance, and became the lifelong mistress of Francis's son and successor, Henry II
.
Claude's life was spent in an endless round of annual pregnancies. Her husband had many mistresses, but was usually relatively discreet. Claude imposed a strict moral code on her own household, which only a few chose to flout.
, became Dauphin and Duke of Brittany. He later became King of France as Henry II.
Claude's widowed husband himself remarried several years after Claude's death, to Eleanor of Austria, the sister of Emperor Charles V. The atmosphere at court became considerably more debauched, and there were rumours that King Francis's death in 1547 was due to syphilis
.
The prayer book of Claude of France
, is a tiny, jewel-like manuscript that was made for Claude around 1517, the year she was crowned queen of France. Her coat of arms appears on three different folios. The book is richly illustrated: the borders of each leaf are painted, front and back, with 132 scenes from the lives of Christ, the Virgin Mary, and numerous saints. The manuscript and a companion Book of Hours
also made for the queen (in a Paris private collection) were illuminated by an artist who was given the nickname Master of Claude de France after these two volumes. It was donated to The Morgan Library & Museum in New York City in 2008 by Mrs. Alexandre Paul Rosenberg in memory of her husband.
".
.
"Kind Queen Claude" is a major character in Robin Maxwell's
Mademoiselle Boleyn.
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 Anne, Duchess of Brittany
Anne of Brittany
Anne, Duchess of Brittany , also known as Anna of Brittany , was a Breton ruler, who was to become queen to two successive French kings. She was born in Nantes, Brittany, and was the daughter of Francis II, Duke of Brittany and Margaret of Foix. Her maternal grandparents were Queen Eleanor of...
.
As the first spouse of Francis I of France
Francis I of France
Francis I was King of France from 1515 until his death. During his reign, huge cultural changes took place in France and he has been called France's original Renaissance monarch...
, she was the mother of Henry II
Henry II of France
Henry II was King of France from 31 March 1547 until his death in 1559.-Early years:Henry was born in the royal Château de Saint-Germain-en-Laye, near Paris, the son of Francis I and Claude, Duchess of Brittany .His father was captured at the Battle of Pavia in 1525 by his sworn enemy,...
, and thus grandmother of the last three kings of the Valois line and also of Elisabeth, Queen consort of Spain
Elisabeth of Valois
Elisabeth of Valois was the eldest daughter of Henry II of France and Catherine de' Medici.-Early life:She was born in the Château de Fontainebleau...
; Claude, Duchess consort of Lorraine
Claude of Valois
Claude of Valois was born at Fontainebleau on 12 November 1547 and died in Nancy on 21 February 1575. She was the second daughter of King Henry II of France and Catherine de' Medici.-Biography:...
; and Margaret, the Queen consort of Henry IV of France
Henry IV of France
Henry IV , Henri-Quatre, was King of France from 1589 to 1610 and King of Navarre from 1572 to 1610. He was the first monarch of the Bourbon branch of the Capetian dynasty in France....
. She is also the maternal grandmother of Charles Emmanuel I, Duke of Savoy
Charles Emmanuel I, Duke of Savoy
Charles Emmanuel I , known as the Great, was the Duke of Savoy from 1580 to 1630...
.
Queen Claude was named after St. Claude, a saint her mother had invoked during a pilgrimage so she could give birth to a living child.
Betrothals and marriage
Because her mother, Anne, Duchess of Brittany, had no surviving sons, Claude became heiress to the Duchy of Brittany. The crown of France, however, could pass only to and through male heirs, according to Salic LawSalic law
Salic law was a body of traditional law codified for governing the Salian Franks in the early Middle Ages during the reign of King Clovis I in the 6th century...
. In 1504, Anne, eager to keep Brittany separate from the French crown, effected the Treaty of Blois
Treaty of Blois (1504)
The Treaty of Blois , also known as the First Treaty of Blois, was an agreement between Louis XII of France and the Holy Roman Emperor, Maximillian I and his son , Archduke Philip. It was signed on September 22, 1504, at Blois...
, which promised Claude's hand in marriage to the future Holy Roman Emperor Charles V
Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor
Charles V was ruler of the Holy Roman Empire from 1519 and, as Charles I, of the Spanish Empire from 1516 until his voluntary retirement and abdication in favor of his younger brother Ferdinand I and his son Philip II in 1556.As...
with the promise of Brittany and the Duchy of Burgundy
Duchy of Burgundy
The Duchy of Burgundy , was heir to an ancient and prestigious reputation and a large division of the lands of the Second Kingdom of Burgundy and in its own right was one of the geographically larger ducal territories in the emergence of Early Modern Europe from Medieval Europe.Even in that...
. The prospect of a reduced France surrounded on several sides was unacceptable to the Valois, and so the betrothal was soon canceled.
The French nobles argued against a betrothal to a foreigner, urging Louis XII to marry Claude to her cousin Francis, Duke of Angoulême
Francis I of France
Francis I was King of France from 1515 until his death. During his reign, huge cultural changes took place in France and he has been called France's original Renaissance monarch...
, "who is at least all French", and was also the heir-presumptive to the French crown. In 1506, the child was betrothed to Francis. In 1514, when her mother died, Claude became Duchess of Brittany; and on 18 May 1514, at Saint-Germain-en-Laye
Saint-Germain-en-Laye
Saint-Germain-en-Laye is a commune in the Yvelines department in the Île-de-France in north-central France. It is located in the western suburbs of Paris from the centre.Inhabitants are called Saint-Germanois...
, she married Francis.
Court life
Claude, the pawn of so much dynastic maneuvering, was short in stature and afflicted with scoliosisScoliosis
Scoliosis is a medical condition in which a person's spine is curved from side to side. Although it is a complex three-dimensional deformity, on an X-ray, viewed from the rear, the spine of an individual with scoliosis may look more like an "S" or a "C" than a straight line...
, which gave her a hunched back. She was eclipsed at court by her mother-in-law, Louise of Savoy
Louise of Savoy
Louise of Savoy was a French noble, Duchess regnant of Auvergne and Bourbon, Duchess of Nemours, the mother of King Francis I of France...
, and her sister-in-law, the literary Marguerite, Queen consort of Navarre
Marguerite de Navarre
Marguerite de Navarre , also known as Marguerite of Angoulême and Margaret of Navarre, was the queen consort of Henry II of Navarre...
.
When Francis became King in 1515, two of Claude's ladies-in-waiting were the English sisters Mary
Mary Boleyn
Mary Boleyn , was the sister of English queen consort Anne Boleyn and a member of the Boleyn family, which enjoyed considerable influence during the reign of King Henry VIII of England...
and Anne Boleyn
Anne Boleyn
Anne Boleyn ;c.1501/1507 – 19 May 1536) was Queen of England from 1533 to 1536 as the second wife of Henry VIII of England and Marquess of Pembroke in her own right. Henry's marriage to Anne, and her subsequent execution, made her a key figure in the political and religious upheaval that was the...
, and another was Diane de Poitiers
Diane de Poitiers
Diane de Poitiers was a French noblewoman and a prominent courtier at the courts of kings Francis I and his son, Henry II of France. She became notorious as the latter's favourite mistress...
. Mary became the king's mistress before returning home in about 1519. Anne served as Claude's official translator whenever there were English visitors, such as in 1520. Anne was also a temporary companion to Claude's younger sister, Renée
Renée of France
Renée de France was the younger daughter of Louis XII of France and Anne, Duchess of Brittany. Her elder sister was Queen Claude of France. She was the Duchess of Ferrara due to her marriage to Ercole II d'Este, grandson of Pope Alexander VI...
. Anne Boleyn returned to England in 1521, where she eventually became Queen of England as the second wife of Henry VIII
Henry VIII of England
Henry VIII was King of England from 21 April 1509 until his death. He was Lord, and later King, of Ireland, as well as continuing the nominal claim by the English monarchs to the Kingdom of France...
. Diane de Poitiers was a principal inspiration of the School of Fontainebleau
School of Fontainebleau
The Ecole de Fontainebleau refers to two periods of artistic production in France during the late Renaissance centered around the royal Château de Fontainebleau, that were crucial in forming the French version of Northern Mannerism....
of the French Renaissance, and became the lifelong mistress of Francis's son and successor, Henry II
Henry II of France
Henry II was King of France from 31 March 1547 until his death in 1559.-Early years:Henry was born in the royal Château de Saint-Germain-en-Laye, near Paris, the son of Francis I and Claude, Duchess of Brittany .His father was captured at the Battle of Pavia in 1525 by his sworn enemy,...
.
Claude's life was spent in an endless round of annual pregnancies. Her husband had many mistresses, but was usually relatively discreet. Claude imposed a strict moral code on her own household, which only a few chose to flout.
Children
Claude and Francis I had seven children, two of whom lived past the age of thirty:| Name | Picture | Birth | Death | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Louise, Dauphine of France | 19 August 1515 | 21 September 1517 | Died aged two, of convulsions. No issue. | |
| Charlotte, Dauphine of France | 23 October 1516 | 18 September 1524 | Died aged seven of measles Measles Measles, also known as rubeola or morbilli, is an infection of the respiratory system caused by a virus, specifically a paramyxovirus of the genus Morbillivirus. Morbilliviruses, like other paramyxoviruses, are enveloped, single-stranded, negative-sense RNA viruses... , no issue. |
|
| Francis, Duke of Brittany | 28 February 1518 | 10 August 1536 | Poisoned at the age of eighteen, no issue. | |
| Henry II Henry II of France Henry II was King of France from 31 March 1547 until his death in 1559.-Early years:Henry was born in the royal Château de Saint-Germain-en-Laye, near Paris, the son of Francis I and Claude, Duchess of Brittany .His father was captured at the Battle of Pavia in 1525 by his sworn enemy,... , King of France |
31 March 1519 | 10 July 1559 | Married Catherine de'Medici, had issue. | |
| Madeleine, Queen Consort of Scotland | 10 August 1520 | 7 July 1537 | Married James V of Scotland James V of Scotland James V was King of Scots from 9 September 1513 until his death, which followed the Scottish defeat at the Battle of Solway Moss... , but died of tuberculosis Tuberculosis Tuberculosis, MTB, or TB is a common, and in many cases lethal, infectious disease caused by various strains of mycobacteria, usually Mycobacterium tuberculosis. Tuberculosis usually attacks the lungs but can also affect other parts of the body... at age sixteen. No issue. |
|
| Charles, Duke of Orléans | 22 January 1522 | 9 September 1545 | Died of the plague aged twenty-three, no issue. | |
| Margaret Margaret of France, Duchess of Berry Margaret of Valois, Duchess of Berry was the daughter of King Francis I of France and Claude, Duchess of Brittany.-Early life:Margaret was born at the Château de Saint-Germain-en-Laye... , Duchess of Berry Duchess of Berry -First Creation:-Second Creation:-Eighth Creation:-Ninth Creation:-Tenth Creation:... (since 1550) |
5 June 1523 | 15 September 1574 | Married Emmanuel Philibert, Duke of Savoy Emmanuel Philibert, Duke of Savoy Emmanuel Philibert was Duke of Savoy from 1553 to 1580.... and had one son. |
Death and later events
Claude died in 1524, when she was only twenty-four. She was initially succeeded as ruler of Brittany by her eldest son, the Dauphin Francis, who became Duke Francis III, with Claude's widower King Francis I as guardian. After the Dauphin's death in 1536, Claude's second son, Henry, Duke of OrleansHenry II of France
Henry II was King of France from 31 March 1547 until his death in 1559.-Early years:Henry was born in the royal Château de Saint-Germain-en-Laye, near Paris, the son of Francis I and Claude, Duchess of Brittany .His father was captured at the Battle of Pavia in 1525 by his sworn enemy,...
, became Dauphin and Duke of Brittany. He later became King of France as Henry II.
Claude's widowed husband himself remarried several years after Claude's death, to Eleanor of Austria, the sister of Emperor Charles V. The atmosphere at court became considerably more debauched, and there were rumours that King Francis's death in 1547 was due to syphilis
Syphilis
Syphilis is a sexually transmitted infection caused by the spirochete bacterium Treponema pallidum subspecies pallidum. The primary route of transmission is through sexual contact; however, it may also be transmitted from mother to fetus during pregnancy or at birth, resulting in congenital syphilis...
.
The prayer book of Claude of France
Primer of Claude of France
The Primer of Claude of France was the first book owned by the French princess Claude of France, eldest daughter of Louis XII of France and Anne of Brittany. It was produced in France in 1505 and measures 26 cm by 17.5 cm...
, is a tiny, jewel-like manuscript that was made for Claude around 1517, the year she was crowned queen of France. Her coat of arms appears on three different folios. The book is richly illustrated: the borders of each leaf are painted, front and back, with 132 scenes from the lives of Christ, the Virgin Mary, and numerous saints. The manuscript and a companion Book of Hours
Book of Hours
The book of hours was a devotional book popular in the later Middle Ages. It is the most common type of surviving medieval illuminated manuscript. Like every manuscript, each manuscript book of hours is unique in one way or another, but most contain a similar collection of texts, prayers and...
also made for the queen (in a Paris private collection) were illuminated by an artist who was given the nickname Master of Claude de France after these two volumes. It was donated to The Morgan Library & Museum in New York City in 2008 by Mrs. Alexandre Paul Rosenberg in memory of her husband.
"Reine Claude" plum
Claude is remembered in a classic small plum, the size of a walnut, pale green with a glaucous bloom. It is still called "Reine Claude" (literally, "Queen Claude") in France and is known in England as a "greengageGreengage
The greengages, also known as the Reine Claudes, are the edible drupaceous fruits of a cultivar group of the common European plum. The first true greengage was bred in Moissac, France, from a green-fruited wild plum originally found in Asia Minor; the original greengage cultivar nowadays survives...
".
Depictions in Popular Culture
Queen Claude of France is played by Gabriella Wright in season one of the Showtime series The TudorsThe Tudors
The Tudors is a Canadian produced historical fiction television series filmed in Ireland, created by Michael Hirst and produced for the American premium cable television channel Showtime...
.
"Kind Queen Claude" is a major character in Robin Maxwell's
Robin Maxwell (author)
Robin Maxwell is an American historical novelist who specializes in the Tudor period. She is also a screenwriter and political blogger....
Mademoiselle Boleyn.