Charlotte of France (23 October 1516 – 18 September 1524) was the second child and second daughter of

King Francis I Francis I (french: François Ier; frm, Francoys; 12 September 1494 – 31 March 1547) was King of France from 1515 until his death in 1547. He was the son of Charles, Count of Angoulême, and Louise of Savoy. He succeeded his first cousin once ...

and his wife

Claude Claude may refer to: __NOTOC__ People and fictional characters * Claude (given name), a list of people and fictional characters * Claude (surname), a list of people * Claude Lorrain (c. 1600–1682), French landscape painter, draughtsman and etcher ...

Early life

Charlotte was born in the

Château d'Amboise The Château d'Amboise is a château in Amboise, located in the Indre-et-Loire ''département'' of the Loire Valley in France. Confiscated by the monarchy in the 15th century, it became a favoured royal residence and was extensively rebuilt. Kin ...

, on 23 October 1516, the second daughter and child of

and

Queen Claude Claude of France (13 October 1499 – 20 July 1524) was Queen of France by marriage to King Francis I. She was also ruling Duchess of Brittany from 1514 until her death in 1524. She was a daughter of King Louis XII of France and his second wif ...

. She had greenish blue eyes and bright

red hair Red hair (also known as orange hair and ginger hair) is a hair color found in one to two percent of the human population, appearing with greater frequency (two to six percent) among people of Northern or Northwestern European ancestry and ...

. She was one of the six children of the King and Queen that had red hair, a trait inherited from

Anne of Brittany Anne of Brittany (; 25/26 January 1477 – 9 January 1514) was reigning Duchess of Brittany from 1488 until her death, and Queen of France from 1491 to 1498 and from 1499 to her death. She is the only woman to have been queen consort of France ...

, Claude's mother. She lived a happy life, moving from the

to the

Château de Saint-Germain-en-Laye The Château de Saint-Germain-en-Laye () is a former royal palace in the commune of Saint-Germain-en-Laye, in the ''département'' of Yvelines, about 19 km west of Paris, France. Today, it houses the ''musée d'Archéologie nationale'' (Nati ...

before March 1519. Following the death of her older sister

Louise Louise or Luise may refer to: * Louise (given name) Arts Songs * "Louise" (Bonnie Tyler song), 2005 * "Louise" (The Human League song), 1984 * "Louise" (Jett Rebel song), 2013 * "Louise" (Maurice Chevalier song), 1929 *"Louise", by Clan of ...

in 1518, Charlotte took her place as the fiancée of

King Charles I of Spain Charles V, french: Charles Quint, it, Carlo V, nl, Karel V, ca, Carles V, la, Carolus V (24 February 1500 – 21 September 1558) was Holy Roman Emperor and Archduke of Austria from 1519 to 1556, King of Spain ( Castile and Aragon) ...

under the Treaty of Noyon. The marriage would never come to fruition.

Later life and death

The Princess spent all of her remaining days at the

. She had always been a delicate, frail child. At age seven, she contracted

measles Measles is a highly contagious infectious disease caused by measles virus. Symptoms usually develop 10–12 days after exposure to an infected person and last 7–10 days. Initial symptoms typically include fever, often greater than , cough, ...

, the same disease which had killed her uncle,

Charles Orlando, Dauphin of France Charles Orlando, Dauphin of France (french: Charles Orland, Dauphin de France) (11 October 1492 – 16 December 1495) was the eldest son and heir of Charles VIII of France and Anne of Brittany. Build-up The marriage of Charles and Anne had been ...

, thirty years earlier. The only person who looked after her while she was sick was her aunt, Margaret of Angoulême, as her mother had already died two months earlier, her grandmother

Louise of Savoy Louise of Savoy (11 September 1476 – 22 September 1531) was a French noble and regent, Duchess ''suo jure'' of Auvergne and Bourbon, Duchess of Nemours, and the mother of King Francis I. She was politically active and served as the regent of Fra ...

was very sick, and her father had gone to war. He was later imprisoned, so was nowhere near his daughter at the time of her death. It appears as if Charlotte was very close to her aunt, who was heartbroken and distraught when her "''little one''" died, on 18 September 1524.

Ancestry

References

* Freer, Martha Walker. ''The Life of Marguerite D'Angoulême, Queen of Navarre.'' pp. 141–143. Second Edition, Revised. London, 1856. * ''The Cambridge Modern History''. A. W. Ward, editor. Vol. 2, p. 417. MacMillan Company, 1904.
Portrait of Charlotte of France.
Minneapolis Institute of Arts. {{DEFAULTSORT:Valois, Charlotte of 1516 births 1524 deaths Burials at the Basilica of Saint-Denis French princesses

Charlotte Charlotte ( ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of North Carolina. Located in the Piedmont region, it is the county seat of Mecklenburg County. The population was 874,579 at the 2020 census, making Charlotte the 16th-most populo ...

Infectious disease deaths in France Deaths from measles People from Amboise French people of Italian descent French people of Breton descent Royalty and nobility who died as children Daughters of kings