Francis III ( br, Frañsez; french: François; 28 February 1518 – 10 August 1536) was
Duke of Brittany
This is a list of rulers of the Duchy of Brittany. In different epochs the sovereigns of Brittany were kings, princes, and dukes. The Breton ruler was sometimes elected, sometimes attained the position by conquest or intrigue, or by hereditary r ...
and
Dauphin of Viennois
The counts of Albon (''comtes d'Albon'') were members of the medieval nobility in what is now south-eastern France.
Guigues IV, Count of Albon (d. 1142) was nicknamed ''le Dauphin'' or ''the Dolphin''. His nickname morphed into a title among ...
. He was the first son of King
Francis I of France
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 on ...
and Duchess
Claude of Brittany.
Life
Francis I Francis I or Francis the First may refer to:
* Francesco I Gonzaga (1366–1407)
* Francis I, Duke of Brittany (1414–1450), reigned 1442–1450
* Francis I of France (1494–1547), King of France, reigned 1515–1547
* Francis I, Duke of Saxe-Lau ...
said of his son at birth, "a beautiful
dauphin who is the most beautiful and strong child one could imagine and who will be the easiest to bring up." His mother,
Claude, Duchess of Brittany
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 ...
, said, "tell the King that he is even more beautiful than himself." The Dauphin was christened at
Amboise
Amboise (; ) is a commune in the Indre-et-Loire department in central France. Today a small market town, it was once home of the French royal court.
Geography
Amboise lies on the banks of the river Loire, east of Tours. It is also about away ...
on 25 April 1519.
Leonardo da Vinci
Leonardo di ser Piero da Vinci (15 April 14522 May 1519) was an Italian polymath of the High Renaissance who was active as a painter, Drawing, draughtsman, engineer, scientist, theorist, sculptor, and architect. While his fame initially res ...
, who had been brought to Amboise by Francis I, designed the decorations.
One of the most researched aspects of the Dauphin's short life is the time he and his brother Henry (later
Henry II of France
Henry II (french: Henri II; 31 March 1519 – 10 July 1559) was 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 bro ...
) spent as
hostage
A hostage is a person seized by an abductor in order to compel another party, one which places a high value on the liberty, well-being and safety of the person seized, such as a relative, employer, law enforcement or government to act, or refr ...
s in Spain. The king had been badly defeated and captured at the
Battle of Pavia (1525) and became a prisoner of
Charles V, the Holy Roman Emperor, initially in the
Alcázar in Madrid. In order to ensure his release, the king signed the
Treaty of Madrid (1526) Treaty of Madrid may refer to:
* Treaty of Madrid (1339), collaboration between Aragon and Castile
* Treaty of Madrid (1526), in which France renounced claims in Italy, surrendered Burgundy to Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor, and abandoned sovereignty ...
. However, in order to ensure that Francis abided by the treaty, Charles demanded that the king's two older sons take his place as hostages. Francis agreed.
On 15 March 1526, the exchange took place at the border between Spain and France. Francis almost immediately repudiated the treaty
and the eight-year-old Dauphin and his younger brother Henry spent the next three years as captives of Charles V, a period that scarred them for life. The Dauphin's "somber, solitary tastes" and his preference for dressing in black (like a Spaniard) were attributed to the time he spent in captivity in Madrid. He also became bookish, preferring reading to soldiering.
Marriage arrangements
As first son and heir to a king of France the Dauphin was a marriage pawn for his father. He could not be wasted in marriage, as many felt his brother Henry had been with his marriage to
Catherine de' Medici, and there were several betrothals to eligible princesses throughout the Dauphin's life. The first was when he was an infant, to the four-year-old Mary Tudor (later
Mary I of England), daughter of
Henry VIII of England
Henry VIII (28 June 149128 January 1547) was King of England from 22 April 1509 until his death in 1547. Henry is best known for his six marriages, and for his efforts to have his first marriage (to Catherine of Aragon) annulled. His disa ...
and
Catherine of Aragon; this arrangement was made as a surety for the Anglo-French alliance signed in October 1518, but abandoned around 1521 when Mary was instead betrothed to Charles V.
Duchy of Brittany
In 1524, the Dauphin inherited the
Duchy of Brittany
The Duchy of Brittany ( br, Dugelezh Breizh, ; french: Duché de Bretagne) was a medieval feudal state that existed between approximately 939 and 1547. Its territory covered the northwestern peninsula of Europe, bordered by the Atlantic Ocean t ...
on his mother's death, becoming Duke Francis III, although the Duchy was actually ruled by officials of the French crown. The Duchy was inherited upon the death of Francis by his brother, Henry; upon Henry's succession to the French throne in 1547, the Duchy and the crown were effectively merged, the Breton estates having already tied the succession of the Duchy to the French crown, rather than to the line of succession of the Dukes of Brittany, by vote in 1532.
Death
The Dauphin Francis died at Château Tournon-sur-Rhône on 10 August 1536, at the age of eighteen. The circumstances of his death seemed suspicious, and it is believed by many that he was poisoned. However, there is ample evidence that he died of natural causes, possibly
tuberculosis
Tuberculosis (TB) is an infectious disease usually caused by '' Mycobacterium tuberculosis'' (MTB) bacteria. Tuberculosis generally affects the lungs, but it can also affect other parts of the body. Most infections show no symptoms, i ...
. The Dauphin had never fully recovered his health from the years spent in damp, dank cells in Madrid.
After playing a round of
tennis
Tennis is a racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent ( singles) or between two teams of two players each ( doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket that is strung with cord to strike a hollow rubber ball ...
at a
jeu de paume
''Jeu de paume'' (, ; originally spelled ; ), nowadays known as real tennis, (US) court tennis or (in France) ''courte paume'', is a ball-and-court game that originated in France. It was an indoor precursor of tennis played without racquets, a ...
court "pré
d'
Ainay
Ainay is an area within the Presqu'ile district in the 2nd arrondissement of Lyon, to the south of Place Bellecour and the north of Perrache. It is best known for its Romanesque church, the Basilica of Saint-Martin d'Ainay. A high-class area, b ...
", the Dauphin asked for a cup of water, which was brought to him by his secretary,
Count Montecuccoli. After drinking it, Francis collapsed and died several days later. Montecuccoli, who was brought to the court by Catherine de' Medici, was accused of being in the pay of Charles V, and when his quarters were searched a book on different types of
poison was found. Catherine de' Medici was well known to have an interest in poisons and the
occult. Under
torture
Torture is the deliberate infliction of severe pain or suffering on a person for reasons such as punishment, extracting a confession, interrogational torture, interrogation for information, or intimidating third parties. definitions of tortur ...
, Montecuccoli confessed to poisoning the Dauphin.
In an age before
forensic science, poison was usually suspected whenever a young, healthy person
died
Death is the irreversible cessation of all biological functions that sustain an organism. For organisms with a brain, death can also be defined as the irreversible cessation of functioning of the whole brain, including brainstem, and brain ...
shortly after eating or drinking. There was no way to pinpoint and trace the substance after death; therefore, it was considered a quick, easy and untraceable form of
homicide. There have been several other suspected cases of political-murder-by-poison in the French royal family through the ages.
Ancestry
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Francis 03, Duke of Brittany
1518 births
1536 deaths
16th-century dukes of Brittany
Burials at the Basilica of Saint-Denis
People from Amboise
House of Valois-Angoulême
Dauphins of Viennois
Dauphins of France
Dukes of Brittany
Heirs apparent who never acceded
French people of Italian descent
French people of Breton descent
16th-century peers of France
Sons of kings