Françoise de Foix, Comtesse de Châteaubriant (; c. 1495 – 16 October 1537) was a
chief mistress of
Francis I of France
Francis I (; ; 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 removed and father-in-law Louis&nbs ...
.
Background
Born into the
House of Foix
Foix ( , ; ; ) is a Communes of France, commune, the former capital of the County of Foix. It is the capital of the department of Ariège (department), Ariège as it is the seat of the Prefectures in France, prefecture of that Departments of ...
, Françoise was the daughter of Jean de Foix, Vicomte de Lautrec, and Jeanne d'Aydie. Her father was the son of Pierre de Foix, Vicomte de Lautrec; Pierre had been a younger brother of
Gaston IV of Foix, who had married
Leonor, Queen of Navarre. Françoise was thus a second cousin of the Duchess of Brittany and Queen of France,
Anne
Anne, alternatively spelled Ann, is a form of the Latin female name Anna (name), Anna. This in turn is a representation of the Hebrew Hannah (given name), Hannah, which means 'favour' or 'grace'. Related names include Annie (given name), Annie a ...
, whose mother had been a daughter of Gaston IV and Leonor. Françoise was brought up at Anne's court, where she met Jean de
Laval, count of
Châteaubriant, to whom she was engaged in 1505. On 11 March 1508 she gave birth to a daughter, Anne, who died on 12 April 1521. The couple formally married in 1509,
[On the baptismal certificate of her daughter, Françoise is designed ''socie seu dilecte'', friend or partner, rather than ''uxoris'', wife. The couple was probably married after the birth for an unknown reason]
/ref> living together at Châteaubriant until Francis I called them at court in 1516.[Or up to the earlier months of 1517. See Bordonove (2003).] Tall and dark-haired, she was also cultured, spoke Latin
Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...
and Italian, and wrote poetry.
Official mistress
Upon arriving at the royal court, Françoise's attributes and gifts made her alluring to the equally gifted and cultured King, who promptly attempted to seduce her. He began to give favours and gifts to her family. Her husband became a commander of a company
A company, abbreviated as co., is a Legal personality, legal entity representing an association of legal people, whether Natural person, natural, Juridical person, juridical or a mixture of both, with a specific objective. Company members ...
. Her elder brother, the Viscount of Lautrec, received the charge of governor of the Milanese duchy. Her two other brothers, Thomas, lord of Lescun, and André, lord of Lesparre or Asparros, were also promoted to high positions in the military by the king. Françoise eventually became the mistress of the king, after a period of resistance, circa 1518.
On 25 April 1519 the Dauphin François
François () is a French language, French masculine given name and surname, equivalent to the English name Francis (given name), Francis.
People with the given name
* François Amoudruz (1926–2020), French resistance fighter
* Voltaire, Fran ...
was baptised at Amboise. Jean de Châteaubriant and his wife assisted in the ceremony, and Françoise was placed near to the royal princesses, which signified to the Court that she was ''La mye du roi'' ("The Sweetheart of the King"). She was the first official mistress that Francis had taken, and he made his affections for her plain to the Court, against her wishes. This greatly displeased his mother, Louise of Savoy
Louise of Savoy (11 September 1476 – 22 September 1531) was a French noble and regent, Duchess ''suo jure'' of Auvergne (province), Auvergne and House of Bourbon, Bourbon, Duchess of Nemours and the mother of King Francis I of France, Francis I ...
, who disliked the de Foix family.
By contrast, Françoise's husband, Jean, though inevitably aware of the affair, showed little interest in the matter: when, in December 1519, Francis sent him to Brittany to negotiate a tax, the Count thanked Francis, and did not raise the matter of the affair. During this time, Françoise remained at the Court, where she was made a lady-in-waiting of Queen Claude, the Duchess of Brittany. In 1524, before his wife died, Francis I had sexual intercourse with Françoise.
Françoise remained the official mistress of Francis for a decade. She had no political influence, only managing to persuade the King to not disgrace her brother after his defeat at the Battle of Bicocca. However, in 1525, the King was captured at the Battle of Pavia
The Battle of Pavia, fought on the morning of 24 February 1525, was the decisive engagement of the Italian War of 1521–1526 between the Kingdom of France and the Habsburg Empire of Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor, Charles V, Holy Roman Empero ...
and held captive in Madrid
Madrid ( ; ) is the capital and List of largest cities in Spain, most populous municipality of Spain. It has almost 3.5 million inhabitants and a Madrid metropolitan area, metropolitan area population of approximately 7 million. It i ...
. When he returned to France, the young and blonde Anne de Pisseleu d'Heilly
Anne de Pisseleu d'Heilly (), Duchess of Étampes, (15081580) was Maîtresse-en-titre, chief mistress of Francis I of France. She became Francis' mistress following his return from captivity in 1526. Anne enriched her family and friends through ...
caught his attention. The two women battled for the King's affections for two years before Françoise gave up and returned to Châteaubriant in 1528.
Later life and death
After returning to Châteaubriant, Françoise continued to live with her husband, Jean, who was made governor of Brittany This page is a list of royal governors of Brittany during the Ancien Régime.
*Nominoe (841-851)
*Enguerrand VII, Lord of Coucy (1380–1397)
*Jean de Laval, Mayenne, Laval, husband of Françoise de Foix (1528-1554)
*Jean IV de Brosse (1554-1565)
* ...
and received other favours. Françoise still continued to write letters to the King, who visited Châteaubriant many times. His last visit seems to be in 1532, when he stayed at the new castle that Jean had constructed in May.
Françoise de Foix died on 16 October 1537. Her death is the subject of rumours: one legend, related by the French historian Antoine Varillas, and taking credence from the known brutality of Jean de Laval, claims that the Count shut his wife in a dark, padded cell and had her killed.[However, Varillas claims that Françoise was murdered during the captivity of Francis I in 1526, contradicting the death date on her tomb] In fact, it is considered more likely that Françoise died of a sickness.[Châteaubriant, baronnie, ville et paroisse](_blank)
She is interred in the church of the Trinitarians of Châteaubriant, where her husband erected a tomb in her memory, with an epitaph by Clément Marot
Clément Marot (23 November 1496 – 12 September 1544) was a French Renaissance poet. He was influenced by the writers of the late 15th century and paved the way for the Pléiade, and is undoubtedly the most important poet at the court of Fr ...
and a statue of her. Jean de Laval died on 11 February 1543 aged 56, bequeathing a third of his possessions to Anne de Montmorency, including Châteaubriant. He was succeeded in his charges of governor of Brittany by Jean IV de Brosse, the husband of Anne de Pisseleu.
Brantôme also recounted many anecdotes about the countess. An anecdote about an unnamed mistress of Francis I, where the lady is almost surprised by the king when in bed with the admiral Bonnivet, is often attributed to Françoise de Foix.
See also
* French royal mistresses
References and notes
Bibliography
* Georges Bordonove, ''Les rois qui ont fait la France. Les Valois, de François Ier à Henri III, 1515-1589'', (2003).
*Brantôme, ''Oeuvres complètes, Tome XII'', (1894). Kraus Reprint, 1977.
*Abbé J.-J. de Expilly, ''Dictionnaire géographique, historique et politique des Gaules et de la France'' (1763). Kraus Reprint, 1978.
*Abbé Goudé, ''Châteaubriant, baronnie, ville et paroisse'', (1869)
*Louis-Gabriel Michaud, ''Biographie universelle ancienne et moderne'', (1854).
External links
Le Chansonnier de Françoise de Foix
A page about a songbook that probably belonged to the countess, by Jean-Marie Poirier, French musicologist and lutenist.
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Foix, Francoise de
House of Valois
Francoise
1490s births
1537 deaths
Mistresses of Francis I of France
French ladies-in-waiting