René of Savoy (1473 – 31 March 1525) was a French nobleman and soldier. He was count of Villars (1497) and of Tende (1501). Known as "the Great Bastard of Savoy", he was the illegitimate son of

Philip II, Duke of Savoy Philip II (5 February 1438 – 7 November 1497), surnamed the Landless, was the Duke of Savoy for a brief reign from 1496 to 1497. Biography Philip was the granduncle of the previous duke Charles II, and the youngest surviving son of Duke L ...

and Libera Portoneri - this made him the originator of the Savoie-Villars (or Savoie-Tende) branch of the

House of Savoy The House of Savoy (, ) is a royal house (formally a dynasty) of Franco-Italian origin that was established in 1003 in the historical region of Savoy, which was originally part of the Kingdom of Burgundy and now lies mostly within southeastern F ...

Biography

He was legitimated in 1499, by his half-brother Philibert II. He was the second husband of Anne Lascaris - a daughter of the count of Tende, she was countess of Tende, marquise of Marro, lady of Prela, of Villeneuve and of

Menton Menton (; in classical norm or in Mistralian norm, , ; ; or depending on the orthography) is a Commune in France, commune in the Alpes-Maritimes department in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region on the French Riviera, close to the Italia ...

. René and Lascaris married on 28 January 1501 at

Tende Tende (; Italian language, Italian, Occitan language, Occitan and Royasc: ''Tenda'') is a Communes of France, commune in the Alpes-Maritimes Departments of France, department in southeastern France. Geography Tende is located within Mercanto ...

, during René's governorship of

Nice Nice ( ; ) is a city in and the prefecture of the Alpes-Maritimes department in France. The Nice agglomeration extends far beyond the administrative city limits, with a population of nearly one millionMargaret of Austria, who hated René and had her father Maximilian I revoke René's legitimation in 1502. An increasing influence on her husband, Margaret brought René to trial and in 1503 got Philibert to revoke his act legitimating René, thus losing him his fiefdoms in the

Piedmont Piedmont ( ; ; ) is one of the 20 regions of Italy, located in the northwest Italy, Northwest of the country. It borders the Liguria region to the south, the Lombardy and Emilia-Romagna regions to the east, and the Aosta Valley region to the ...

and leaving him only with those in Tende, held through his wife. On Anne's father's death in 1509, Anne Lascaris and René received homage from their vassals in the Tende and from the vassals of all their fiefdoms in

Provence Provence is a geographical region and historical province of southeastern France, which stretches from the left bank of the lower Rhône to the west to the France–Italy border, Italian border to the east; it is bordered by the Mediterrane ...

and

Genoa Genoa ( ; ; ) is a city in and the capital of the Italian region of Liguria, and the sixth-largest city in Italy. As of 2025, 563,947 people live within the city's administrative limits. While its metropolitan city has 818,651 inhabitan ...

. René took refuge in France and paid homage to

Louis XII of France Louis XII (27 June 14621 January 1515), also known as Louis of Orléans was King of France from 1498 to 1515 and King of Naples (as Louis III) from 1501 to 1504. The son of Charles, Duke of Orléans, and Marie of Cleves, he succeeded his second ...

in 1510 in return for keeping Tende. Philibert died suddenly in 1504 and René faced opposition from the Holy Roman Emperor when he tried to succeed to Philibert's duchy of Savoy - his half brother

Charles III Charles III (Charles Philip Arthur George; born 14 November 1948) is King of the United Kingdom and the 14 other Commonwealth realms. Charles was born at Buckingham Palace during the reign of his maternal grandfather, King George VI, and ...

became duke instead. As half-brother of

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 ...

, René was uncle to Francis, Count of Angoulême. When Francis acceded to the French throne as Francis I, René was made governor of Provence and grand sénéchal of Provence in 1515, then

Grand Master of France The Grand Master of France () was, during the and Bourbon Restoration in France, one of the Great Officers of the Crown of France and head of the "", the king's royal household. The position is similar to that of Lord Steward in England. Histo ...

(surintendant of the

Maison du Roi The Maison du Roi (, 'King's Household') was the royal household of the King of France. It comprised the military, domestic, and religious entourage of the French royal family during the Ancien Régime and Bourbon Restoration in France, Bourbon R ...

) by letters patent of 31 October 1519, posts he held until his death. 1519 also saw René finally regain the duchy of Savoy. On 2 January 1562 Emmanuel Philibert declared by letters patent that Claude of Savoy was count of Tende and that his descendants could succeed to Savoy if the direct line died out.Les manuscrits du C.E.D.R.E. – Dictionnaire Historique et Généalogique, vol. III. ''Le Royaume d'Italie, volume I''. Cercle d'Études des Dynasties Royales Européennes (president, Jean-Fred Tourtchine), Paris, 1992, pp. 74-75. (French). ISSN 0993-3964. Around 1519-1520, René built a grand nef called the ''Sainte Marie de Bonaventure'', nicknamed "''La Grande Maîtresse''", Max Guérout, Bernard Liou, ''La Grande Maîtresse, nef de François Ier : recherches et documents d'archives'', Presses de l'Université Paris-Sorbonne, Paris, 2001
Google Books : extracts
/ref> which served as his flagship. This ship left

Marseille Marseille (; ; see #Name, below) is a city in southern France, the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Departments of France, department of Bouches-du-Rhône and of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur Regions of France, region. Situated in the ...

on 24 August 1520 to protect the

Knights Hospitaller The Order of Knights of the Hospital of Saint John of Jerusalem, commonly known as the Knights Hospitaller (), is a Catholic military order. It was founded in the crusader Kingdom of Jerusalem in the 12th century and had headquarters there ...

against an attack by the Turks, returning there on 6 January 1521. During this expedition, admiral Christophe de Chanoy was killed at Beirut. In May 1522, the ship took part in the expedition to aid Genoa, commanded by René as admiral and by Pedro of Navarre as lieutenant general. The ship took part in the defence and resupply of Marseille during the city's siege by the constable de Bourbon in 1524. René rented the ship to his nephew France I for 1500

écu The term ''écu'' () may refer to one of several France, French coins. The first ''écu'' was a gold coin (the ''écu d'or'') minted during the reign of Louis IX of France, in 1266. The value of the ''écu'' varied considerably over time, and si ...

s per month between 28 June 1524 and 30 April 1525. He died at

Pavia Pavia ( , ; ; ; ; ) is a town and comune of south-western Lombardy, in Northern Italy, south of Milan on the lower Ticino (river), Ticino near its confluence with the Po (river), Po. It has a population of c. 73,086. The city was a major polit ...

on 31 March 1525, seven days after sustaining serious injuries during 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 ...

. After René's death, Louise of Savoy put a value-estimate on the ship and it was bought by Francis I from the countess of Villars and Tende between July and August 1526.

Marriages and issue

On 28 January 1501, he married Anne Lascaris, countess of Tende (1487–1554), daughter and heiress of Jean-Antoine Lascaris, Count of

and

Ventimiglia Ventimiglia (; , ; ; ) is a resort town in the province of Imperia, Liguria, northern Italy. It is located west of Genoa, and from the French-Italian border, on the Gulf of Genoa, having a small harbour at the mouth of the Roia river, w ...

, dame of Chateau Montfort in La Colle sur Loup, and of Isabelle d'Anglure, widow of Louis de Clermont-Lodève, with whom he had the following children: * Claude de Savoie * Madeleine (c. 1510 - c. 1586), married the

Constable of France The Constable of France (, from Latin for 'count of the stables') was lieutenant to the King of France, the first of the original five Great Officers of the Crown (along with seneschal, chamberlain, butler, and chancellor) and the commander-in ...

Anne de Montmorency Anne de Montmorency, duc de Montmorency ( – 12 November 1567) was a French noble, governor, royal favourite and Constable of France during the mid to late Italian Wars and early French Wars of Religion. He served under five French kings (Loui ...

(1492 † 1567) * Marguerite (died 15 July 1591), married Antoine of Luxembourg, count de Brienne; * Honorat II of Savoy, * Isabelle, in 1527 married René de Batarnay, count de Bouchage

References

Sources

* * *

External links

Genealogy of the House of Savoie-Tende
{{DEFAULTSORT:Rene Of Savoy 1473 births 1525 deaths People from the Savoyard state French generals Sons of dukes