Dates:
September 11, 1476 - September 22, 1531Title:
Duchess of AngoulêmeKnown for:
her influence on her son, Francis I of France, and her education of her daughter, Marguerite of NavarreAlso Known As:
Louise De SavoieFamily Connections:
Father: Philip II the Landless, Duke of Savoy
Mother: Marguerite de Bourbon
Husband: Charles de Valois-Orléans, comte d'Angoulême
Children: Marguerite of Navarre, Francis I, King of France
About Louise of Savoy:
The parents of Louise of Savoy died when she was very young, and she was raised by Anne of Beaujeu, a daugher of Louis XI. Louise was betrothed at a young age to to the Count of Angouleme, and they married when she was 11.
Marguerite of Navarre, daughter of Louise of Savoy and Philip I of Savoy, was educated by her mother in languages and the arts. She became Queen of Navarre and was an influential patroness of education and a writer. She was the mother of Huguenot leader Jeanne d'Albret.
Francis, son of Louise and Philip, became King of France, and Louise and her daugher Marguerite beame influential advisors to Francis as well as his hostesses. Francis appointed his mother, Louise, Duchess of Angouleme when he succeeded to the throne.
He also appointed Louise of Savoy as his regent in 1515-16 when he was absent during Italian wars. In 1922, she was accused of diverting war funds to her own treasury; she denied any part in the scandal. In 1525-26 when Francis again went to fight the Italian wars, she was his regent. She, with her daughter Marguerite of Navarre, arranged an alliancer with Henry VIII of England, in which Henry broke his alliance with Francis' war opponent, the Holy Roman Emperor Charles V.
Louise and Marguerite then negotiated Francis' release from Spanish captivity, and negotiated the Treaty of Cambrai (called "The Ladies Peace") with Margaret of Austria, aunt of Charles V.
Louise of Savoy died after becoming chilled while watching a comet in 1531.
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