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King ofFrance; b. at Cognac, 12 September, 1494; d. at Rambouillet, 31 March, 1547. He was the son of Charles ofOrléans, Count ofAngoulême, and Louise ofSavoy, and the husband of Claude ofFrance, daughter of Louis XII. He succeeded to the throne 1 January, 1515, not as son-in-law, since the Salic Law did not permit succession throughwomen, but as cousin of Louis XII, who had no male heir. His victory at Marignano (1515) over theSwiss who were defending Maximilian Sforza established the young king's reputation inItaly. He took advantage of this at "the interview of Bologna" to bring to a successful termination the efforts of his predecessors, Charles VII and Louis XI, to impose onLeo X the concordat which governed the organization of the French Church from that time till the end of the old regime (seeFRANCE). This marked the beginning of a series of measures destined to establish inFrance the preponderance of the royal power. Francis I sought by every means, even by exceptional tribunals, to destroy among the nobles, bothbishops andseigneurs (lords), the spirit of independence. The formula of royal edicts "car tel est notre bon plaisir" (because it is our good pleasure) dates from his reign. The death of Emperor Maximilian I (1519) led Francis I to dispute the imperial crown withCharles of Austria who had recently inherited the crown ofSpain. The latter became emperor asCharles V. Surrounded on the south, north-east, and east by the states ofCharles V, Francis I, immediately after his interview of the Field of the Cloth of Gold withHenry VIII ofEngland (1520), began the struggle with the House ofAustria which was to be prolonged, with occasional truces, until 1756. Four successivewars againstCharles V filled the reign of King Francis. The first, famous for the exploits and death of Bayard, the "chevalier sans peur et sans reproche", the treason of the Constable de Bourbon, the defeat of Francis I at Pavia (1525), and his captivity, ended with the Treaty ofMadrid (1526), by which he cededBurgundy toCharles V. The secondwar, renderednecessary by the refusal of the deputies ofBurgundy to become the subjects of the emperor, and marked by the alliance between Francis I and the Italian princes, among themPope Clement VII (League of Cognac, 1526), brought about the sack ofRome by the imperial troops under the command of the Constable de Bourbon (1527), and ended with the Peace ofCambrai (1529), in reality no more than a truce. After its conclusion, Francis I, who had lost his wife, Claude ofFrance, in 1524, wedded Eleanor ofAustria, sister ofCharles V. The thirdwar, entered upon by Francis I after he had reorganized a permanent national army, and at the time whenCharles V had undertaken an expedition againstTunis, was marked by the entrance of the French troops intoSavoy and the entrance of the troops ofCharles V into Provence (1536); it was brought to an end, thanks to the mediation ofPope Paul III, by the treaty of Aigues-Mortes. The fourthwar, resulting from the ambitious designs of Francis I onMilan, was marked by the alliance ofCharles V withHenry VIII, by the French victory of Ceresole (1544), and was ended by the Treaties of Crespy and Ardres (1544 and 1546).
The history of no other reign has been so profoundly studied in modern times as that of Francis I. A series of recent works has brought out the originality and novelty of his political maxims. The struggle against the House ofAustria made Francis I the ally of theHoly See during the pontificate ofClement VII, whose niece, Catherine, had married Henry II, the future King ofFrance (seeCATHERINE DE' MEDICI), but he could not prevail uponClement VII to grant adivorce toHenry VIII of England. Impelled by the desire to menaceCharles V not only on the frontiers but even in the interior of his territory, Francis I sent his agents intoGermany, who fostered political and religiousanarchy and favoured the political ascendency of theProtestant princes. His policy in this respect was opposed toCatholic interests and even opposed to those ofChristianity, for, after having in 1522 and 1523 sent Antonio Rincon to the King ofPoland and the Voivode ofTransylvania to urge them to threatenCharles V on the eastern frontier of the empire, Francis I thought of utilizing theTurks against the emperor. Before he had even thought of this alliance rumours spread throughoutGermany held him responsible for the victories of theMussulmans atBelgrade andRhodes. Francis I entered into negotiations with the Sultan Soliman in 1526 through his agent Frangipani, and in 1528 through Antonio Rincon. The Progress of theTurks in centralEurope between 1528 and 1532 injured the reputation of Francis I. He then secured the assistance of theTurks againstCharles V in the Italian peninsula and in the Western Mediterranean. Then followed his negotiations withBarbarossa (1533-34), at that time master of all North Africa. In 1535 his ambassador Jean de la Forest was sent toBarbarossa to arrange for a campaign against theGenoese, and to the sultan to secure his alliance with Francis I in order to preserve theEuropean balance of power. From these negotiations of Jean de la Forest date the abandonment byFrance of themedievalidea ofla Chrétienté, orChristendom, and, on the other hand, her protection of theChristians in the East (seeFRANCE).
Francis I played the part of a Mæcenas in the spread of theRenaissance inFrance. He invited fromItaly the great artistsLeonardo da Vinci, Rosso, Primaticcio, Benvenuto Cellini, and Andrea del Sarto. He began the present Louvre, built or decorated the châteaux of Fontainebleau and Chambord, and was patron of the poets Marot and du Bellay. His most valuable service toHumanism was the foundation of the Collège de France, intended originally for the teaching of Hebrew, Greek, and Latin. He was also the founder of the Imprimerie Royale. While he permitted the development inintellectual circles of certainProtestantideas simultaneously withHumanism, he was on the other hand, after 1534, quite hostile to the propagation ofProtestantism among the common people, as is shown by hispersecution (1545) of the Vaudois of Chabrières and Mérindol. The poems of Francis I, though interesting as historical documents, are mediocre work. Histomb and that of his wife, Claude ofFrance, in St. Denis, were designed by Philibert Delorme, and executed by Pierre Bontemps.
CONTEMPORARY SOURCES: Catalogue des actes de François Ier (10 vols., Paris, 1887-1907); Ordonnances du règne de François Ier, 1515-1516 (Paris, 1902); CHAMPOLLION-FIGÉAC, Captivité du Roi François Ier (Paris, 1847); Poésies de François Ier, ed. CHAMPOLLION-FIGÉAC (Paris, 1847); Journal de Louise de Savoie, ed. GUICHENON (Paris, 1778); Journal de Jean Barillon, ed. VAISSIRE (Paris, 1897-99); Journal d'un bourgeois de Paris sous le règne de François Ier, ed. LALANNE (Paris, 1854); Chronique du Roi François Ier, ed. GUIFFREY, (Paris, 1864); Mémoires de Martin du Bellay, de Fleurange, de Saulx de Tavannes, de Vieilleville; Histoire du gentil seigneur de Bayard, ed. ROMAN (Paris, 1878); MONLUC, Commentaires, ed. DE RUBLE (Paris, 1864-1872).
MODERN WORKS: PAULIN PARIS, études sur le règne de François Ier (2 vols., Paris, 1885); MADELIN, De Conventu Bononiensi (Paris, 1901); MIGNET, Rivalité de François Ier et de Charles-Quint (2 vols., Paris, 1878); HAMY, Entrevue de François Ier avec Henri VIII à Boulogne-Sur-Mer en 1532; Intervention de la France dans l'affaire du divorce (Paris, 1898); BOURRILLY, La première ambassade d'Antonio Rincon en Orient in Revue d'Histoire Moderne et Contemporaine (1900-1901), II; IDEM, L'ambassade de Laforest et Marillac à Constantinople in Rev. Hist. (1901), LXXVI; IDEM, La règne de François Ier in Revue d'Histoire Moderne et Contemporaine (1902-1903), IV; LEMONNIER, La France sous Charles VIII, Louis XII et François Ier in LAVISSE, Histoire de France (Paris, 1903), V; URSU, La politique oriental de François Ier (Paris, 1908).
APA citation.Goyau, G.(1909).Francis I. InThe Catholic Encyclopedia.New York: Robert Appleton Company.http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/06207a.htm
MLA citation.Goyau, Georges."Francis I."The Catholic Encyclopedia.Vol. 6.New York: Robert Appleton Company,1909.<http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/06207a.htm>.
Transcription.This article was transcribed for New Advent by Gerald Rossi.
Ecclesiastical approbation.Nihil Obstat. September 1, 1909. Remy Lafort, Censor.Imprimatur. +John M. Farley, Archbishop of New York.
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