| Charlotte of Savoy | |
|---|---|
 Portrait of Charlotte of Savoy,c. 1472 | |
| Queen consort of France | |
| Tenure | 22 July 1461 – 30 August 1483 |
| Queen regent of France | |
| Regency | 1465 |
| Monarch | Louis XI |
| Born | c. 1441 |
| Died | 1 December 1483 Amboise, France |
| Burial | Notre-Dame de Cléry Basilica,Cléry-Saint-André, France |
| Spouse | |
| Issue | |
| House | House of Savoy |
| Father | Louis, Duke of Savoy |
| Mother | Anne of Cyprus |
Charlotte of Savoy (c. 1441 – 1 December 1483) wasQueen of France as the second wife ofLouis XI. She served as regent during the king's absence in 1465 and was a member of the royal regency council during her son's minority in 1483.
Born c. 1441,[a] Charlotte was a daughter ofLouis, Duke of Savoy[2] andAnne of Cyprus.[3] She was one of 19 children, 14 of whom survived infancy.
On 11 March 1443, when Charlotte was just over a year old, she was betrothed to Frederick of Saxony (28 August 1439- 23 December 1451), eldest son ofFrederick II, Elector of Saxony.[2] The betrothal did not lead to a marriage, however, was annulled for reasons unknown. The younger Frederick died at the age of 12. On 14 February 1451, 10 months before Frederick's death, Charlotte marriedLouis, Dauphin of France (future Louis XI), eldest son ofCharles VII of France andMarie of Anjou.[4] The bride was nine years old and the groom twenty-seven. The marriage, which had taken place without the consent of the French king,[4] was Louis' second; his first spouse,Margaret of Scotland, had died childless in 1445. Upon her marriage, Charlotte became Dauphine of France.
Louis reportedly neglected her. When the news of his succession to the throne of France reached the couple at the Burgundian court, he immediately abandoned her in Burgundy to secure his inheritance, leaving her dependent uponIsabella of Bourbon to borrow the carts and entourage necessary to travel to France to join him.
On 22 July 1461, Charlotte became Queen of France. The following year, she became seriously ill and was close to death by August 1462. Although she recovered, her health was weakened.
Louis XI did not keep much of a representational court life. He had Queen Charlotte and her household kept secluded at theChâteau of Amboise, where she spent her days with her sisters and courtiers, supervising the education of her daughters (her son was educated by the king), playingchess and marbles, listening to her lute player, doing needlework and fulfilling her religious duties. On rare occasions, she was asked to fulfil ceremonial tasks as queen such as greeting foreign guests, for example in 1470, when the king took the powerfulEarl of Warwick and theDuke of Clarence from England to Amboise to visit her. Charlotte was interested in literature and was praised for the taste and excellence of her personal library.[3] She left a collection of about one hundred manuscripts, which would become the genesis of theBibliothèque Nationale de France.
Charlotte was regarded as virtuous. A contemporary noted that "while she was an excellent Princess in other respects, she was not a person in whom a man could take any great delight";[3] However, after the birth of her last child in 1472, Louis swore that he would no longer be unfaithful, and according to the chroniclerPhillip de Commynes, he kept this vow.
Charlotte served as regent in September 1465.
Charlotte was widowed on 30 August 1483, upon which Louis XI was succeeded by their son Charles VIII, who was still a minor.
Louis XI did not make Charlotte regent if his son should succeed him while still a minor; he did in fact not formally appoint a regent at all, but he did leave instructions for a royal council to govern during such a minority, in which Charlotte, alongside Duke Jean de Bourbon II and their two sons-in-law Louis d'Orleans (married to their daughter Jeanne) andPeter II, Duke of Bourbon (married to their daughter Anne), were made members. In practice, her daughter Anne took control over France as regent during the minority of Charles.
Charlotte died on 1 December 1483 inAmboise, just a few months after her spouse's death. She is buried with him in theBasilica of Our Lady, Cléry [fr][5] inCléry-Saint-André (Loiret) in thearrondissement of Orléans.
Charlotte was the mother of eight children, of whom three,Charles VIII, who became king of France,Anne, who acted as regent of France for Charles, andJoan, who became queen of France as the spouse ofLouis XII survived infancy.
Media related toCharlotte of Savoy at Wikimedia Commons
Charlotte of Savoy Born: 1441/3 Died: 1 December 1483 | ||
| French royalty | ||
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| Preceded by | Queen consort of France 22 July 1461 – 30 August 1483 | Vacant Title next held by Anne of Brittany |
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