François 1er
I suspect he would have been happier as a poet than a king. Navigating the tricky waters of foreign politics does not seem to have been fun for him and he often failed in negotiations or had to make surrender concessions.
Overall, though, France, and perhaps even the world, benefited from the innovative, unconventional, risk-taking King François I.
He was born in a castle in 1494. At age 4, he moved to his home for the bulk of his life: Château d’Amboise. Considered one of the most brilliant minds in France at the time, his mother, Louise de Savoie, provided and sought out excellent instruction for her son and her daughter, Marguerite de Navarre.
Since early childhood, François was promised in marriage to King Louis XII’s daughter, Claude. They married in May 1514. Less than a year later, François was crowned King of France at Notre-Dame de Reims on January 25, 1515.
François is renowned for many things. Here is the short list.
Initiated, or at least cultivated, the French Renaissance. He began the vast art collection still seen today in the Louvre Museum in addition to inviting painters to come to France. Most famously, Leonardo da Vinci was a close friend of François I. In the last three years of his life, Leonardo da Vinci lived at Clos Lucé right next to Château d’Amboise. There was even a secret passageway between the two.
Formed the first non-ideological, diplomatic alliance between a Christian and non-Christian nation by establishing formal relations with the Ottoman Empire, an extremely controversial move at the time. The Muslim Ottoman sultan Suleiman the Magnificent came to François I’s aid when he was captured by Charles V, insisting that he release the French king.
Financed expeditions to the Americas (e.g. Verrazzano, Cartier).
Initiated French trade with the Far East and established trade relations with Morocco.
Opened up the study of many different languages, not just Latin, including Arabic, Greek, Hebrew, and Aramaic.
Decreed French the official language of the kingdom, rather than Latin, and promoted the standardization of the French language. He beefed-up the literary holdings in the royal library. For this, he was known as “Le Père et Restaurateur des Lettres” (the Father and Restorer of Letters).
A quick point of humor. He was also known as “François au Grand Nez,” François of the Large Nose, and the “Roi-Chevalier,” the knight-king. The latter was in reference to his rivalry with the Holy Roman Emperor Charles V.
François and Marguerite were close their entire lives. Where François was weak, he allowed Marguerite to step in. She frequently handled negotiations for the king. Most famously, she successfully negotiated the release of her imprisoned brother, riding twelve-hour days in the winter to get to a meeting place at the appointed time. In turn, François I ensured charges were dropped and obtained an apology from the Sorbonne in Paris when his sister’s poem was proclaimed a heresy.
Marguerite wrote prolifically. Her most famous work, a collection of short stories called L’Heptameron, provides a window into the intrigues of the nobility in the 1500s.
François I could completely lose his head and it was often thanks to Marguerite that things didn’t get out of hand. Marguerite’s intercession did not prevent François I from believing that the leaders of the Protestant movement were conspiring to assassinate him. The torture and killing that followed was perhaps the biggest black spot on François’ life. His philandering with women may be a close second.
Overall, he has an impressive resumé. In François I, I see the example of someone who sought to nourish the good fire and make a positive difference in the world. It looks like he lived up to the motto on his emblem.
SOURCES:
Knecht, R.J. Francis I. Cambridge University Press. 1984.
Isaac, Jules. Francis I of France. Encyclopaedia Britannica. 1911.