Francis I (French: François Ier; 12 September 1494 – 31 March 1547), was king of France from 1515 until his death.
Francis I is considered to be France's first Renaissance monarch. His reign saw France make immense cultural advances. He was a contemporary of Suleiman the Magnificent of the Ottoman Empire, with whom he was allied in a Franco-Ottoman alliance, as well as of Henry VIII of England and of Holy Roman Emperor Charles V, his great rivals...
more
Francis I (French: François Ier; 12 September 1494 – 31 March 1547), was king of France from 1515 until his death.
Francis I is considered to be France's first Renaissance monarch. His reign saw France make immense cultural advances. He was a contemporary of Suleiman the Magnificent of the Ottoman Empire, with whom he was allied in a Franco-Ottoman alliance, as well as of Henry VIII of England and of Holy Roman Emperor Charles V, his great rivals.
Francis I, the only son of Charles d'Angoulême, and of Louise of Savoy, was born at the château de Cognac , Cognac (c. 400 km southwest of Paris), in the modern French department of Charente, in the province of Saintonge which was part of the former Duché d'Aquitaine. His father was the first cousin of King Louis XII. In 1498, the four-year-old Francis, already Count of Angoulême, was created Duke of Valois. He was the heir presumptive of Louis XII who did not succeed in siring sons with any of his three wives. In 1506, and by instigation of...
less
