Francis I.

Francis I., king of France, son of Charles, Comte d'Angoulême, was born at Cognac, September 12, 1494, and succeeded Louis XII., his uncle and father-in-law, January 1, 1515. His first act as king was to reconquer Milan, which had been wrested from his predecessor two years before. Crossing the Alps by an unguarded pass, he attacked the Swiss mercenaries in the Milanese at Marignano (13th September 1515), and obtained a complete victory—the Swiss losing 12,000 men. In December 1516 he signed a concordat with the pope, which virtually broke down the independence of the French national church. On the death of Maximilian, emperor of Germany, in January 1519, Francis became a candidate for the imperial crown. But the election of Charles of Spain (henceforward known as Charles V., q.v.) provoked Francis to a declaration of war against him, though, in spite of all the splendours of the 'Field of the Cloth of Gold' near Calais (1520), the French king had failed to secure for an ally Henry VIII. of England, who afterwards joined the pope and the emperor. The papal troops drove the French out of Italy; the soldiers of Henry and the emperor invaded France on the north; the Constable Bourbon deserted to the enemies of Francis; and the principal Italian republics declared against him. The French king, after presenting for some time a bold and successful front to his many adversaries, was totally defeated and taken prisoner at the battle of Pavia, 24th February 1525. Charles carried his captive to Madrid, and only granted him his liberty a year later, Francis being compelled to renounce the suzerainty of Flanders and Artois, the duchy of Burgundy, and all his Italian possessions and claims, to promise the restoration of Bourbon to his former dignities, and to surrender his two sons as hostages. No sooner, however, did he regain his freedom than he induced Pope Clement VII. to absolve him from his oath; and England, Rome, Venice, Florence, and Genoa—all of whom were growing alarmed at the immense power of Charles—withdrawing from their alliance with the latter, and siding with his antagonist, the war in Italy recommenced. On 5th May 1527 Bourbon's 'black banditti' stormed and sacked the Eternal City, and captured the pope. On the other side a French army was frittered away before Naples, having accomplished nothing. At last a peace was concluded at Cambrai, in July 1529, by which Francis retained Burgundy, but lost the Milanese, Flanders, and Artois. Hostilities were again renewed in 1534; yet, as before, only little was accomplished. The war was, however, marked by an alliance between Francis and the Turks, a proceeding which excited the indignation of Christendom. By the efforts of Pope Paul III., another treaty was concluded for ten years at Nice between Charles and Francis, 18th June 1538. Charles V.'s unfortunate expedition against Algiers once more stirred up the French king to renew the quarrel (1542), and he launched five different armies against the emperor. In spite of the battle of Cérisolles (14th April 1544), in which the French were completely victorious, Charles and his ally, Henry of England, marched upon Paris, and Francis was compelled to make peace at Crespy (18th September 1544), matters being left in statu quo. Francis died at Rambouillet, March 31, 1547. Superficially a man of brilliant parts, Francis had in reality at bottom a frivolous, changeable, licen- tious nature. Nevertheless he greatly fostered learning and art, inviting painters and scholars to his kingdom, founding libraries, opening schools, and building several of the finest palaces in France; but his persecution of the Vaudois and other Protestant sects has left a dark stain on his memory which all his patronage of artists and men of letters will not efface. See FRANCE; Cochrane, Francis I. and other Studies; Julia Pardoe, Court and Reign of Francis I. (new ed. 3 vols. 1887); Gaston Paris, François I. (1888); and Francis I. and his Times, by Coignet (trans. 1889).