Francis I 1494-1547
King of France

Born in Cognac, he was the son of Charles, Count of Angoul�me, and nephew and son-in-law of Louis XII, whom he succeeded (1515) when France's rivalry with the Austrian Habsburg dynasty was at its most intense. His military reputation was established when he gained control of Milan at Marignano (1515). On the death of Emperor Maximilian I (1519) he became a candidate for Holy Roman Emperor, but lost the election to Charles I of Spain (Emperor Charles V). In 1520 he met Henry VIII of England at the Field of the Cloth of Gold, near Calais, a costly and portentous occasion intended to woo England away from its alliance with Charles, and subsequently waged intermittent war against the emperor. A number of reverses followed, including Francis' capture at Pavia (1525) the price of his release (1526) being Flanders, Artois, Burgundy, and all his Italian possessions. He joined the Holy League with the pope, England and Venice to check Charles's growing power, but once again lost Italy in the ensuing Treaty of Cambrai (1529). In a final peace at Cr�py (1544) he abandoned all his Italian claims. In religious affairs he won control over the French Church through the Concordat of Bologna (1516) and in general he tried to act the part of a peacemaker. However, in the later years of his reign he became increasingly hostile to Protestants allowing the persecution of heretics (1534), becoming involved in the massacre of the Vaudois (Proven�al peasants) in 1554. A notable patron of the Renaissance, he extended protection to humanist scholars like Erasmus and the French humanists of the Cercle de Meaux. Brilliant, flamboyant and cultured, he fostered learning and the arts, and created the Palace of Fontainebleau.