Charles, Duke of Vendôme

Charles de Bourbon (2 June 1489 – 25 March 1537) was a French prince du sang and military commander at the court of Francis I of France. He is notable as the paternal grandfather of King Henry IV of France.

Biography

Charles was born at the Château de Vendôme, the son of François, Count of Vendôme and Marie de Luxembourg.^[1]

Charles succeeded his father as Count of Vendôme in 1495. Charles's first military service was in Italy, under Louis XII. His county was elevated into a duchy in 1514.^[2] He fought at the battle of Marignan and participated in the Flemish campaign. Because of his loyalty to the king, he was appointed head of the council when Francis I was captured at Pavia.

On 18 May 1513, he married Françoise d'Alençon, daughter of René, Duke of Alençon.^[3] They had thirteen children:

1. Louis de Bourbon (1514–1516), died in infancy.
2. Marie de Bourbon (1515–1538), unmarried, prospective bride of James V of Scotland in 1536.
3. Marguerite de Bourbon (1516–1589), married 1538 Francis I of Cleves, Duke of Nevers (1516–1561).
4. Antoine de Bourbon, Duke of Vendôme (1518–1562).
5. François de Bourbon, Count of Enghien (1519–1546), unmarried.
6. Madeleine de Bourbon (1521–1561), Abbess of Sainte-Croix de Poitiers.
7. Louis de Bourbon (1522–1525), died in infancy.
8. Charles de Bourbon (1523–1590), Archbishop of Rouen.
9. Catherine de Bourbon (1525–1594), Abbess of Soissons.
10. Renée de Bourbon (1527–1583), Abbess of Chelles.
11. Jean de Bourbon, Count of Soissons and Enghien (1528–1557), married 1557 his first cousin Marie, Duchess of Estouteville (1539–1601).
12. Louis de Bourbon, Prince of Condé (1530–1569), married Eléonore de Roye.
13. Léonore de Bourbon (1532–1611), Abbess of Fontevraud (1532–1611).

The successive deaths of his cousins Charles IV, Duke of Alençon (1525) and Charles III, Duke of Bourbon (1527) made him the fourth in the order of succession to the throne, just behind the king's sons. At the natural course of affairs his wife, a sister of the last duke of Alençon, would have been the heiress of her brother; but Francis I allowed his sister, Marguerite of Angoulême, the late duke's wife, to keep them, even though they did not have children. Charles would also have been heir to the duchy of Bourbon, but it was forfeited to the crown by the treason of the last holder. At the death of Constable de Bourbon in 1527, he became the Head of the House of Bourbon.

His son Antoine married Jeanne d'Albret, Queen of Navarre, daughter of Marguerite of Angoulême, settling the Alençon inheritance. Their son would succeed to the French throne as Henry IV. Antoine and Louis, Prince of Condé, became powerful military leaders on opposite sides in the French Wars of Religion. Charles died at Amiens in 1537 at the age of 47.

Notes

References

• Bulletin de la commission historique et archéologique de la Mayenne, Jan. 1878, Imprimerie De Leon Moreau, 1885.
• The Encyclopædia Britannica, Vol.27, Ed. Hugh Chisholm, 1911.
• Achaintre, Nicolas Louis, Histoire généalogique et chronologique de la maison royale de Bourbon,Vol.1, Rue de L'École de Médecine, 1825.

Ancestors

Patrilineal descent

Succession

Dukes of Vendôme
Hereditary Dukes	Charles Antoine Henri César, Légitimé de France Louis Louis Joseph Philippe Louis Stanislas Xavier
Courtesy title	Emmanuel Prince Jean