Antoine, Duke of Lorraine
Antoine | |||||
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Duke of Lorraine and Bar Marquis of Pont-à-Mousson | |||||
Portrait by Hans Holbein the Younger, 1543. | |||||
Duke of Lorraine | |||||
Reign | 10 December 1508 - 14 June 1544 | ||||
Predecessor | René II | ||||
Successor | Francis I | ||||
Born |
Bar-le-Duc | 4 June 1489||||
Died |
14 June 1544 55) Bar-le-Duc | (aged||||
Spouse | Renée de Bourbon | ||||
Issue |
Francis, Duke of Lorraine Nicholas, Duke of Mercœur Anna, Princess of Orange | ||||
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House | House of Lorraine | ||||
Father | René II | ||||
Mother | Philippa of Guelders |
Antoine (4 June 1489 – 14 June 1544), known as the Good, was Duke of Lorraine from 1508 until his death in 1544.
Biography
Antoine was born at Bar-le-Duc, the son of René II, Duke of Lorraine and Philippa of Guelders. He was raised at the court of King Louis XII together with his brother Claude, and also made friends with the Duke of Angoulême, the future King Francis I.
In 1509 he entrusted the reins of the Duchy to his mother and Hugues des Hazards, bishop of Toul, and followed Louis XII in his campaign in northern Italy, where he took part in the Battle of Agnadello of that year. After Louis' death, he went again to Italy under Francis I, participating in the battle of Marignano (14/15 September 1515). However, called back home by problems in Lorraine, he was absent at the decisive battle of Pavia (1525), in which Francis was taken prisoner and his brother François, comte de Lambesc, was killed.
In Lorraine, Antoine had to face the spreading of Protestant Reformation, against which he published an edict on 26 December 1523. The situation worsened the following year, when a rebellion, known as German Peasants' War, broke out in Alsace. The insurrectionists captured Saverne and tried to conquer Saint-Dié, while the peasants of Bitscherland also rose in May 1525. Antoine launched an expedition which reconquered Saverne on 17 May and crushed a peasant army on 20 May near Sélestat. He subsequently promulgated other edicts against the Protestants.
Antoine was able to enlarge his duchy through heritages and acquisitions. Starting from 1525, he preferred to remain neutral in the wars which ensued between Francis I and Emperor Charles V. With the Treaty of Nuremberg (26 August 1542), he obtained by Charles V the independence of the Duchy of Lorraine
In 1538, he claimed the titles of Duke of Guelders and Count of Zutphen upon the death of Charles of Egmond, but was unable to gain possession of them.
By 1539, Antoine suffered from gout and asked his niece, Mary of Guise, to send him a Scottish hackney horse which he hoped to find easier to ride with his condition.[1]
Family
On 26 June 1515, he married Renée of Bourbon, daughter of Gilbert de Bourbon, Count of Montpensier by Clara Gonzaga, and sister of Charles de Bourbon, Duke of Bourbon.
He had six children:
- Francis I, Duke of Lorraine (1517–1545)
- Nicholas, Duke of Mercœur (1524–1577)
- Jean (1526–1532)
- Antoine (b. 1528), d. young
- Anna (1522–1568), married firstly René of Châlon, Prince of Orange and secondly Philip II, Duke of Aerschot (1496–1549)
- Elisabeth (b. 1530), d. young
Ancestry
16. Frederick of Lorraine | ||||||||||||||||
8. Antoine of Vaudémont | ||||||||||||||||
17. Marguerite de Joinville | ||||||||||||||||
4. Frederick II of Vaudémont | ||||||||||||||||
18. John VII, Count of Harcourt | ||||||||||||||||
9. Marie d'Harcourt | ||||||||||||||||
19. Marie of Alençon | ||||||||||||||||
2. René II, Duke of Lorraine | ||||||||||||||||
20. Louis II of Naples | ||||||||||||||||
10. René of Anjou | ||||||||||||||||
21. Yolande of Aragon | ||||||||||||||||
5. Yolande, Duchess of Lorraine | ||||||||||||||||
22. Charles II, Duke of Lorraine | ||||||||||||||||
11. Isabella, Duchess of Lorraine | ||||||||||||||||
23. Margaret of the Palatinate | ||||||||||||||||
1. Antoine, Duke of Lorraine | ||||||||||||||||
24. John II of Egmond, Count of Egmond | ||||||||||||||||
12. Arnold of Egmond, Duke of Gelderland | ||||||||||||||||
25. Maria van Arkel | ||||||||||||||||
6. Adolf of Egmond, Duke of Guelders | ||||||||||||||||
26. Adolph I of Mark, Duke of Cleves | ||||||||||||||||
13. Catherine of Cleves | ||||||||||||||||
27. Marie of Valois-Burgundy | ||||||||||||||||
3. Phillipa of Guelders | ||||||||||||||||
28. John I, Duke of Bourbon | ||||||||||||||||
14. Charles I, Duke of Bourbon | ||||||||||||||||
29. Marie de Berry, Duchess of Auvergne | ||||||||||||||||
7. Catharine of Bourbon | ||||||||||||||||
30. John the Fearless | ||||||||||||||||
15. Agnes of Valois-Burgundy | ||||||||||||||||
31. Margaret of Bavaria | ||||||||||||||||
See also
References
- ↑ Wood, Marguerite, ed., Balcarres Papers, vol.1, SHS (1923), 33-4.
Preceded by René II |
Duke of Lorraine and Bar Marquis of Pont-à-Mousson 1508–1544 |
Succeeded by Francis I |