Francis I, Duke of Lorraine

Francis I (French: François Ier de Lorraine) (23 August 1517 – 12 June 1545) was Duke of Lorraine from 1544–1545.

Francis I
Duke of Lorraine and Bar
Reign	14 June 1544 – 12 June 1545
Predecessor	Antoine
Successor	Charles III
Born	(1517-08-23)23 August 1517 Nancy
Died	12 June 1545(1545-06-12) (aged 27) Remiremont
Spouse	Christina of Denmark ​ ​ (m. 1541)​
Issue	Charles III, Duke of Lorraine Renata, Duchess of Bavaria Dorothea, Duchess of Brunswick-Calenberg
House	Lorraine
Father	Antoine, Duke of Lorraine
Mother	Renée of Bourbon

History

Born in Nancy, Francis was the eldest son of Antoine, Duke of Lorraine and Renée de Bourbon, daughter of Gilbert de Bourbon, Count of Montpensier. He was briefly engaged in the mid-1530s to Anne of Cleves, who in 1540 would become the fourth wife of King Henry VIII of England. Their betrothal would be used by Henry to break his marriage to Anne after six short months.

On 10 July 1541, Francis married Christina of Denmark in Brussels. Christina was a daughter of King Christian II and Isabella of Austria. Francis died at Remiremont in 1545, leaving Duchess Christina as the regent of Lorraine and as the guardian of their young children.

Children

By Christina of Denmark (c.1521 – 1590; married in 1541)

Name	Birth	Death	Notes
Charles	1543	1608	married Claude of Valois and had issue.
Renata	1544	1602	married William V, Duke of Bavaria and had issue.
Dorothea	1545	1621	married in 1575, Eric II, Duke of Calenberg

Ancestry

Ancestors of Francis I, Duke of Lorraine

8. Frederick II, Count of Vaudémont 4. René II, Duke of Lorraine 9. Yolande, Duchess of Lorraine 2. Antoine, Duke of Lorraine 10. Adolf, Duke of Guelders 5. Philippa of Guelders 11. Catherine of Bourbon 1. Francis I, Duke of Lorraine 12. Louis I, Count of Montpensier 6. Gilbert, Count of Montpensier 13. Gabrielle de la Tour d'Auvergne 3. Renée of Bourbon 14. Federico I Gonzaga, Marquis of Mantua 7. Clara Gonzaga 15. Margaret of Bavaria

Sources

• Carroll, Stuart (2009). Martyrs and Murderers: The Guise Family and the Making of Europe. Oxford University Press.
• Sidney, Philip (2012). Kuin, Roger (ed.). The Correspondence of Sir Philip Sidney. Vol. 1. Oxford University Press.
• Thomas, Andrew L. (2010). A House Divided: Wittelsbach Confessional Court Cultures in the Holy Roman Empire, c.1550-1650. Brill.
• Warnicke, Retha M. (2017). Elizabeth of York and Her Six Daughters-in-Law: Fashioning Tudor Queenship, 1485-1547. Palgrave Macmillan.

See also

• Dukes of Lorraine family tree
• List of rulers of Lorraine