Claude de Savoie

Claude de Savoie (born March 27, 1507 , † April 23, 1566 at Cadarache Castle in Saint-Paul-lès-Durance ) was governor and Grand Seneschal of Provence from March 31, 1525 until his death, i.e. for 41 years. For the last 30 years of his life he supported and protected Huguenots , especially in his county of Tende .

biography

origin

Claude de Savoie is the oldest son of René de Savoie , known as le Grand bâtard de Savoie , Count of Villars and Tenda, and Anna Lascaris , Countess of Tenda. He was born on March 27, 1507. Nothing is known about his childhood.

On October 1, 1520, he was introduced by his father to the États de Provence to propose him as his successor as the Grand Seneschal of Provence, although he was only about 13 years old. In fact, his successor was not confirmed until March 31, 1525.

Military career

In 1532 he was made a knight in the Ordre de Saint-Michel . He was also made Amiral des mers du Levant . On the orders of the king he fought the Waldenses . In 1534 he married Marie de Chabannes, daughter of Jacques II. De Chabannes , Seigneur de La Palice, and Marie de Melun.

During his fight against the imperial troops, he left the administration of his lands in Provence to the Count of Grignan or the lieutenant-général of the king during his absence . In addition, it seems to have been at the start of construction on the Antibes fortifications in 1541. He then accompanied the Dauphin Heinrich during the war in Roussillon , in which the city of Perpignan was besieged. Claude de Savoie and Anna Lascaris paid homage to Henry when Henry ascended the throne in 1547. In July he received the county of Beaufort for nine years.

Religious orientation

On August 19, 1539, he married François de Foix-Candale from a younger line of the Grailly family . She is the daughter of Jean de Foix-Candale, Vicomte de Meille, and Anne de Villeneuve-Trans. His new wife was a member of the Reformed Church . This denomination led him to take part in the wars of religion that shook the Kingdom of France at that time.

From 1540 Claude de Savoie defended the Protestants and no longer obeyed the King of France. In 1545 he tried to avoid the massacres in Cabrières-d'Avignon , where the Waldensians sought refuge. Claude was involved in various wars and left the administration of his county to his wife Françoise, whose spiritual leader was Huguenot . From 1550 Protestant services were celebrated inside and outside the castle, while a former monk, Galaterio de Caraglio, appointed by the count and endowed with great persuasiveness, converted part of the population. In the 1560s, Claude intervened several times on behalf of the Protestants of Vence , asking the consuls to take two Protestants into their midst.

In 1562, Caterina de 'Medici sent Claude's son Honorat as lieutenant-général to Provence against the Protestants, although his father supported the Protestant party. In order to have his power confirmed, Honorat had to appear before the parliament in Aix-en-Provence , which, however, was occupied by the Protestants. Since Honorat had no army to fight the Protestants, he allied himself with Jean V. de Pontevès , Comte de Carcès, who enabled him to raise a force to conquer Aix. Then he managed to put together several Catholic companies. Claude de Savoie tried unsuccessfully on the Protestant side to occupy Pertuis , then withdrew to Sisteron while he asked François de Beaumont , Baron des Adrets, to support him. Before Honorat attacked his father, he decided to take Orange , which was also occupied by the Protestants. It rallied troops with the Count of Carcès, François de La Baume , Comte de Suze, and other Provencal lords, and received support from papal soldiers commanded by Fabrizio Serbelloni. The city was taken, looted and ravaged in 1562, and even the bishop's house was burned.

Honorat then turned against Sisteron. Claude de Savoie, who had retired to the Barcelonnette valley , returned to support the besieged city and forced his son to lift the siege. After Claude pursued him, he drove Honorat to flight but did not pursue him further, thus enabling Honorat to rejoin his troops. Honorat returned, besieged Sisteron, and captured it. Claude de Savoie now retired to Turin and left Provence to the Catholics.

In June 1562 his cousin, the Duke of Savoy, Emanuel-Philibert , vented his anger at Claude and his politics in a letter: “If the calamity of some has distracted you from the right path, I appeal to you and as a good relative and Friend to follow the right path and to take it up again. ”In 1563 Claude sent a petition to the Emanuel-Philibert to defend freedom of conscience or religion.

The tension between the two relatives did not prevent the Duke from placing Claude de Savoie and his male descendants in the line of succession to the throne of the Duchy of Savoie by patent letters from 1562 to 1563.

Death and succession

On July 27th 1563 he made his will in his castle in Villeneuve. He granted his wife usufructuary rights, and otherwise appointed his son Honoré de Savoie, comte de Tende, as heir.

Claude de Savoie died on April 23, 1566 in Cadarache Castle .

Marriage and offspring

Claude de Savoie married Marie de Chabannes († 1538), daughter of Jacques II. De Chabannes , Seigneur de La Palice, Marshal of France , and Marie de Melun by marriage contract on May 10, 1534 . Your children are:

• Renée († after 1575); ∞ Jacques d'Urfé († 1574), related to Anne d'Urfé and Honoré d'Urfé
• Henri (1537–1555)
• Honorat , Count of Tenda and Sommariva ; ∞ (1) 1558 Clarissa Strozzi († 1567), daughter of Piero Strozzi , Marshal of France , and Laudomia de 'Medici; ∞ (2) Madeleine de La Tour (* 1556), daughter of François III. de La Tour, Vicomte de Turenne, and Éléonore de Montmorency

On August 19, 1539, he married Françoise de Foix-Candale, daughter of Jean de Foix-Candale, Vicomte de Meille, and Anne de Villeneuve-Trans. Your children are:

• Anne † after 1584); ∞ (1) Giacomo di Saluzzo-Miolans, Signore de Cardè († 1569); ∞ (2) Antoine de Clermont, Seigneur d'Amboise, Marquis de Reynel († 1572); ∞ (3) Georges de Clermont, Marquis de Gallerande († 1586/94)
• René, baron de Cipières († 1568 without descendants)

In addition, Claude de Savoie had an illegitimate son from an unknown woman, Annibal, Seigneur de Pignans, father of Henri de Tende and grandfather of Gaspard de Tende.

literature

• Samuel Guichenon, Histoire généalogique de la Royale Maison de Savoie justifiée par titres, fondations de monastères, manuscrits, anciens monumens, histoires, et autres preuves authentiques , chez Jean-Michel Briolo, Volume 3, 1660, pp. 243–245
• Henri de Panisse-Passis, Les comtes de Tende de la maison de Savoie , Librairie Firmin-Didot et Cie, 1889, pp. 55-116
• Arturo Pascal, La Riforma nei dominî sabaudi delle Alpi Marittime occidentali , in: Bollettino storico-bibliografico subalpino , Turin, 1953, p. 11, quoted in: Myriam A. Orban, Des protestants dans la vallée de la Roya , ( online (12 March 2016) ), accessed February 15, 2017
• Detlev Schwennicke , European Family Tables , Volume 3.3, 1985, Plate 423b
• Hubert Wyrill, Réforme et Contre-Réforme en Savoie, 1536–1679: de Guillaume Farel à François de Sales , Éditions Olivetan, 2001, pp. 129–130, ISBN 978-2-90291-680-1
• Jean Duquesne, Dictionnaire des gouverneurs de province sous l'Ancien Régime (novembre 1315–20 février 1791) , Éditions Christian, Paris, 2002, ISBN 2864960990 , p. 186.