Florimond I. Robertet

Florimond I. Robertet (born February 11, 1459 in Montbrison (Loire) , † August 10, 1527 in Blois ) is the best-known member of the Robertet family , whose brilliant career and lavish existence shaped the image of the Renaissance in France.

Life

Florimond Robertet is the third son of Jean Robertet, Notaire et Secrétaire de la Chambre du Roi since 1470 , and Madeleine Bohier. He is the first minister from the Robertet family, who from Charles VIII to Henry III. helped shape French politics. He was at the time of King Louis XI. born. He received a brilliant education, studied humanities ( humanités ) in Lyon and law in Orléans , traveled extensively, spoke four languages ​​fluently and worked extremely hard. His father introduced him to the intelligent, active and strongly Italianized world, which revolved around the Dukes of Bourbon and, through them, the kings of France.

He was counselor at the Court of Auditors ( Cour des Comptes ) of the County of Forez in Montbrison until Pierre II. De Bourbon , Count of Forez and husband of Anne de Beaujeu , handed him over to Charles VIII, his young brother-in-law, the Florimond Robertet as treasurer de France and Secrétaire des Finances . These finance secretaries followed from 1343, from Philip VI. , the high officials who Philip IV had appointed as secret scribe in 1309, the first secretary of state ( Secrétaires d'État ) of France. It was Florimond Robertet who, according to President Hénault's report , began to give all his brilliance and authority to his position as Secretary of the Treasury.

In the 17th century , when Antoine Fauvelet du Toc wrote his Histoire des secrétaires d'Estat , recognized Florimond Robertet as the "father of the Secrétaires d'Estat". He justifies the designation as follows: "... in fact it was he who began to give his position the degree of height and power in which it finally established itself"

The reports paint a flattering portrait of him: "the good Florimond", enlightened advisor to the kings, the treasurer of France with integrity, the indispensable ambassador, who as administrator "as famous in his time as Sully in his". His ambition was extreme and he was certainly one of the king's bankers whom he could not do without speaking to him. However, it took real courage, as the fates of Jacques Cœur and Jacques de Beaune (Semblançay) show.

His qualities as an administrator were quickly noticed, so when Charles VIII went to war in Italy in 1494, he gave him great responsibility. In fact, he was responsible for drafting very important documents, be it on the surrender of Naples or on the negotiations with Pope Alexander VI. He was soon counted among the king's officers, then among the secretaries of the Chamber, and in 1495 he became Trésorier de France . On March 9, 1495 he was knighted in the Ordre de Saint-Michel and appointed scribe ( greffier ) of the order. His influence had become decisive, as the letter that Anne de Beaujeu wrote “on the 11th day of December to the chamberlain Robertet” from Chantelle , asking for his help with the king.

He took part in the talks following the Italian campaign, then went on several trips and then turned to diplomacy. Louis XII. entrusted him with a number of missions, which he carried out excellently and which, according to diplomatic correspondence, brought him a lot of money and even more gifts. The most notable of these is the bronze David, commissioned from Michelangelo by the Republic of Florence in 1502 and given to Florimond Robertet in 1508. He installed it in his Bury Castle in Molineuf .

His office as secretary and treasurer of the king usually kept him at court, where his importance steadily increased. He advised certain financial measures which proved successful (he succeeded in cutting taxes in half) and in 1505 became a member of the Regency Council among the highest dignitaries of the kingdom.

At this time he began building a stately residence in Blois, the Hôtel d'Alluye, which has all the grace of the French Renaissance . He then acquired the barony of Brou (in the province of Perche-Gouët ), then that of Bury-en-Blésois and finally in 1507 Villemomble from Aymar de Prie , Count of Dammartin . In Bury, with an Italian architect, he began building a castle so characteristic of the time that it can only be compared to Chambord Castle (there is reason to believe that he was Leonardo da Vinci , who lived in nearby Amboise lived, consulted). It was more of a mansion than a fortress, one of the first pleasure palaces on the banks of the Loire. 1518 replaced Florimond Robertet to the old baronial mansion in Villemomble near Paris by a Renaissance castle, which was large enough Francis I to house.

Château de Bury

Franz's accession to the throne led to the peak of his career, he played an important role in the initiation of his marriage to Claude de France , the daughter of Louis XII. As a reward for his services, Francis I appointed him Baron d' Alluye and gave him the capital necessary to complete the construction of Bury. He took part in the Italian Wars , the king's audiences in the Marignano camp, and the talks with Bologna .

Exhausted from the strains of this eventful life, he fell ill and resigned part of his functions in favor of his son François, the king's godson.

But the defeat of Pavia in 1525 with the subsequent obligations of the reign brought him additional work: he worked with the queen mother Luise of Savoy to collect the ransom for the king. He also studied with her the letter that - confiscated by a courier - proved the betrayal of Connétable Charles de Bourbon , and contributed significantly to the subsequent peace agreement.

He died in November 1527 and Francis I had a splendid funeral organized according to the fashion of the time. The laudation was given by his friend Laurent II. Alleman, Bishop of Grenoble , in the presence of the King and Queen . The body was then brought to Blois on a chariot , "preceded by a hundred burning torches with the deceased's weapons". The burial took place in the Chapelle d'Alluye in the Saint-Honoré church in Blois. Clément Marot wrote a lament for the dead in 400 verses for him , which is one of the most instructive and important poems from his pen.

The inventory of his property was made in Bury in 1532 by his widow Michelle Gaillard de Longjumeau; the list contains countless gifts, jewelry and works of art that were presented to him on the occasion of his various missions. Among other things, there was a “pharmacy with powders, medicines, ingredients, manna, canned food, syrups and rare essences, which Florimond's foresight and charity had brought in from all sides, both from cold and hot countries. This pharmacy was inspected by Monsieur de Rabelais , the famous medic, who was awestruck by everything he saw. ”There was also“ a skeleton labeled with ciphered parchment notes showing the names of each bone that the human body has. ”Here one finds the testimony of the universal curiosity of the men of the Renaissance, open to all civilizations and cultures under the influence of their studies, trips and experiences.

family

Florimond Robertet and Michelle Gaillard de Longjumeau (around 1488-1549) married on October 3, 1504 in Amboise . The daughter of the Trésorier des finances Michel I. Gaillard de Longjumeau, who was significantly younger than him, is the mother of his eight children, six of whom grew up:

• Claude Robertet (1505–1567), Baron d'Alluyes et du Bury, Trésorier-Général de France; ⚭ 1531 Anne Briçonnet, daughter of François Briçonnet and Anne de La Croix
• François Robertet de Brou († 1588?), Seigneur de Brou, Secrétaire des Finances du Roi; ⚭ 1530 Jacqueline Hurault, daughter of Jean Hurault, Seigneur du Wal, and Jeanne Poncher
• Anne Robertet (1515 – after 1585); ⚭ (1) Claude d'Estampes († 1528), Seigneur des Roches, son of Jean d'Estampes and Madeleine Husson; ⚭ (2) 1533 Claude de La Châtre († 1558) - parents of Claude de La Châtre († 1614), Marshal of France
• Claude Robertet († 1556); ⚭ Claude Le Breton († 1556) Seigneur de Villandry, son of Jean Le Breton and Anne Gédouin
• Louise Robertet (around 1520 – after 1589); ⚭ 1540 François II du Fou, (1500 / 12–1577 / 81), Baron de Vigeant, son of François de Fou and Louise de Polignac
• Françoise Robertet (1519–1580) Dame d'Alluyes; ⚭ (1) 1539 Jean Babou de La Bourdaisière (1511–1569), Comte de Sagonne, Grand Master of the Artillery of France ; ⚭ (2) Jean VI. d'Aumont (1529–1595), Comte de Châteauroux, Marshal of France

literature

• Antoine Fauvelet du Toc, Histoire des secretaires d'estat, contenant l'origine, le progrès, et l'etablissement de levrs charges, auec les eloges, les armes, blasons, & genealogies de tous ceux qui les ont possedées jusqu'à present , Paris, C. de Sercy, 1668
• Claude Albert Mayer , Dana Bentley-Cranch, Florimond Robertet (? –1527) homme d'état français , Ètudes et essais sur la Renaissance, No. 34, Classiques Garnier, 1994

Web link

• Etienne Pattou, Famille Robertet ( online, accessed July 10, 2019 )

Remarks

1. ↑ Fauvelet du Toc
2. ↑ "... puis qu'en effet, c'est luy qui commença à thunder à ses emplois le degré d'élévation et de pouvoir dans lequel ils se sont enfin établis".
3. ↑ "Je vous prie, Monseigneur le Trésorier, que, de votre part, m'y veuillez être aidant mondit seigneur, et je m'en tiendrais bien tenue à vous, avec autres plaisirs que m'avez toujours faitz, et à Dieu, Monseigneur le Trésorier, que vous donne ce que vous désirez. "
4. ↑ Mennecy et son histoire, ( online, accessed July 10, 2019 )