Antoine of Navarre

Antoine (in English, Anthony; 22 April 1518 – 17 November 1562) was the King of Navarre through his marriage (jure uxoris) to Queen Jeanne III, from 1555 until his death. He was the first monarch of the House of Bourbon, of which he was head from 1537. He was the father of Henry IV of France.

Family

He was born at La Fère, Picardy, France, the second son of Charles de Bourbon, Duke of Vendôme (1489–1537), and his wife, Françoise d'Alençon (died 1550). He was the older brother of Louis, Prince of Condé (1530–1569).

Marriage

On 20 October 1548, at Moulins, he married Jeanne d'Albret, the daughter of Henry II of Navarre and his wife Margaret of Angoulême. After his father-in-law's death, he became King of Navarre, Count of Foix, of Bigorre, of Armagnac, of Périgord, and Viscount of Béarn. It was reported that Jeanne was much in love with him, but his subsequent actions show that he had little loyalty to her. The southern territory of the Kingdom of Navarre had been occupied by the Spanish since 1512, and Antoine tried to re-establish it. He was ready to sacrifice anything to his political interests.

Religion
Antoine appears not to have had real religious conviction and officially changed religions several times. His reconversion to Catholicism separated him from his wife and he threatened to repudiate her. He had an affair with Louise de La Béraudière de l'Isle Rouhet, "la belle Rouet," with whom he had a son, Charles III de Bourbon (1554–1610) who became archbishop of Rouen.

Although his brother Louis was the head of the Protestant faction, and his wife Jeanne III was likewise a convert to Calvinism who established Calvinism as the official religion of Navarre, Antoine spent most of his life fighting for the most staunchly Catholic King of France. Catherine de' Medici, regent for her son Charles IX, named him lieutenant general of the kingdom in 1561. When his wife allowed the Huguenots to sack the chapel of Vendôme and the churches of the town in 1562, he threatened to send her to a convent. She took refuge in Béarn.

Character

Antoine was vain and unstable. He often disappointed his followers and was manipulated by his superiors and out-witted by his adversaries.

Death

He laid siege to Rouen and was mortally wounded on 13 November 1562. He died at Les Andelys, Eure.

Children
With his wife, Jeanne III of Navarre, he had the following children:

 Henry (1551–1553), Duke of Beaumont
 Henry IV of France (1553–1610)
 Louis (1555–1557), Count of Marle
 Madeleine (1556)
 Catherine (1559–1604). Married Henry II, Duke of Lorraine in 1599.

With his mistress, Louise de La Béraudière de l'Isle Rouhet, King Anthony had a son named Charles. Charles was Archbishop of Rouen from 1554 until 1610.

Ancestors

Patrilineal descent

Antoine's patriline is the line from which he is descended father to son.

Patrilineal descent is the principle behind membership in royal houses, as it can be traced back through the generations - which means that if King Antoine were to choose an historically accurate house name it would be Robertian, as all his male-line ancestors have been of that house.

Antoine is a member of the House of Bourbon, a branch of the Capetian dynasty and of the Robertians.

Antoine's patriline is the line from which he is descended father to son. It follows the Bourbon-Vendôme, the Kings of France, and the Counts of Paris and Worms. This line can be traced more than 1,200 years from Robert of Hesbaye to the present day, through Kings of France & Navarre, Spain and Two-Sicilies, Dukes of Parma and Grand-Dukes of Luxembourg, Princes of Orléans and Emperors of Brazil. It is one of the oldest in Europe.

 Robert II of Worms and Rheingau (Robert of Hesbaye), 770–807
 Robert III of Worms and Rheingau, 808–834
 Robert IV the Strong, 820–866
 Robert I of France, 866–923
 Hugh the Great, 895–956
 Hugh Capet, 941–996
 Robert II of France, 972–1031
 Henry I of France, 1008–1060
 Philip I of France, 1053–1108
 Louis VI of France, 1081–1137
 Louis VII of France, 1120–1180
 Philip II of France, 1165–1223
 Louis VIII of France, 1187–1226
 Louis IX of France, 1215–1270
 Robert, Count of Clermont, 1256–1317
 Louis I, Duke of Bourbon, 1279–1342
 James I, Count of La Marche, 1319–1362
 John I, Count of La Marche, 1344–1393
 Louis, Count of Vendôme, 1376–1446
 Jean VIII, Count of Vendôme, 1428–1478
 François, Count of Vendôme, 1470–1495
 Charles de Bourbon, Duke of Vendôme, 1489–1537
 Antoine, King of Navarre, Duke of Vendôme, 1518–1562

Notes

References
 Achaintre, Nicolas Louis, Histoire généalogique et chronologique de la maison royale de Bourbon, Vol. 2, Publisher Mansut Fils, 4 Rue de l'École de Médecine, Paris, 1825.
 Bergin, Joseph, The making of the French episcopate, 1589–1661, St. Edmundsbury Press Ltd., 1996.
 Bryson, David, Queen Jeanne and the Promised Land, Koninklijke Brill NV:Leiden, 1999.
 Dupuy, Trevor, Curt Johnson and David L. Bongard, The Harper Encyclopedia of Military Biography, Castle Books: Edison, 1992.
 Duruy, Victor, John Franklin Jameson and Mabell Shippie Clarke Smith, A history of France, Thomas Y. Crowell Co.:New York, 1920.
 Dussieux, Louis, Généalogie de la maison de Bourbon: de 1256 à 1871, Lecoffre Et Fils, 1872.
 Holt, Mack P., The French wars of religion, 1562–1629, Cambridge University Press: New York, 2005.

External links

 

Category:1518 births
Category:1562 deaths
Category:Converts to Roman Catholicism
Category:People from La Fère
Category:Navarrese monarchs
Category:House of Bourbon-La Marche
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Category:Jure uxoris kings
Category:16th-century peers of France
Category:16th-century people from the Kingdom of Navarre