House of Valois

The House of Valois (French: Maison de Valois), was a branch of the Capetian dynasty that reigned in France between the years 1328 and 1589. This Reign is divided into three different periods based on the reign of the main branch (1328-1498) and two minor ones: the Valois-Orleans (1498-1515) and that of the Valois-Angoulême (1515-1589). After her disappearance she was succeeded to the French throne by the House of Bourbon. They also held the titles of dukes of Alençon, Anjou, Touraine, Burgundy, Brittany and Brabant, as well as the counties of Chartres, Perche, Blois, Nevers and Angoulême. The house of Valois was also reigning in the kingdom of Naples (1382-1442) and the Republic of the Two Nations (1573-1575).

History

The main branch

The house of Valois has its origin in the figure of Charles de Valois, son of the French monarch Philip III, therefore a member of the Capetian dynasty. In 1284 he was invested as count of Valois to which he added the titles of count of Anjou and Maine; from Alençon and Chartres. In 1301 through his second marriage to Catherine of Courtenay he obtained the appointment of Latin titular emperor.

The ascendancy of the Valois to the throne of France is due to the situation generated after the death of Charles IV of France, of the Capets, leaving no male heir although two daughters. However, the succession law of the kingdom prohibited women from reigning or transmitting the Crown as inheritance to their male children, so it fell to the closest male relative, that was Philip of Valois, son of Charles. Philip ascended the throne in 1328 with the name Philip VI.

This succession was contested by the English monarch Edward III (at the same time he was the most important feudal lord in France as Duke of Guyenne and Count of Ponthieu) who was the son of Isabella of France, daughter of Philip IV and sister of the deceased Charles IV. This dynastic conflict led to a confrontation between both crowns, the Hundred Years' War (1337-1453). The war was decided on the battlefield on the English side until the reign of Charles VII when the French Crown recovered the territories (except the place of Calais) and was able to reaffirm its right to the French throne.

During this period, the House of Valois was also enthroned in the Duchy of Burgundy. King John II of France invested his son Philip with the duchy in 1363, becoming the most important vassal of the French Crown. In the conflict, the Burgundian branch changed sides, thus, first on behalf of the French cause until 1404 when the disparity of interests between John of Burgundy and his cousin Louis of Valois, Duke of Orleans (brother of King Charles VI and nephew of Philip of Burgundy) led to a civil war between the Burgundians and the Armagnacs (1407-1435). As a consequence of this conflict, first Luis (1407) and then Juan (1419) were murdered. However, starting in 1435, both branches were reconciled in defending the cause of King Charles VII to expel the English.

With the Valois dynasty, during the reigns of Louis feudal institutions, represented by the nobility, that opposed the concentration of power in the hands of the king as happened in the Mad War (1485-1488). It is at this time that France also begins the process of territorial expansion beyond the traditional borders, especially in the Italian peninsula, facing the Crown of Aragon.

In 1498, the last member of the main branch, King Charles VIII, died without male heirs, so the crown went to Louis II of Orleans, a close relative of the deceased king.

The Valois-Orleans branch

This minor branch, like that of Valois-Angoulême, was descended from Louis of Valois, killed in 1407 in the civil war among the French nobility. Only two of his children survived to adulthood, Charles of Orleans and John of Orleans. The eldest, Charles of Orleans was invested as Duke of Orleans and actively participated in the military campaigns of the Hundred Years' War until his capture in 1415 after the Battle of Azincourt. With his death in 1465 he was succeeded in the dukedom by his son Louis II of Orleans, who, after the death of Charles VIII, became king under the name Louis XII of France . Louis XII continued the process of concentrating power in the hands of the Crown, and also maintained the military and political intervention in Italy inherited from his predecessor.

Also lacking male offspring, the king, who had fallen ill in 1499, called young Francis, son of his cousin Charles of Orleans, Count of Angoulême, to court, since he was his only living male relative in at that time and whom he named Duke of Valois. To strengthen the figure of his successor, he promised his daughter Claudia of France to Francis, thus guaranteeing that the French Crown would continue in the Valois house. This union contravened what was signed in 1504 in the Treaty of Blois, where Louis XII had betrothed his daughter to Charles of Habsburg, son of Philip the Fair, Duke of Burgundy. In 1515 the French crown passed to Francis, who a year earlier had married the king's daughter.

The Valois-(Orleans)-Angoulême branch

As previously mentioned, this house has as its ancestor Louis de Valois and his second son, Jean d'Orléans, who held the title of Count of Angoulême. Like his brother, he was taken prisoner by the English during the war (1412) and was not released until 1444. From his marriage to Margaret of Rohan, only one son survived to adulthood, Charles of Orleans.. He acceded to the county of Angoulême in 1467 and from his marriage to Louise of Savoy two children were born:

• Margarita de Angulema (1492-1549) who will become a maternal grandmother of the future Enrique IV of the house of Bourbon.
• Francis of Anguloma (1494-1547) future king of France after the death of Louis XII.

Already on the throne, one of Francis I's achievements was to strengthen royal power, culminating the process that his predecessors had started: Louis XI, Charles VIII and Louis XII. His reign was characterized by the state of war with the Hispanic Monarchy under the leadership of Charles I, who was his wife's fiance, in the so-called Italian Wars. Despite the defeat in the Italian area, Francis was able to maintain control of French Burgundy and open the door to French expansion to the Rhine, culminating in King Louis XIV in the 19th century. caps;text-transform:lowercase">XVII. His son Enrique maintained the conflict with Spain, now under the reign of Philip II, until his defeat in the battles of San Quentin (1557) and Gravelines (1558). The Peace of Cateau-Cambrésis (1559) confirmed Hispanic hegemony in Europe but France was able to recover Calais, the last English place on French soil.

The last period of the Valois dynasty on the French throne is marked by internal crisis and tensions between Catholics and French Calvinists or Huguenots. Henry II of France had married Catherine de' Medici in 1533 and they had several sons who succeeded the throne: Francis II (1559-1560), Charles IX (1560-1574) and Henry III (1574-1589). After the death of the king, Catherine became the true leader of the destinies of France. It is during this time that the religious conflict within France became the Wars of Religion (1562-1598), a three-way confrontation between the powerful Catholic family of the Guises, with Spanish support, the French Crown (under the sons Henry II) and the Huguets led by Henry of Navarre. The war was favorable to the Crown until the reign of Henry III when Catherine lost all influence over her son. In an attempt to achieve peace the king had signed the Edict of Beaulieu in 1576 by which he made numerous concessions to the Huguenots. But this provoked a protest from the members of the powerful Catholic League, led by Henry of Guise, so the king annulled the edict, at the same time leading to a confrontation between the Guises and the Crown.

The situation of the Valois turned against each other in 1584 when the king's young brother, Francis of Anjou, died. The heirless king decided to name Henry of Navarre, leader of the Huguenots, as heir to the throne. The protests of the Catholic League, within the framework of the tense relations at that time between Catholics and Protestants in the rest of Europe, caused a Catholic uprising in Paris that forced the king to flee the capital (1588). Henry then convened the States General at Blois confirming his policy against Protestantism, but he plotted to remove the Guises from power by ordering the assassination of the powerful Henry of Guise. In 1589 Henry III reconciled with Henry of Navarre, confirming his succession, and together they undertook the siege of Paris. However, a Dominican friar member of the League, Jacques Clément, stabbed the king, causing him to die. Henry of Navarre became king in 1589, giving rise to the Bourbon dynasty (he converted to Catholicism in 1593).

With the death of Henry III the Valois dynasty came to an end.

Other minor branches

One of the most important minor branches outside the French throne was the house of Valois-Burgundy. This house was founded when King John II granted the duchy of Burgundy to his second son, Philip the Bold, who became one of the most important vassals of the king of France. However, the Burgundian state followed its own interests as demonstrated by its alliance with England during the Hundred Years' War. Although reconciliation with the French crown occurred in 1435, Burgundy distanced itself from the political needs of France and became a rival. The power of the Duchy of Burgundy reached its peak under the reign of Charles the Bold (1467-1477), but it disappeared under the skillful political coups of the King of France, Louis XI. His death in 1477 meant the end of the Burgundian dream of resurrecting ancient Lotharingia. In 1482 the last ruler of the Valois branch, Mary of Burgundy, died, passing the territories to Philip of Habsburg and his successors of the Hispanic Monarchy.

The House of Valois-Anjou was founded in 1360 when another son of King John II, Louis I of Anjou, was invested with the Duchy of Anjou. This house He focused his efforts on acquiring the crown of Naples after the death of Queen Joan (1382). Queen Joan had adopted him to succeed her, as she had no children and she did not wish to leave her inheritance to any of her close relatives, whom she considered her enemies. He was also able to succeed her as count of Provence and Forcalquier. Despite his coronation in Avignon as king of Naples by antipope Clement VII, Louis was forced to remain in France and Joan's troops were defeated by Charles of Durazzo, Queen Joan's relative as members of the Angevin dynasty.. Louis's successors, Louis II and Louis III, were elected titular kings of Naples but were unable to seize the kingdom. The situation changed in 1435 when René of Anjou was able to seize the Neapolitan throne. However, the Aragonese offensive expelled him from the throne in 1442. Despite losing the crown, the house of Valois-Anjou retained the duchy of Lorraine until 1483 when it became extinct.

The House of Valois-Alençon is perhaps the least powerful but its members included important warriors in the Hundred Years' War such as Charles II of Alençon (who died in the Battle of Crecy in 1346). or John I of Alençon (died in the battle of Agincourt in 1415). It was founded in 1291 when Charles of Valois received the title from his father, King Philip III. He was succeeded by his son Charles II of Alençon and his descendants until his extinction in 1525.

Relationship with the House of Bourbon

When the house of Valois became extinct in 1589 it was succeeded by the house of Bourbon. This dynasty, descended from the Capets through Robert of Clermont, son of Louis IX of France (1226-1270), but was also related to the Valois, specifically with the Valois-Angoulême and the Valois-Alençon on the mother's side. King Henry IV of France (III of Navarre), first monarch of the Bourbon dynasty in France, was descended from both branches: on his paternal side, his father Antonio de Borbón was the son of Francisca de Alenzón (daughter of Renato de Alenzón, Duke of Alenzón) and Carlos de Borbón. On the maternal side, his mother Juana de Albret was the daughter of Margaret of Angoulême (sister of King Francis I of France) and Henry II of Navarre.

Members of the House of Valois

This list includes the most prominent members of the House of Valois

Kings of France

Dinastía de los Valois
Carlos de Valois (1270-1325) Count of Valois
Felipe VI de Valois (1293-1350) King of France (1328-1350)
John II the Good (1319-1364) King of France (1350-1364)
Carlos V el Sabio (1338-1380) King of France (1364-1380)
Carlos VI the Crazy (1368-1422) King of France (1380-1422)	Luis de Valois (1372-1407) Duke of Orleans
Carlos VII the Victorious (1403-1461) King of France (1422-1461)	Rama de Valois-Orleans	Branch of Valois-Angulema
	Carlos I de Orleans (1394-1465) Duke of Orleans	Juan de Orleans (1399-1467) Count of Angulema
Louis XI the Prudente (1423-1483) King of France (1461-1483)
Carlos VIII the Afable (1470-1498) King of France (1483-1498)	Louis XII the Father of his people (1462-1515) King of France (1498-1515)	Carlos de Orleans (1459-1496) Count of Angulema
extinct branch	extinct branch	Francisco I (1494-1547) King of France (1515-1547)
		Henry II (1519-1559) King of France (1547-1559)
		Francis II (1544-1560) King of France (1559-1560)	Carlos IX (1550-1574) King of France (1560-1574)	Henry III (1551-1589) King of France (1574-1589)
		extinct branch

Other titles and family branches