Antoine of Navarre

Antoine
King of Navarre
Reign	25 May 1555 – 17 November 1562
Predecessor	Henry II
Successor	Jeanne III
Co-monarch	Jeanne III
Born	22 April 1518 La Fère, Picardy, France
Died	17 November 1562 (aged 44) Les Andelys, Eure
Burial	Vendôme
Spouse	Jeanne III, Queen of Navarre
Issue	Henry IV, King of France Catherine, Hereditary Princess of Lorraine
House	House of Bourbon
Father	Charles, Duke of Vendôme
Mother	Françoise of Alençon

Coat of Arms of Antoine de Bourbon and the Kings 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 of Alençon (died 1550). He was the older brother of Louis I de Bourbon, Prince de Condé.

Marriage

Portrait by Corneille de Lyon (1548). Royal Castle, Warsaw

On 20 October 1548, at Moulins, he married Jeanne III, Queen regnant of Navarre, daughter of Henry II of Navarre and his wife Margaret of Angoulême. By his marriage, 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, Antoine spent most of his life fighting for the 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.

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

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

Issue

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

• 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

Family of Antoine of Navarre

16. Louis, Count of Vendôme               8. John VIII, Count of Vendôme                       17. Jeanne de Laval               4. François, Count of Vendôme                             18. Louis de Beauvau, Seneschal of Anjou               9. Isabelle de Beauvau                       19. Marguerite de Chambley               2. Charles de Bourbon, Duke of Vendôme                                   20. Louis, Count of Saint-Pol               10. Peter II, Count of Saint-Pol                       21. Jeanne de Bar               5. Marie de Luxembourg                             22. Louis, Duke of Savoy               11. Margaret of Savoy                       23. Anne of Cyprus               1. Antoine of Navarre                                         24. John I of Alençon               12. John II of Alençon                       25. Marie of Brittany               6. René of Alençon                             26. Jean IV d'Armagnac               13. Marie of Armagnac                       27. Isabella de Navarre               3. Françoise d'Alençon                                   28. Antoine of Vaudémont               14. Frederick II of Vaudémont                       29. Marie d'Harcourt               7. Margaret of Lorraine                             30. René of Anjou               15. Yolande, Duchess of Lorraine                       31. Isabella, Duchess of Lorraine

Patrilineal descent

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 back 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

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.

Antoine of Navarre House of Bourbon Cadet branch of the Capetian dynasty Born: 22 April 1518 Died: 17 November 1562
Navarrese royalty
Preceded by Henry II	King of Navarre 25 May 1555 – 17 November 1562 with Joan III	Succeeded by Joan III
French nobility
Preceded by Charles de Bourbon	Duke of Vendôme 1537 – 17 November 1562	Succeeded by Henry IV of France