ever exerted a like influence or
exhibited an equal power of initiation and self-assertion.
The first royal woman to become a power in politics in the period that
we are considering was Louise of Savoy, mother of Francis I., a type of
the voluptuous and licentious female of the sixteenth century. Her
pernicious activity first manifested itself when, having conceived a
violent passion for Charles of Bourbon, she set her heart upon marrying
him, and commenced intrigues and plots which were all the more
dangerous because of her almost absolute control over her son, the
King.
At this time there were three distinct sets or social castes at the court of
France: the pious and virtuous band about the good Queen Claude; the
lettered and elegant belles in the coterie of Marguerite d'Angoulême,
sister of Francis I.; and the wanton and libertine young maids who
formed a galaxy of youth and beauty about Louise of Savoy, and were
by her used to fascinate her son and thus distract him from affairs of
state.
Louise used all means to bring before the king beautiful women
through whom she planned to preserve her influence over him. One of
these frail beauties, Françoise de Foix, completely won the heart of the
monarch; her ascendency over him continued for a long period, in spite
of the machinations of Louise, who, when Francis escaped her control,
sought to bring disrepute and discredit upon the fair mistress.
The mother, however, remained the powerful factor in politics. With an
abnormal desire to hoard money, an unbridled temper, and a violent
and domineering disposition, she became the most powerful and
dangerous, as well as the most feared, woman of all France. During her
regency the state coffers were pillaged, and plundering was carried on
on all sides. One of her acts at this time was to cause the recall of
Charles of Bourbon, then Governor of Milan; this measure was taken as
much for the purpose of obtaining revenge for his scornful rejection of
her offer of marriage as for the hope of eventually bringing him to her
side.
Upon the return of Charles, she immediately began plotting against him,
including in her hatred Françoise de Foix, the king's mistress, at whom
Bourbon frequently cast looks of pity which the furiously jealous
Louise interpreted as glances of love. As a matter of fact, Bourbon,
being strictly virtuous, was out of reach of temptation by the beauties
of the court, and there were no grounds for jealousy.
This love of Louise for Charles of Bourbon is said to have owed most
of its ardor to her hope of coming into possession of his immense
estates. She schemed to have his title to them disputed, hoping that, by
a decree of Parliament, they might be taken from him; the idea in this
procedure was that Bourbon, deprived of his possessions, must come to
her terms, and she would thus satisfy--at one and the same time--her
passion and her cupidity.
Under her influence the character of the court changed entirely;
retaining only a semblance of its former decency, it became utterly
corrupt. It possessed external elegance and _distingué_ manners, but
below this veneer lay intrigue, debauchery, and gross immorality. In
order to meet the vast expenditures of the king and the queen-mother,
the taxes were enormously increased; the people, weighed down by the
unjust assessment and by want, began to clamor and protest.
Undismayed by famine, poverty, and epidemic, Louise continued her
depredations on the public treasury, encouraging the king in his
squanderings; and both mother and son, in order to procure money,
begged, borrowed, plundered.
Louise was always surrounded by a bevy of young ladies, selected
beauties of the court, whose natural charms were greatly enhanced by
the lavishness of their attire. Always ready to further the plans of their
mistress, they hesitated not to sacrifice reputation or honor to gratify
her smallest whim. Her power was so generally recognized that foreign
ambassadors, in the absence of the king, called her "that other king."
When war against France broke out between Spain and England,
Louise succeeded in gaining the office of constable for the Duc
d'Alençon; by this means, she intended to displace Charles of Bourbon
(whom she was still persecuting because he continued cold to her
advances), and to humiliate him in the presence of his army; the latter
design, however, was thwarted, as he did not complain.
To the caprice of Louise of Savoy were due the disasters and defeats of
the French army during the period of her power; by frequently
displacing someone whose actions did not coincide with her plans, and
elevating some favorite who had avowed his willingness to serve her,
she kept military affairs in a state of confusion.
Many wanton acts are attributed to her:
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