One would generally think the Queen of Poland would be….well….Polish. In this case, she was not. Bona Sforza, as her name would indicate, was Italian. However, as the wife of King Sigismund I she exercised great power over the country. A member of the powerful Sforza family of Milan, Bona was born on February 2, […]
Tag: Renaissance
Louise of Savoy- The King’s Mother Part II
As we discussed in Part I, Louise of Savoy was a huge influence on her son and instrumental in bringing him to the throne of France. (Please see here for this post: http://www.historynaked.com/louise-savoy-kings-mother-part/ ). So in 1515, Francis ascended the throne of France, but he went off to enjoy the pleasures of being king and […]
Louise of Savoy- The King’s Mother Part I
The royal line of France is somewhat of a tangle because of their insistence on Salic Law, which said the crown could not be claimed through the line of female descent. (For more on why this was enforced, see this post: http://www.historynaked.com/tour-de-nesle-affair-medieval-soap-opera/ ) This did not stop French history from being full of powerful and […]
Diane de Poitiers
Diane de Poitiers, noblewoman and infamous mistress of King Henri II of France, was born on 2 September in 1499. Diane de Poitiers was born to Jean de Poitiers, Seigneur de Saint Vallier and Jeanne de Batarnay at the Château de Saint-Vallier in the province of the Dauphine. As a young woman, she was educated […]
Agnes Sorel- First “Official Mistress”
Men have had mistresses since the beginning of time. However, Agnes Sorel was the first one to parlay that into a position. She was the acknowledged mistress of the French king, the first woman to hold that semi-official position which was to be of so great importance in the subsequent history of the old regime. […]