Historical Figures

Claudius of France (1499 - 1524)

Daughter of King Louis XII and Duchess Anne of Brittany, she cannot as a daughter succeed her father on the throne of France. Heiress of Brittany, she is engaged to the Archduke Charles of Austria (the future Charles Quint). In 1505, wanting to avoid the encirclement of the kingdom and the loss of Brittany, Louis XII very ill had this engagement canceled by the States General, in favor of the young count of Angoulême, the future François Ier. Claude therefore marries Count François d'Angoulême, future François I of France, of whom she is the first wife. The Reine-Claude plum tree breed owes its name to him.