The death of the last independent duchess of Brittany
Exactly 500 years ago, in the majestic castle of Blois in the kingdom of France, Clàudia de Bretanya, the last independent duchess of Brittany, died. With her death, she left the title to her son Francesc de Ella, although he never ruled the duchy.
An inheritance without government
In 1524, when Clàudia died, her son Francesc (born 1518) was only fourteen years old. From the death of his mother until his proclamation in 1532, the duchy was under the regency of his father, King Francesc I of France.
Soon after his proclamation, the king accused his son of lacking interest in governing the duchy, confiscated his inheritance and added Brittany to the patrimony of the French crown, thus preventing Francesc from fulfilling his mother’s testamentary wishes.
The conflict between father and son
Francesc I’s actions were intended to plunge Brittany into disorder and justify military intervention and annexation of the territory. In addition, Francesc also had to face opposition from the representative groups of Breton society, who did not accept him due to his status as Dauphin of France.
The broken promise
Clàudia de Bretanya had married Francesc de Francia in 1515 to remove the British threat from the Breton coasts. It had been agreed that the couple’s second son would be the future duke, seeking to avoid the union of the two states. However, the strength of the French monarchy prevailed over the weakness of the Breton establishments.
The tragic outcome of Francesc
After pressure and threats, Francesc I managed to proclaim his first-born son as duke in Rennes. However, the young Francesc de Bretanya would die prematurely at the age of eighteen in 1536, officially due to tuberculosis.
There are theories about Francesc’s death. King Francesc I maintained that his son had been poisoned by a henchman in the service of Carles de Gant, king of the Hispanic monarchy. On the other hand, the Breton establishment claimed that Francesc had succumbed after an intense night of passion with the courtesan Mademoiselle de l’Estrange.
With the death of Francesc, the independent duchy of Brittany was definitively incorporated into France, thus marking the end of an era.