Louise of Savoy

Louise was widowed young after her marriage to Charles of Angoulême and devoted herself to advancing her children, Francis and Marguerite. Louise of Savoy served as Regent of France and Duchess of Angoulême.

When Francis became king in 1515, she remained a major political adviser and served as regent during his campaigns and captivity. Her diplomacy culminated in the 1529 Peace of Cambrai negotiated with Margaret of Austria.

In Sarah Gristwood’s Game of Queens, beginning with Isabella of Castile and Anne de Beaujeu, Sarah Gristwood traces networks of mothers, daughters, regents and mentors through Margaret of Austria, Louise of Savoy, Catherine of Aragon, Anne Boleyn, Catherine de’ Medici, Mary I, Elizabeth I, Jeanne d’Albret and Mary, Queen of Scots. In Keira Morgan’s The Importance of Pawns, after Anne of Brittany’s death, her daughters Claude and Renée become valuable pieces in the politics of France and Brittany. Claude inherits her mother’s duchy but faces pressure from Louise of Savoy, while Renée’s future and inheritance depend on decisions made by the adults who control the royal household. Louise of Savoy is treated fictionally in Rozsa Gaston’s The Queen’s Maid, Rozsa Gaston’s Marguerite and Gaston, and Keira Morgan’s The Importance of Sons.