Francis I

by Robert J. Knecht

The name of Francis I and his emblem, the salamander, are familiar to the many thousands of tourists who visit the chateaux of the Loire each year. But what sort of monarch was he? Whereas in his own day he was acclaimed as 'the great king Francis', in more recent times he has generally been taken less seriously than his exact contemporaries Henry VIII of England and the Emperor Charles V. Yet his reign was no less important than theirs. It witnessed and promoted fundamental changes in France's political structure, economy, society, religion and cultural life. The king's obsession with war stimulated constitutional change. By entailing expenditures far in excess of the crown's traditional resources, it obliged him to tap new sources of wealth, to reorganise the fiscal system and to promote administrative centralisation. Economically, Francis' reign saw the completion of the recovery that had followed the Hundred Years' War. While the land was reclaimed, the population grew, town life flourished and trade expanded.

Genres: History

516 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1982

About the author

Robert Jean Knecht was Emeritus Professor of French History at the University of Birmingham, where he has taught since 1956. A fellow of the Royal Historical Society and a member of the Société de l'Histoire de France, Professor Knecht was Reviews Editor of the journal French History and was a member of its editorial board. He was also Chairman of the Society for Renaissance Studies and Chairman of the Society for French History. He was also a member of the Advisory Board of the Centre for the Study of the Renaissance at the University of Warwick. He has also published extensively in the field of French history, his principal work being on the reign of Francis I.

Reviews

[Andrew Dockrill · Rating 4 out of 5]

Having been trying to get my hands on an english book on the french king as my french is not quite at the level it needs to be to read the french biography of Francois I yet (which I own) this certainly wet my apetite. I managed to find this gem while doing some major digging on the wikipedia on the references. I decided that this book had to be mine as ever since the Tudors I have been dying to learn about Francois I to see what was true and what was not and if he was well portrayed.

This book is very accessible and a very easy read. It covers from Francois I birth in 1494 in Cognac and taking the crown after Louis XII dies and how he became known as the "father of letters" and the "knight king". It examines every facet of Francois reign and his personality from his battles with Charles V and his tug of war over Milan as he tried to make it his lifes purpose to regain the land in Italy that he believed belonged to the kings of France. As a general he was not terribly good although he did succeed in Marignano he would fail at Pavia which would lead to his defeat and imprisonment - which is generous to call it imprisonment as he was treated like a king during captivity. I found this point in history in which Henry VIII and Francois and Charles V lived to be full of intrigue politically and alot of change of hand happening arguably more at this period then in other previous periods in history, especially prior to 15th century.

I found it quite interesting to learn that although he was a very knowledgable and well educated and exceedingly literate king he was a very shy person in general. If you wanted to speak to the king then you would often have to take the first step in conversation otherwise it may not take place, but once you did he could engage you as well if not better then many others in the kingdom.

I also find it quite interesting to the extent he was willing to obtain Milan and other city states in what would become known as Italy. At this time the Turks were making their way West after taking Constantinople and turning into what is now Istanbul, Suleiman the Magnificent wanted to take over much of Europe - which he mostly failed to do as different elements such as climate and other issues got in his way. It was astonishing to see that Francois was willing to cooperate with Suleiman and betray christendom and as Thomas Cromwell said - paraphasing "he was willing to sacrifice christendom by allowing the Turks into Europe" in order to get the upper hand on Charles V and obtain his lands in Italy. Europe was quite fascinating at this time as the princes could not cooperate with eachother enough to come together to push back the Turks from Europe. While they did eventually manage to fend off the Turks they never did regain Constantinople.

Francois I was also very renouned for his building constructions of chateauxs and as a patron to the Arts. He updated Chateaux Chambord, Louvre and Fontainbleau and had a great relationship with such men as Leonardo Da Vinci -although he was not actually by Da Vincis bed as he died, despite what the painting of that scene may want to convey -which admittedly was disappointing for me, instead, he was off visiting in France elsewhere.

All in all, as the first book I read on Francois I would say it was a good biography/overview on him as a man and I was not left disappointed. It will be interesting to see upon other books I will soon have my hands on about Francois, to see if Knecht was thorough or not.

[Elizabeth · Rating 3 out of 5]

Phew. I read a lot of nonfiction but this one was one of the few historical nonfictions I found very difficult! Nothing scholars and people with heavy interest in the period would dislike, though, I would think - it was obviously extremely well researched. I found the writing itself to be extremely dry (takes a lot for me to say that) and had to read the book in small chunks over a long period. I might have done better with it if I was a person with more free time to devote to a book of this weight.

[PG Pariseau · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a model for what historical biography can and should be. Very much a life-in-the-times, it explains the apparently senseless warfare in Italy in both personal and dynastic terms. Francis himself is vividly drawn, as are his major adversaries. A fine choice for anyone with a serious interest in the period and a tolerance for academic, as opposed to popular potboiler, histories.