No Versailles, Alternative French Royal Residences?
- Thread starter Kellan Sullivan
- Start date
I've seen it both ways, but during the Fronde they were toasting him as "King Jean"
I think he'd likely use Jean as his name as Kellan said, as there was some history to it and there had been previous King Jeans.
The French Princes could be very picky and didn't necessarily like the idea of their sovereigns having 'odd' or untraditional names. The row that broke out when Anne of Brittany had her first son comes to mind, wanting to name the Dauphin Orlando. Obviously as you move into the 17th and 18th century, you do see more unique names pop into the French Royal Family, but they're typically prefaced with the more traditional names (Louis, Charles, Philippe, Henri). Jean had fallen off as a name for French kings, but it at least has a history: Gaston and Baptiste do not, and Gaston especially as having rather Italianate influences would definitely be a no go.
He wouldn't be the first king to take a different name when he became king.
The French Princes could be very picky and didn't necessarily like the idea of their sovereigns having 'odd' or untraditional names. The row that broke out when Anne of Brittany had her first son comes to mind, wanting to name the Dauphin Orlando. Obviously as you move into the 17th and 18th century, you do see more unique names pop into the French Royal Family, but they're typically prefaced with the more traditional names (Louis, Charles, Philippe, Henri). Jean had fallen off as a name for French kings, but it at least has a history: Gaston and Baptiste do not, and Gaston especially as having rather Italianate influences would definitely be a no go.
He wouldn't be the first king to take a different name when he became king.
I always thought the Château-Neuf at Saint-Germain-en-Laye would be the most natural choice and could have been greatly enlarged. Fontainebleau was of course used my Louis XIV and could have also been enlarged.
Louis XIV also had the Château de Marly built as a less formal refuge and he would acquire the Château de Meudon later in his reign and had Jules Hardouin-Mansart undertake renovations of that residence. Louis also hunted quite a bit at the risk forests at Compiègne.
Louis XIV also had the Château de Marly built as a less formal refuge and he would acquire the Château de Meudon later in his reign and had Jules Hardouin-Mansart undertake renovations of that residence. Louis also hunted quite a bit at the risk forests at Compiègne.
Neither was Francois, but one dude kept it anyway. I don’t think there was any case of any French kings using ‘regnal’ names.
Whatever was the first one or the most used one he was baptized with both Jean and Gaston meaning who they would be both usable as name once became King.
François was also born at a time when he was quite far down the line of the succession, at his birth at 1494, few could have any idea that he might become king; Charles VIII was still alive and well, and he and Anne of Brittany were still young. There was also Louis d'Orléans. Both the direct Valois and Valois-Orléans line going extinct could not be expected in 1494.
François also became a popular name in France in the period because of it's connotations / connections to France it's self. It was an unused name for French kings, for sure, but it wasn't a widely out there or foreign choice.
This. Plus, unlike Gaston (who was seen as a southern name), Francis was a name already well used in the royal family as Louis XI also had a called his youngest son with that name
See the Charles Orland case. Then there was Henri III who was christened "Alexandre Édouard", the Henri was added at his confirmation because naming him after an Italian (Alessandro de Medici) and a Protestant king (Edward VI) was considered "off-putting". His brother, Alençon, did the same. Originally named "Hercule" for his godfather, the duke of Ferrara, he adopted the name "François" on account he hated the name. He'd have ruled as "François III" not "King Hercule I". So Gaston-does anyone know why that name was given? There's no Gaston in the immediate family? -would be "Jean III".
Actually had to do with the presence of the later St. François de Paul (François I's own name), while Louis XI's son was the duke of Brittany's godson
Ya, people in the past weren't as "stingy" about name order and such as a lot of modern people are.
Also, who is going to tell him he can't change his name?
Sure he might get a few people disgruntled at him breaking a tradition but as long as he doesn't pick something outrageous, they are probably going to have "bigger fish to fry".
Yep, personal anecdote, it stayed popular for quite a while too. My last (known) ancestors to live in France were François & Françoise they named one of their sons François (he left in the 1620s-ish)
I'm actually surprised we don't have more French kings named François.
I read it was chosen by his godmother Marguerite - the (in)famous Reine Margot - who had been Queen of Navarre during her marriage to Henri III/IV, as a tribute to Gaston de Foix, Prince of Viana.
I could be wrong about this (re: Compiègne as an alternate Versailles) but didn't Louis XVI considering letting the États-Généraux meet there, instead of at Versailles because of the distance from Paris meaning fewer "Parisian" ideas. That implies it was further from the capital than Versailles, so would that even be viable then?
Exactly 17km to the Palais du Louvre from the Château de Versailles, while the Château de Compiègne is just shy of 72km. So if a king goes for Compiègne as main residence, everything important will have to move there, which, IIRC was not entirely the case with Versailles since Paris was within 'commuting distance' with a halfway decent coach.
This probably needs an earlier POD- like that Henri II doesn't die there- but what about the Hôtel de Tournelles? It was a plot of nearly 20 acres. Catherine de Medici sold it, and Henri IV had it demolished for the Place Des Vosges... But surely it could be rebuilt in a more modern style?
IIRC, Tournelles saw use even during the early 16th century. Louis XII stayed there infrequently and died there. François Ier wasn't very fond of the place and didn't use it (he preferred the Loire Chateaux) but there's nothing stopping from taking an interest in it, and François was certainly a prolific builder during his reign. I don't think there's anything stopping François from getting a bug and deciding to rebuild it... maybe instead of the Château of Madrid, his time in Spain could influence him into rebuilding Tournelles into a proper palace. I know the original Hôtel wasn't one building, but a collection of buildings over twenty acres.
even if François doesn't, his mistress, Anne de Pisseleu, Duchesse d'Étampes, could very well do so, no?
She could, or even Louise of Savoy, as she was given it as a residence as well. Even Diane de Poitiers was given use of it. Given that Chenonceau became a favored residence of Catherine, it doesn't seem a stretch to Catherine to have a liking to Tournelles if Diane rebuilds it, though Henri II would probably have to die elsewhere.