Charlotte of Savoy
Charlotte of Savoy was Marie of Anjou’s nineteen year-old daughter-in-law. They were very similar. Both placid, both accepted the cards Fate dealt them, both loved their husbands and were loyal to them even though they were treated badly. Neither had a coronation, neither was publicly acknowledged as Queen of France. Both were uncomplaining. Neither stands out in the annals of history. Both remain in the shadows.
We don’t know what they thought of each other, but Marie had already experienced two women living under one roof (at Château Loches with her husband’s mistress Agnès Sorel) so moved into her other Château at Chinon.
Between the ages of fifteen and thirty, Charlotte gave birth to eight children. Only three survived infancy.
In a way, Charlotte lost all eight children. Five were either still born or died young. Her daughter Anne chose to live in Tours with her father, her husband Louis spirited Joan, her disabled daughter out of sight and Anne removed her son Charles from her when he became king aged thirteen. It was the first time they had been apart. Both were devastated. They never saw each other again. Needless to say Charlotte cut Anne out of her will and left instructions she was not to be allowed to attend her funeral.
It’s probably fair to say that only history nerds know much about Charlotte. Except for the fact that her son Charles gave her a magnificent State funeral, the first queen of France honoured in this way, she and her mother-in-law seem to have been written out of history.
*‘Nothing in his life became him like the leaving it’ could be said of Charlotte. Never had she been the centre of so much attention.
*Malcolm to Duncan About Cawdor. Shakespeare’s Macbeth.
Read more about Charlotte and the other Ladies of Royal Chateau Amboise in Out of the Shadows by Pamela Shields.
Post by Pamela (BA History of Art). Artwork by Mark.
Out of the Shadows
The Ladies of Royal Château Amboise
