At sixteen years of age he married Antoinette de Bourbon in 1513. They
became the parents of twelve children of which ten survived. Later Antoinette
discovered that Claude was having an affair with a village girl whom he
met in a little hut on the edge of the estate.
Without mentioning the girl, she asked her husband to meet her at the
same place. Embarrassed, Claude agreed, only to find the hut transformed
into a luxurious nest of pleasure, worthy of his ducal position. Subsequently,
Claude built a little castle on the spot.
Claude was a capable general and fought at Marignano in 1515, but after
that campaign he remained at home to defend France against the English
and Germans (1522-1523), beating the Germans in Champagne and then putting
them completely to rout as they retreated into Lorraine. For suppressing
the peasant revolt in Lorraine (1527), King Francois I
created him Duc de Guise.
In 1534 his daughter, Marie de Guise, married Louis II d'Orleans, Duc
de Longueville, who died in 1537, leaving behind Marie who was expecting
their second son, but which did not survive. Marie had been present when
Madeleine, daughter of King Francois I, had married James V, King of Scots.
Madeleine died one month after the Duc de Longueville and, a year later,
Marie de Guise was married by proxy to the same King James V. Marie had
to leave her son, Francois, behind to be cared for by his grandparents,
Claude and Antoinette, Duc and Duchesse de Guise.
In 1539 the future King Henri II of France had raped a girl in Piedmont
who bore him a daughter. This child put the stigma of barrenness on Henri's
wife, Catharine de' Medici. As Catharine was no longer of diplomatic importance,
divorce was discussed. Claude, Duc de
Guise, hopefully suggested his other daughter, the beautiful Louise,
as a replacement. Distressed, Catharine went to her father-in-law, King
Francois I, and begged to be allowed to retire to a convent.
Francois I, however, stated that, as God had her destined to be Henri's
wife, she should pray and no doubt God would answer her prayers. Diane
de Poitiers, Henri's mistress, urged Henri to sleep with his wife and,
in due course, ten children were born. The eldest,
the future king Francois II, would marry Claude, Duc de Guise's granddaughter,
Mary, Queen of Scots.
In June 1544, the Emperor Charles V invaded France and, in July, attacked
Saint Dizier which was defended by the Count of Sancerre, who held out
until early August. The Count surrendered only after receiving a letter
from the Duc de Guise ordering him to do so. The
letter turned out to be a forgery and the loss of Saint Dizier was
a reversal of France's fortunes with Paris almost taken.
Claude died in 1550. His wife survived him by almost thirty-three years,
and hence was witness to the long imprisonment of their grand-daughter,
Mary, Queen of Scots.
Source: Leo van de Pas |
