Francis I Dies at Rambouillet

March 31, 1547

The Renaissance king of France, patron of Leonardo and builder of Chambord, died at Rambouillet of infections worsened by a lifetime of jousting and womanizing. His son Henry II succeeded him, married to the scheming Catherine de' Medici. The French wars of religion were three years closer. His court at Fontainebleau had established France as a Renaissance center and laid foundations for its later cultural dominance.