Charles of Bourbon-La Marche (Charles IV, Count and later Duke of Vendôme; 2 June 1489 – 1537) was a French prince du sang and military commander at the court of Francis I of France.

He was born at the Château de Vendôme, the son of François, Count of Vendôme and Marie de Luxembourg.^[1] In 1514, he was named a peer of France and elevated from Count of Vendôme to Duke of Vendôme.^[2]

On 18 May 1513, he married Françoise of Alençon, daughter of René, Duke of Alençon.^[3] They had thirteen children:

• Louis of Bourbon-La Marche (1514-1516), unmarried
• Marie of Bourbon-La Marche (1515-1538), unmarried
• Marguerite of Bourbon-La Marche (1516-1589), married 1538 Francis I of Cleves, Duke de Nevers (1516-1561)
• Antoine de Bourbon, Duke of Vendôme (1518 – 1562)
• François de Bourbon, Count of Enghien (1519-1546), unmarried
• Madeleine of Bourbon-La Marche, Abbess of Sainte Croix de Poitiers (1521-1561), unmarried
• Louis of Bourbon-La Marche (1522-1525), unmarried
• Charles, Cardinal de Bourbon, Archbishop of Rouen (1523-1590), unmarried
• Catherine of Bourbon-La Marche, Abbess of Soissons (1525-1594), unmarried
• Renée of Bourbon-La Marche, Abbess of Chelles (1527-1583), unmarried
• Jean, Count of Soissons and Enghien (1528-1557), married 1557 his first cousin Marie, Duchess of Estouteville (1539-1601)
• Louis I, Prince of Condé (7 May 1530 – 13 March 1569) married Eléonore de Roye
• Léonore of Bourbon-La Marche, Abbess of Fontevraud (1532-1611), unmarried

His sons Antoine and Louis, Prince de Condé became powerful military leaders on opposite sides in the French Wars of Religion, and his grandson became King Henry IV of France.

[edit] Notes

[edit] References

• Bulletin de la commission historique et archéologique de la Mayenne, Jan. 1878, Imprimerie De Leon Moreau, 1885.
• The Encyclopædia Britannica, Vol.27, Ed. Hugh Chisholm, 1911.
• Achaintre, Nicolas Louis, Histoire généalogique et chronologique de la maison royale de Bourbon,Vol.1, Rue de L'ecole de Medecine, 1825.

[edit] Ancestors

v • d • e Ancestors of Charles de Bourbon, Duke of Vendôme

16. John I, Count of La Marche               8. Louis, Count of Vendôme                       17. Catherine of Vendôme               4. Jean VIII, Count of Vendôme                             18. Guy XIII de Laval               9. Jeanne de Laval                       19. Anne de Laval               2. François, Count of Vendôme                                   20. Pierre de Beauveau               10. Louis de Beauvau, Seneschal of Anjou                       21. Jeanne de Craon               5. Isabelle de Beauvau                             22. Ferri V de Chambley               11. Marguerite de Chambley                       23. Jeanne de Launoy               1. Charles of Bourbon, Duke of Vendôme                                         24. Pierre I of Luxembourg               12. Louis de Luxembourg                       25. Margaret de Baux               6. Pierre II of Luxembourg                             26. Robert de Bar               13. Jeanne de Bar                       27. Jeanne de Béthune               3. Marie de Luxembourg                                   28. Amadeus VIII of Savoy               14. Louis, Duke of Savoy                       29. Mary of Burgundy, Countess of Savoy               7. Margaret of Savoy                             30. Janus of Cyprus               15. Anne of Cyprus                       31. Charlotte de Bourbon (daughter of #16/#17)

Preceded by Francis I	Count of Vendôme 1495 – 1514	Succeeded by title was elevated to peerage-duchy
Preceded by title was elevated from countship	Duke of Vendôme 1514 – 1537	Succeeded by Antoine de Bourbon