Francis I, Duke of Nevers

Francis I of Cleves, (2 September 1516 – 13 February 1561) was a commander in the French Royal Army and the first Duke of Nevers. He participated in the suppression of the Amboise conspiracy.

The only son of Charles II of Nevers (died in the Louvre in 1521) and Marie d'Albret, Countess of Rethel, Francis succeeded his father as Count of Nevers and Eu. In 1539 he became Duke of Nevers. When his mother died in 1549, he also inherited the title of Count of Rethel.

In 1538, Francis married Marguerite of Bourbon-La Marche (1516–1589), daughter of Charles de Bourbon, Duke of Vendôme and Françoise of Alençon.

They had five children:

• Francis II, Duke of Nevers (1540–1562), 2nd Duke; married Anne de Bourbon, daughter of Louis, Duke of Montpensier, no issue.
• Henriette of Cleves (1542–1601); married Louis Gonzaga, Duke of Nevers, and became 4th Duchess of Nevers after the death of her brothers.
• James, Duke of Nevers (1544–1564), 3rd Duke, married Diane de la Marck
• Catherine of Cleves (1548–1633); married Antoine III of Croy and Henry I, Duke of Guise.
• Marie of Cleves (1553–1574); married Henri I de Bourbon, prince de Condé.

Sources

• Boltanski, Ariane (2006). Les ducs de Nevers et l'État royal: genèse d'un compromis (ca 1550 - ca 1600) (in French). Librairie Droz.
• Potter, David (1990). "Marriage and Cruelty among the Protestant Nobility in Sixteenth-Century France: Diane de Barbançon and Jean de Rohan, 1561-7". European History Quarterly. Volume: 20 issue: January 1: 5-38.
• Potter, David (1995). Keen, Maurice (ed.). A History of France, 1460–1560: The Emergence of a Nation State. Macmillan.