Charles of Orléans (1459 – 1 January 1496) (French: Charles d'Orléans) was the Count of Angoulême from 1467 until his death. He succeeded his father, John, and was initially under the regency of his mother, Margaret of Rohan, assisted by Jean I de La Rochefoucauld, one of his vassals.
Charles was a grandson of Louis I, Duke of Orléans, a younger son of King Charles V of France. He was thus a member of the Orléans cadet branch of the ruling House of Valois. The Orléans came to the throne in 1498 in the person of Charles's cousin Louis XII, who was followed in 1515 by Charles's own son Francis I.[1]
Charles also had two illegitimate daughters by his mistress Antoinette de Polignac, Dame de Combronde (1470-1537),[4] who was his wife's lady-in-waiting. She is often mistakenly called Antoinette by confusion with a member of a quite distinct family by the same name. They had two daughters:
Madeleine d'Angoulême,[4] Abbess of Fontevrault (died 26 October 1543)
He also had an illegitimate daughter by mistress Jeanne Le Conte:[4]
Souveraine d'Angoulême (died 23 February 1551),[4] married Michel III de Gaillard, Seigneur de Chilly. In 1534 Married French Ambassador Louis de Perreau, Sieur de Castillon.
Knecht, R.J. (1982). Francis I. Cambridge University Press.
Reid, Jonathan A. (2009). Gow, Andrew Colin (ed.). King's Sister - Queen of Dissent: Marguerite of Navarre (1492-1549) and her Evangelical Network. Vol. 1. Brill.
