Skip to content
VitrineRoyal Houses of Europe
  • Lobby
  • Tree
  • Map
Sign in

Francis, Duke of Guise

1519–1563

Born
6 Mar 1519, Bar-le-Duc
Country of birth
🇫🇷France
Died
24 Feb 1563, Orléans
  • Facts
  • A life in time
  • Family
  • Tree
facts
11
sources
3
images and files
0

Facts and their sources

Tap a fact to see where it comes from.

  • Birth6 Mar 1519, Bar-le-DucProbableDisputed1 competing claim1 source
  • Death24 Feb 1563, OrléansProbable1 source
  • ParentClaude of Lorraine, duke of GuiseConfirmed1 source
  • ParentAntoinette de BourbonConfirmed1 source
  • TitleGrand Chamberlain of FranceConfirmed1 source
  • UnionAnna of EsteConfirmed1 source

A life in time

  1. 6 Mar 1519

    Born · Bar-le-Duc

    Birth, Bar-le-Duc

  2. 1554

    Child born: Charles of Lorraine, duke of Mayenne

    Birth, Alençon

  3. 24 Feb 1563

    Died · Orléans

    Death, Orléans

Family

Parents

  • fatherClaude of Lorraine, duke of Guise1496–1550Confirmed
  • motherAntoinette de Bourbon1495–1583Confirmed

Spouses

  • Anna of Este1531–1607Confirmed

Children

  • Charles of Lorraine, duke of Mayenne1554–1611Confirmed

Ancestors and children

Open the full tree

Four generations back to the right, the children to the left. The number beside a child counts the generations of descendants known after them.

VitrineVitrine

Every fact, with its source.

  • Home
  • Find your family
  • Royal Houses of Europe
  • Design gallery

© 2026 Vitrine · The family archive

  • Lobby
  • Tree
  • Map
  • Facts
  • A life in time
  • What was it like?
  • Family
  • Tree

What was it like?

The world around Bar-le-Duc, 1519: who ruled, who else was alive, how people lived. This is general history, not a record about the family, and every item shows where it comes from.

Peasant men wore belts with pouches to carry essential tools, such as sharpening stones or sewing implements.

Known for

François de Lorraine, 2nd Duke of Guise, 1st Prince of Joinville, and 1st Duke of Aumale, was a French general and statesman. A prominent leader during the Italian War of 1551–1559 and French Wars of Religion, he was assassinated during the siege of Orleans in 1563.

Titles held

  • Grand Chamberlain of France
Fashion

Essential tool pouches on belts

Peasant men wore belts with pouches to carry essential tools, such as sharpening stones or sewing implements.

Keeping garments clean while working

When performing dirty work, peasant women tucked their long cotes into the waistbands of their aprons to keep the hems clean.

Music
Around 1521–1521

Popular Morisque dance at court

At the ducal court, the Morisque was a popular dance performed by costumed men and women, especially during the carnival season. In 1521, Duke Antoine granted thirty francs to performers to help pay for their elaborate dance costumes.

Around 1523–1523

Lute player's house and title

The lute was a successful and frequently used instrument at the ducal court, and in 1523, the ducal lute player Loys Ogier was granted the official title of master lute player. That same year, the prince gifted him fifty francs to help him purchase a house.

Getting around

Daily travel distance for pack animals

In level country, merchant trains using pack animals could cover fifteen to twenty-five miles per day.

Public access to royal postal horses

By the early sixteenth century, King Francis I allowed the public to travel by the royal postal service, which used horses at a gallop between relay stations, though this service was very expensive.

Daily life

Cooking over an open fire

Families cooked pottage or porridge all day in iron or brass kettles over a central fire on a stone hearth. To keep the smoke from filling the room, some homes used a conical hood or funnel to vent the fire toward the roof.

Home lighting and water collection

Common dwellings featured floors of beaten earth covered with straw, and interiors were lighted by doors or small, unglazed windows. Water was a heavy burden to collect, with women often carrying it in jugs from distant sources for household use.

Food

Diet of poor vs. wealthy peasants

While wealthier peasants had access to various meats and fruits, poorer families primarily relied on a basic diet of soup, bread, and cheese. They often drank a local beverage known as picotte instead of wine.

Daily Bread, Porridge, and Soup

Ordinary Lorrainers typically ate one to two pounds of bread daily, often supplementing it with soup, porridge made from grain cooked in lard, and cheese. Vegetables like legumes were dietary staples, while meat was primarily consumed as boiled soup meat.

Prices and wages

Payment for heraldic work in 1519

In 1519, Nicolas Graxien was paid 22 francs for crafting nine heraldic shields for the duchess's apartments and providing the necessary colors.

Around 1516–1516

Cost of a stained-glass window in 1516

In 1516, a stained-glass window featuring the coat of arms of Renée of Bourbon was commissioned from the glazier Nicolas Graxien for a payment of 2 francs.

Work

Common jobs in rural Lorraine

Most people in the Duchy of Lorraine were peasants who worked in agriculture, mainly focusing on cereal crops like grains. Additional industries like glass manufacturing, salt mining, and paper production were also important rural occupations.

Female roles at the Nancy Mint

At the Nancy Mint, female workers known as tailleresses were specifically employed to trim excess metal from coin blanks to ensure they reached the correct weight. This task was frequently performed by the wives or daughters of the male minters.

News and letters

Letters carried by travelers and merchants

Ordinary people often relied on traveling merchants, pilgrims, or occasional passersby to carry their letters, as formal postal services were largely restricted to royal or elite use. Urgent messages could require a dedicated rider, but even these could take weeks to deliver depending on luck, weather, and road conditions.

Reliance on oral communication and messengers

Because most people could not read or write, they relied on face-to-face communication or messengers who memorized oral messages. Written letters were rare, expensive, and often read aloud by a third party even to those who could read.

During their lifetime

  1. 1525

    Peasant rebellion suppressed in 1525

    In May 1525, Duke Antoine of Lorraine massacred a large peasant army at Saverne to suppress an insurrection that threatened the duchy.

  2. 1545

    Famine causes bread prices to soar

    In 1545, war-related famine caused bread prices in the region to multiply by five compared to 1540-1541 levels.

  3. 1545

    Plague epidemics devastate the region

    Between 1545 and 1552, plague outbreaks caused extreme hardship, leading to deserted towns and citizens walling up infected homes.

  4. 1562

    French Wars of Religion begin

    The French Wars of Religion broke out in 1562, leading to immense loss of life through violence, famine, and disease that lasted until 1598.

  5. 1562

    Recurring subsistence crises

    During the wars, periodic subsistence crises occurred in 1562–1563, 1565–1566, 1573–1574, 1586–1587, and 1590–1592, causing high prices and food shortages.