Claude of France

Claude was born on 13 October 1499, elder daughter of Louis XII of France and Anne, Duchess of Brittany. When she married Francis I, she brought Brittany with her — not as dowry but as sovereign duchess, a title she held suo jure. As Queen of France she stood in a delicate position: her duchy had long resisted absorption into the French crown, yet now she wore both crowns at once. She died on 26 July 1524, twenty-four years old.