Louise de Clermont the frog and her Antoine de Crussol
And also
The tops
The Crussol: Renaissance in Uzès
In 1486, the castle fell to the Crussol by marriage, with Jacques count of Crussol, who was allowed to add his wife's name to his own name: he became Crussol d'Uzès!
Jacques was the most terrible Protestant leader of the area, during wars of Religion: hey, we met him in his castle of Crussol…
Among this family, we have Antoine de Crussol, duke of Uzès in 1595, peer of France in 1572.
He asked famous French architect Philibert de l'Orme to alter the Southern façade, on the courtyard, in 1570: the Renaissance style had arrived in Uzès!
Louise de Clermont
Antoine married Louise de Clermont-Tallard. We already met her in Maulnes, the Crussol’s Burgundian castle!
Louise, the court’s frog
She married first François du Bellay, and she was the governess of Catherine of Medici’s kids, her best friend: do you remember? She nicknamed Louise ″her chatterbox″!
Louise was pretty popular, among courtiers. People liked her frankness. Charles IX, Catherine’s son, nicknamed her ″my old lantern″, Henri IV ″my mother″ and François I his ″frog″!
Louise + Antoine: love!
Ronsard dedicated her poems. He wrote: ″You’re, in this Court, the nicest ornament.″
When she married Antoine, she was 60, but she didn’t look her age!
They tenderly loved each other. The wedding took place in the castle of Amboise in 1556, with all the upper crust: cardinals of Lorraine (the Guise), constable of Montmorency, queen of Scots Marie Stuart…
Antoine even changed religion for Louise, who was Protestant, and in 1565, Uzès became the first duchy in France.
After Antoine’s death, she left the brand new palace and moved in Burgundy. She never came back here...