Charlotte of Savoy came from a large family and was married at the tender age of nine under difficult circumstances. Her husband, the Dauphin Louis of France was twenty-eight at the time of the wedding and they would not consummate the marriage until Charlotte was sixteen. When she became Queen of France, she would lead a lonely and isolated existence.
The exact date of Charlotte’s birth is unknown but based on historical records, it is believed to have been in November of 1441. She was the second daughter of Louis I the Duke of Savoy and Prince of Piedmont and Anne of Cyprus. She was one of nineteen children, fourteen of whom survived infancy. She most likely received an education worthy of her rank. Under an agreement signed at Lausanne on March 11, 1443, Charlotte was betrothed to Frederick, Duke of Saxony, the son of Frederick II Elector of Saxony. For unknown reasons this betrothal was abandoned.
The Dauphin Louis, son of King Charles VII of France had been married to Margaret Stewart of Scotland in 1436 when they were both teenagers. Louis was sent on a series of successful campaigns against the English and the Swiss and had taken his place on the king’s council. He was planning more campaigns when his father recalled him to court where he was isolated and withdrawn. His unhappy marriage to Margaret ended when she died unexpectedly and childless in August of 1445. Until the end of 1446, Louis kept a low profile until he emerged plotting and scheming, looking for support and some kind of employment. He finally received permission from his father to go to the Dauphiné to receive homage and further French interests in northern Italy.
The Dauphiné was a jumble of feudal and episcopal entities. Louis went to work immediately organizing and consolidating these entities, creating a central government and doubling the size of his little state. He was delighted to be away from the control of his father and lived the high life, taking mistresses and doing as he pleased, creating a following. By 1450, he had done all he could in the Dauphiné and was looking to marry again.
The Duke of Savoy was an ally of the Dauphin. Louis was twenty-seven, unmarried and childless when the heir to the French throne should have had a family and a successor. Louis requested permission from his father several times to marry the Duke of Savoy’s daughter Charlotte and was denied every time. In February of 1451, Louis had received another refusal for permission. In the meantime he sent an embassy to Savoy and a marriage contract was signed around the same time. Louis gave his two representatives five thousand crowns each for their services and the Chancellor of Savoy received ten thousand gold crowns for his part in the agreement.
The legal age in the Catholic Church at the time for a woman to marry was twelve and Charlotte was most likely nine. Louis and Charlotte celebrated their nuptials on March 9, 1451 in Chambéry. When King Charles heard the news of the marriage contract being finalized, he sent a herald to stop the wedding. The herald arrived just in time to witness the couple enter the chapel in crimson velvet robes. After the wedding, Louis returned to the Dauphiné and Charlotte soon followed him. In honor of her joyous arrival, several towns gave gifts of money to Louis. She entered Louis’ household to live until she was old enough to consummate the marriage.
Louis and his father argued off and on over the marriage and other political matters until in August of 1456, King Charles sent an army to the Dauphiné to try to force Louis into submission. Rather than meet his father in battle, Louis escaped to Burgundy where he lived as the guest of Philip the Good, Duke of Burgundy. Charlotte was left behind.
At the urging of the Duke of Burgundy, Louis sent for Charlotte in the spring of 1457. She traveled to Namur where Louis met her. There was no official greeting. The couple slept together for the first time that night. Charlotte wasn’t physically attractive but she wanted to do everything she could to meet Louis’ will. Louis was satisfied w