bfe_1020029 - ITALIE ET LORRAINE - DUCHÉ DE LORRAINE - NICOLAS FRANÇOIS, EXIL À FLORENCE Teston

ITALY AND LORRAINE - DUCHY OF LORRAINE - NICOLAS-FRANÇOIS, EXILE IN FLORENCE

(1634-1637)

Nicolas François is the younger son of François II, Count of Vaudémont, and Christine de Salm. He was born on December 6, 1609. In August 1633, his brother Duke Charles IV, in order to calm the French troops, ceded his duchy of Lorraine to him. Richelieu saw in this assignment a manipulation and let it be known that the designated heiress was to be Claude de Lorraine, cousin of Nicolas François. Without further ado, Nicolas François married Claude de Lorraine, in Lunéville, on February 18, 1634, allowing him to assert his title of Duke of Lorraine. As soon as the marriage became known, Nicolas Charles and Claude were arrested. However, they succeeded in fleeing and taking refuge with Charles IV, in Besançon, before going to Italy and settling in Florence, where they minted coins between 1634 and 1637. In 1637, the couple moved to Vienna; Claude died there on April 2, 1648 and Nicolas François returned to holy orders before becoming Abbot of Senones from 1660 to 1668. He died in Nancy on January 25, 1670.