Charles IV, Duke of Alençon

Charles IV of Alençon (2 September 1489 in Alençon – 11 April 1525 in Lyon) was the son of René of Alençon and Margaret of Vaudémont.^[1]

He succeeded his father in 1492 as Duke of Alençon and Count of Perche, and was also Count of Armagnac, Fézensac, Viscount of Rodez, Count of Fezensaguet, l'Isle-Jourdain, and Perdiac.

In 1509 he married Margaret of Angoulême,^[2] sister to Francis, Duke of Valois, who would in 1515 become King Francis I of France. Their marriage was childless: his wife was allowed to retain most of his titles.

As first prince of the blood, Charles was a prominent figure in the early part of his brother-in-law's reign. Made governor of Normandy,^[3] Charles fought at Marignano in 1515,^[4] and in 1521 defended Champagne against an imperial invasion. He accompanied his brother-in-law, King Francis I of France, on his second expedition to Italy in 1525, and after the disaster at Pavia, took command of the defeated French forces, leading them in retreat back to French territory.^[5] He was made a scapegoat for the defeat and accused of abandoning the king, and died soon after.^[5] Although Charles had a sister, Françoise, who survived him, his widow took possession of his lands after his death.

• Cholakian, Patricia Francis; Cholakian, Rouben Charles (2006). Marguerite de Navarre: Mother of the Renaissance. Columbia University Press.107
• Knecht, R.J. (1984). Francis I. Cambridge University Press.
• Potter, David (1995). Keen, Maurice (ed.). A History of France, 1460–1560: The Emergence of a Nation State. Macmillan.
• Wellman, Kathleen (2013). Queens and Mistresses of Renaissance France. Yale University Press.