Valois, Family

VALOIS, FAMILY. - Its progenitor was CARLO, younger son of King Filippo III of France, who obtained from his father the Duchy of V.
When the three sons of Filippo IV died without male heirs, the son of Carlo, who was the brother of Filippo IV, ascended the French throne in 1328 under the name of FILIPPO VI. He was succeeded by his son GIOVANNI II, who in turn left four sons: the heir to the throne CARLO V, LUIGI duke of Angiò, GIOVANNI duke of BERY, and FILIPPO L'ARDITO duke of Burgundy. The descendants of CARLO V reigned in France until 1498 with CARLO VI, CARLO VII, LUIGI XI, and CARLO VIII. When the latter died without heirs, he was succeeded by LUIGI XII, descendant of Duke Luigi I d'Orléans, younger brother of King Carlo VI. Luigi XII married, in his second marriage, Anna di Bretagna, widow of Carlo VIII, by whom he had only two daughters, Claudia and Renata. When Luigi XII died in 1515, the crown passed to Duke Francesco d'Angoulême, great-grandson of Duke Luigi I d'Orléans. FRANCESCO I, d. 1547, was succeeded by his son ENRICO II (from 1547 to 1559), husband of Caterina de' Medici, and then by his grandsons FRANCESCO II (1559-60), CARLO IX (1560-72), and ENRICO III (1574-89). After him the crown of France passed, with Enrico IV, to the Bourbons.