On this day in history, 20th July 1524, Queen Claude of France, consort of Francis I, died at the age of just twenty-four. She died at Blois and was temporarily laid to rest in the chapel there, but then moved to the royal abbey of St Denis just outside Paris in 1527. Brantôme declared that Claude’s husband, Francis I, gave her “a disease that shortened her days”, meaning syphilis, but it is not known for certain what she died of.
Why am I writing about a queen consort of France on a website about Anne Boleyn? Well, because Anne Boleyn served Queen Claude in France from 1515 to late 1521. You can read more about Anne Boleyn’s time in France in the following articles:
- The Early Life of Anne Boleyn Part 3 – Anne Boleyn Goes to France
- The Early Life of Anne Boleyn Part 4 – The French Influence
- Anne Boleyn, Margaret of Austria and Queen Claude
