Description

François de Bourbon, comte de Saint-Pol was a French governor, soldier, royal favourite and Prince du sang. The son of François de Bourbon and Marie de Luxembourg, François was the heir to the comté de Saint-Pol from his mother. At the advent of the reign of the king François I, Saint-Pol participated in the successful Italian campaign which culminated at the decisive battle of Marignano. In 1519 he became governor of the Île de France in lieu of his elder brother. Saint-Pol had an important role to play in the French campaign of 1521 against the Holy Roman Empire, aiding in the defence of Mézières by seeing the city resupplied. After the failure of the Imperial siege he followed the royal army as it chased their adversaries back towards Valenciennes. He would again play an important role in the campaign of the following year, garrisoning first Doullens and then Corbie against the Anglo-Imperial army. In the Italian campaign of 1523 to 1524, Saint-Pol would take charge of the French army to lead its retreat from the peninsula after the seigneur de Bonnivet was wounded. With the return of the French army into Italy in 1525, Saint-Pol participated in the disastrous battle of Pavia and was made an Imperial captive, though he soon escaped from his imprisonment.