Franco-Polish alliance (1524)

A Franco-Polish alliance was formed in 1524 between the king of France Francis I and the king of Poland Sigismund I.[1]

Foreign alliances of France

Frankish–Abbasid Alliance 777–800s Franco-Mongol Alliance 1220–1316 Franco-Scottish Alliance 1295–1560 Franco-Polish Alliance 1524–1526 Franco-Hungarian Alliance 1528–1552 Franco-Ottoman Alliance 1536–1798 Franco–English Alliance 1657–1660 Franco–indigenous alliances 1603–1763 Franco–British Alliance 1716–1731 Franco-Spanish Alliance 1733–1792 Franco-Prussian Alliance 1741–1756 Franco-Austrian Alliance 1756–1792 Franco-Indian Alliances 1700s Franco-Vietnamese Alliance 1777–1820 Franco-American Alliance 1778–1794 Franco-Persian Alliance 1807–1809 Franco-Prussian Alliance 1812–1813 Franco-Russian Alliance 1892–1917 Entente Cordiale 1904-present Franco-Polish Alliance 1921–1940 Franco-Italian Alliance 1935 Franco-Soviet Alliance 1936–1939 Western Union 1948–1954 North Atlantic Alliance 1949–present Western European Union 1954–2011 European Defence Union 1993–present Regional relations Asia Americas Africa

Francis I was looking for allies in Central Europe to create a balance against the power of Habsburg Emperor Charles V.[1] Queen Bona Sforza, the Italian wife of Sigismund, was instrumental in promoting the alliance, with the objective of recovering sovereignty of Milan.[2] Sigismund himself was motivated by such an alliance because Charles V was getting closer to Russia, thus threatening Poland on two fronts.[2]

The negotiations were handled by Antonio Rincon in 1524, who was then followed by Jerome Laski.[1] Through the agreement, the son of Francis, Henry, Duke of Orléans, was to marry a daughter of Sigismund I, and Sigismund's eldest son was to marry a daughter of Francis I.[1] According to the same agreement, Sigismund was supposed to support Francis' efforts at reconquering Milan to which Sigismund had some right through his earlier marriage with Bona Sforza.[1] The alliance was effectively signed in 1524.[2]

The agreement fell through, however, when Francis I was vanquished by Charles V at the Battle of Pavia in 1525.[1] When Francis again looked for Central European allies after 1526, he would look at Hungary instead and finally formed a Franco-Hungarian alliance with King Zapolya in 1528.[1]

See also

• Foreign alliances of France

References

1. The Papacy and the Levant (1204-1571) by Kenneth M. Setton p.312
2. The Cambridge History of Poland by Oskar Halecki p.309