René II, Duke of Lorraine - Misplaced Pages

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René II (May 2 1451 – December 10 1508) was Duke of Lorraine and Bar from 1473 to his death.

Family

He was the son of Yolande of Lorraine and Frederick, count of Vaudemont. From his mother side, he was grandson of Duchess Isabella of Lorraine. His father was a member of the Vaudemont family, a junior branch of the Lorraine ducal family, descending from duke John I. He was thus an appropriate successor of his cousin Nicholas, who died without male heirs.

René married Phillipa of Guelders in 1485 and had the following issue:

Duke Antoine of Lorraine (1489-1544)
Claude of Lorraine (1496-1550), first Duke of Guise
John, Cardinal of Lorraine and Bishop of Metz (1498-1550)
Louis, Count of Vaudemont (1500-1526)
Francis, Count of Lambesc (1506-1525)
plus six others who died young

His mternal grandfather René I of Anjou died in 1480, and he was the only living male descendant at that time, whereupon he regarded himself as his successor as King.

When his mother Yolande of Anjou died in 1483, he succeeded as Duke of Bar, and fully in her claims to the kingdoms of Aragon, Naples, Sicily and Jerusalem (his great-grandparents' Four Kingdoms). Also, his succession to Lorraine became complete at that time, as his mother's higher right merged with his.

He used the titles of king of Jerusalem and Sicily.

Life

During his rule, René had to fight an attempted invasion of Lorraine by Charles the Bold, duke of Burgundy. The attempt failed with the help of the king of France and Charles died while besieging Nancy.

Family

Life

See also