Charles III of Bourbon
| Charles of Montpensier | |
|---|---|
| Duke of Bourbon and Auvergne, Count of La Marche, Clermont-en-Beauvaisis, l'Isle-Jourdain and Forez, Lord of Beaujeu | |
An engraving of Charles, Duke of Bourbon
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| Spouse(s) | Suzanne, Duchess of Bourbon |
| Father | Gilbert, Count of Montpensier |
| Mother | Clara Gonzaga |
| Born |
17 February 1490 Montpensier |
| Died | 6 May 1527 (aged 37) Rome |
Charles III, Duke of Bourbon (17 February 1490 – 6 May 1527) was a French military leader, the Count of Montpensier, Clermont and Auvergne, and Dauphin of Auvergne from 1501 to 1523, then Duke of Bourbon and Auvergne, Count of Clermont-en-Beauvaisis, Forez and La Marche, and Lord of Beaujeu from 1505 to 1521. He was also the Constable of France from 1515 to 1521. Also known as the Constable of Bourbon, he was the last of the great feudal lords to oppose the King of France himself. He commanded the Imperial troops of Holy Roman Emperor Charles V in what became known as the Sack of Rome in 1527, where he was killed.
Charles was born at Montpensier, the second son of Gilbert, Count of Montpensier by his wife Clara Gonzaga (1 July 1464- 2 June 1503). Clara was a daughter of Federico I Gonzaga, Marquess of Mantua, by his wife Margaret of Bavaria. Gilbert died in 1496, and his elder son Louis II, Count of Montpensier died unwed in 1501, leaving Charles the heir to the family's titles and extensive lands in Auvergne.
On 10 May 1505, Charles married his agnatic second cousin, Suzanne, Duchess of Bourbon. It was a dynastic match, intended to settle the question of succession to the Bourbon estates, which had arisen because Suzanne's father, the last of the senior Bourbon line, had died without sons. Charles was the scion of the next-senior Bourbon line, and thus the "heir male" of the House of Bourbon, while Suzanne was the "heir general." With the marriage, Charles's position as Duke of Bourbon became undisputed. This cementing of position was important for another reason: with the death of Charles IV, Duke of Alençon in 1525, Charles became the agnatic heir to the French royal line in case of a failure of male heirs (which indeed happened in 1589).
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