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]

This article is about the 16th-century alliance. For the 20th-century alliance, see Franco-Polish alliance (1921).
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-Indian alliance 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-Austrian 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

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

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
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