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]

"Franco-Polish alliance" redirects here. 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–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

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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