# Nicholas Francis, Duke of Lorraine
**Nicholas Francis** (6 December 1609 – 25 January 1670) was Duke of Lorraine and Bar from 19 January to 1 April 1634, between his brother Charles IV's abdication and his own resignation.[1](https://www.catholic-hierarchy.org/bishop/blova.html) • [2](https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/1911_Encyclop%C3%A6dia_Britannica/Lorraine) Before his reign he had been a cardinal and the bishop of Toul, though he never received sacred orders.[1](https://www.catholic-hierarchy.org/bishop/blova.html) To keep the duchy out of French hands, he renounced his ecclesiastical titles, married his cousin Claude of Lorraine, and fled into exile with her.[2](https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/1911_Encyclop%C3%A6dia_Britannica/Lorraine) • [3](https://www.cgb.fr/italie-et-lorraine-duche-de-lorraine-nicolas-francois-exil-a-florence-teston-ttb-ttb-%2Cbfe_1020029%2Ca.html) He later became abbot of Senones from 1660 to 1668, and through his only son Charles he was grandfather of Duke Leopold of Lorraine.[3](https://www.cgb.fr/italie-et-lorraine-duche-de-lorraine-nicolas-francois-exil-a-florence-teston-ttb-ttb-%2Cbfe_1020029%2Ca.html) • [7](https://historyireland.com/irlandois-de-nation/)
Before that, he had been a cardinal and the bishop of Toul, though he never received sacred orders.[1](https://www.catholic-hierarchy.org/bishop/blova.html) His short reign ended when, to keep the duchy out of French hands, he renounced his ecclesiastical titles, married his cousin Claude of Lorraine, and fled into exile with her.[2](https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/1911_Encyclop%C3%A6dia_Britannica/Lorraine) • [3](https://www.cgb.fr/italie-et-lorraine-duche-de-lorraine-nicolas-francois-exil-a-florence-teston-ttb-ttb-%2Cbfe_1020029%2Ca.html)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Born / died | 6 December 1609; 25 January 1670 (some sources give 27 January 1670)[1](https://www.catholic-hierarchy.org/bishop/blova.html) |
| Church career | Coadjutor bishop of Toul 1619, bishop of Toul 1624, cardinal in pectore 1626, published cardinal 1627; never ordained[1](https://www.catholic-hierarchy.org/bishop/blova.html) |
| Reign | Duke of Lorraine and Bar from 19 January to 1 April 1634, between his brother's abdication and his own resignation[2](https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/1911_Encyclop%C3%A6dia_Britannica/Lorraine) |
| Marriage | His cousin Claude of Lorraine, by papal dispensation, in 1634; she died in Vienna in 1648[2](https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/1911_Encyclop%C3%A6dia_Britannica/Lorraine) • [4](https://www.spanishgenealogy.net/getperson.php?personID=I3624&tree=tree28) |
| Heir | One son, Charles, who took the title of duke of Lorraine in 1675, recognized by all powers except France[2](https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/1911_Encyclop%C3%A6dia_Britannica/Lorraine) |
## Ecclesiastical career
Nicholas Francis was the youngest son of Duke Francis II of Lorraine and his wife, Christina of Salm. Born on the feast of [Saint Nicholas](https://www.edgepedia.org/saint-nicholas), he was named in the saint's honor. He was made coadjutor bishop of Toul in 1619, while still a child, and succeeded to the see in 1624, but never actually received any sacred orders.[1](https://www.catholic-hierarchy.org/bishop/blova.html) He was created a cardinal in pectore on 19 January 1626 and published as cardinal on 30 August 1627.[1](https://www.catholic-hierarchy.org/bishop/blova.html) The 1911 *Encyclopædia Britannica* records him as a cardinal at the age of nineteen.[2](https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/1911_Encyclop%C3%A6dia_Britannica/Lorraine)
## The brief ducal reign of 1634
Nicholas Francis's succession arose from French pressure on Lorraine. Duke Charles IV had embroiled himself with France by harboring French malcontents; French troops occupied Saint-Mihiel, Bar-le-Duc, Pont-à-Mousson and Nancy in 1633, and the parlement of Paris declared the duke guilty of rebellion.[2](https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/1911_Encyclop%C3%A6dia_Britannica/Lorraine) • [5](https://www.historyfiles.co.uk/KingListsEurope/FranceLorraine.htm) On 19 January 1634 Charles IV abdicated in favor of his younger brother, the cardinal of Lorraine, and withdrew to Germany.[2](https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/1911_Encyclop%C3%A6dia_Britannica/Lorraine)
**The marriage that ended his career.** As soon as he became duke, Nicholas Francis obtained a dispensation, renounced the cardinalate, and married his cousin Claude of Lorraine, the younger daughter of Duke Henry II.[2](https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/1911_Encyclop%C3%A6dia_Britannica/Lorraine) Genealogical sources place the wedding at Lunéville on 18 February 1634, while a French biographical dictionary gives the date as 8 March 1634; the sources disagree on the exact day.[6](https://finnholbek.dk/getperson.php?personID=I14625&tree=2)
As soon as the marriage became known, the couple were arrested; they escaped, took refuge with Charles IV at Besançon, and then passed into Italy.[3](https://www.cgb.fr/italie-et-lorraine-duche-de-lorraine-nicolas-francois-exil-a-florence-teston-ttb-ttb-%2Cbfe_1020029%2Ca.html) They settled in Florence, where they had coinage struck in their names between 1634 and 1637, a teston bearing the inscription "Moneta nova Florent cusa".[3](https://www.cgb.fr/italie-et-lorraine-duche-de-lorraine-nicolas-francois-exil-a-florence-teston-ttb-ttb-%2Cbfe_1020029%2Ca.html) In 1637 the couple moved to Vienna, where Claude died on 2 August 1648.[3](https://www.cgb.fr/italie-et-lorraine-duche-de-lorraine-nicolas-francois-exil-a-florence-teston-ttb-ttb-%2Cbfe_1020029%2Ca.html) • [4](https://www.spanishgenealogy.net/getperson.php?personID=I3624&tree=tree28)
## Later life and family
After his wife's death, Nicholas Francis returned to the church in another form: he became abbot of Senones from 1660 to 1668.[3](https://www.cgb.fr/italie-et-lorraine-duche-de-lorraine-nicolas-francois-exil-a-florence-teston-ttb-ttb-%2Cbfe_1020029%2Ca.html) He died at Nancy on 25 January 1670, aged 60.[2](https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/1911_Encyclop%C3%A6dia_Britannica/Lorraine) • [3](https://www.cgb.fr/italie-et-lorraine-duche-de-lorraine-nicolas-francois-exil-a-florence-teston-ttb-ttb-%2Cbfe_1020029%2Ca.html) One liturgical directory gives the date as 27 January 1670.[1](https://www.catholic-hierarchy.org/bishop/blova.html)
His only son, Charles, born in Vienna in 1643, took the title of duke of Lorraine in 1675 and was recognized by all the powers except France.[2](https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/1911_Encyclop%C3%A6dia_Britannica/Lorraine) • [4](https://www.spanishgenealogy.net/getperson.php?personID=I3624&tree=tree28) After an unsuccessful attempt to seize Lorraine in 1676, Charles vainly solicited the throne of Poland, took part in the wars in Hungary, and married [Eleanor of Austria](https://www.edgepedia.org/eleanor-of-austria), sister of Emperor Leopold I, in 1678; he died in 1690.[2](https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/1911_Encyclop%C3%A6dia_Britannica/Lorraine) Through this son, Nicholas Francis became grandfather of Duke Leopold of Lorraine (1679–1729), who restored the duchy's sovereignty from France in 1697 under the [Treaty of Ryswick](https://www.edgepedia.org/treaty-of-ryswick).[7](https://historyireland.com/irlandois-de-nation/)
## The duchy in his time
The occupation that had driven Nicholas Francis from his duchy lasted far longer than his reign. [Louis XIII](https://www.edgepedia.org/louis-xiii) swept away Lorraine's institutions and installed a French administration, including a Conseil souverain established at Nancy on 16 September 1634, and during the autumn of 1634 the subjects of Charles IV were compelled to swear fidelity to the king of France.[8](https://musee-lorrain.nancy.fr/les-collections/catalogues-numeriques/la-lorraine-pour-horizon/les-duches-de-lorraine-et-de-bar-occupes-par-la-france-1632-1697/etablissement-du-conseil-souverain-a-nancy) • [9](https://musee-lorrain.nancy.fr/les-collections/catalogues-numeriques/la-lorraine-pour-horizon/les-duches-de-lorraine-et-de-bar-occupes-par-la-france-1632-1697/serment-de-fidelite-prete-au-roi-de-france) The duchy suffered depopulation and economic ruin through the [Thirty Years' War](https://www.edgepedia.org/thirty-years-war) and the wars of [Louis XIV](https://www.edgepedia.org/louis-xiv), and the dukes of Lorraine spent much of the later seventeenth century in exile in the service of Habsburg Spain and Austria.[7](https://historyireland.com/irlandois-de-nation/)
## References
1. [Nicolas François de Lorraine-Vaudémont, Catholic-Hierarchy](https://www.catholic-hierarchy.org/bishop/blova.html)
2. [1911 Encyclopædia Britannica: Lorraine, Wikisource](https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/1911_Encyclop%C3%A6dia_Britannica/Lorraine)
3. [Nicolas François, exil à Florence: teston, CGB numismatics](https://www.cgb.fr/italie-et-lorraine-duche-de-lorraine-nicolas-francois-exil-a-florence-teston-ttb-ttb-%2Cbfe_1020029%2Ca.html)
4. [Nicholas Francis of Lorraine b. 6 Dec 1609 d. 25 Jan 1670: Spanish Genealogy](https://www.spanishgenealogy.net/getperson.php?personID=I3624&tree=tree28)
5. [Kingdoms of Western Europe: Lotharingia / Lorraine, History Files](https://www.historyfiles.co.uk/KingListsEurope/FranceLorraine.htm)
6. [Nicolas-François de Lorraine, Marquis de Hattonchâtel, Finnholbek genealogy](https://finnholbek.dk/getperson.php?personID=I14625&tree=2)
7. [Duke Leopold's Irish subjects and Jacobitism in Lorraine, History Ireland](https://historyireland.com/irlandois-de-nation/)
8. [Établissement du Conseil souverain à Nancy, Musée Lorrain](https://musee-lorrain.nancy.fr/les-collections/catalogues-numeriques/la-lorraine-pour-horizon/les-duches-de-lorraine-et-de-bar-occupes-par-la-france-1632-1697/etablissement-du-conseil-souverain-a-nancy)
9. [Serment de fidélité prêté au roi de France, Musée Lorrain](https://musee-lorrain.nancy.fr/les-collections/catalogues-numeriques/la-lorraine-pour-horizon/les-duches-de-lorraine-et-de-bar-occupes-par-la-france-1632-1697/serment-de-fidelite-prete-au-roi-de-france)
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