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Baron Florimond Robertet

Male 1459 - 1527  (68 years)    Has 2 ancestors and more than 100 descendants in this family tree.

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  • Name Florimond Robertet 
    Prefix Baron 
    Birth 11 Feb 1459  Montbrison Find all individuals with events at this location 
    Gender Male 
    Death 10 Aug 1527  Blois, Loir-et-Cher, France Find all individuals with events at this location 
    Person ID I499660  Geneagraphie
    Last Modified 27 Oct 2006 

    Father Jean François Robertet,   b. 1402   d. Yes, date unknown 
    Mother Louise Chauvet   d. Yes, date unknown 
    Family ID F203383  Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

    Family Michelle Gaillard   d. Yes, date unknown 
    Marriage 3 Oct 1504 
    Children 
    +1. Françoise Robertet,   b. 1519   d. Yes, date unknown
    Family ID F203380  Group Sheet  |  Family Chart
    Last Modified 27 Oct 2006 

  • Event Map Click to hide
    Link to Google MapsDeath - 10 Aug 1527 - Blois, Loir-et-Cher, France Link to Google Earth
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    Pin Legend  : Address       : Location       : City/Town       : County/Shire       : State/Province       : Country       : Not Set

  • Photos Photos (Log in)Photos (Log in)

  • Notes 
    • Baron d'Alluye et de Brou
      Florimond Robertet was the powerful secretary of Louis XII, King of France. He was also the General Treasurer of Finance, probably the equivalent of a modern Minister of Finance. As a protégée of Cardinal Georges d'Amboise he first became the informal personal secretary of Louis XII and as such the closest to Louis and bearer of the burdens of administration of all major matters. He was known as the man who knew all secrets. He effectively replaced the cardinal as Louis XII's right hand man on d'Amboise's death in May 1519.

      It seems clear from a coded letter from Giovanni Ridolfi, Florentine orator at the French court, dated 25 November 1507 at Blois, that Florimond Robertet was in the pay of Florence. It was not unusual at the time for senior officials to receive large sums from foreign governments for their access to and influence on the king. It was probably not considered to be corruption. Robertet was building up his fortune and began the building of his chateau at Bury in 1511. It is clear from many sources, including Machiavelli, that he was a strong supporter of the French alliance with Florence that lasted from the ousting of the Medici by Charles VIII to their return in 1512.

      Michelangelo made a bronze version of David, a statue he worked on while carving his celebrated colossus of the same biblical hero. Not as large as his marble David, the bronze figure was still almost life-size. It showed the young warrior resting his foot proudly on Goliath's decapitated head. Michelangelo's surviving drawings shows how brutally David crushes his victim's head, pressing down hard on his distended right eye. Commissioned by the city of Florence in 1502, it served a blatantly political purpose, ending up as a gift to Florimond Robertet. Delighted by this magnificent present, the art-loving Robertet ensured in return that Florence regained its lost control of Pisa. He then took his prize back to France, installing it at the centre of a courtyard in his splendid new château at Bury, near Blois.

      Over two centuries later, a descendant of the statue's subsequent owner was guillotined during the Terror of the French Revolution. By that time, everyone had forgotten that Michelangelo made the bronze. Confiscated by zealous members of the Monuments Committee, it was listed in official documents and then disappeared from history.



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