Famous 16th Century French Leaders

Cardinal Richelieu was a French clergyman and statesman who was active in the early 17th century. He held powerful positions in both the Catholic Church and French government and served as the chief minister to Louis XIII of France in 1624. He helped the French maintain their dominance in the Thirty Years' War that engulfed Europe. 

A 16th-century Duke of Savoy, Emmanuel Philibert, also known as Testa di ferro, was the only child of Charles III, Duke of Savoy. An able soldier, he is remembered for recovering most of the territories his father had lost to Spain and France. He also stressed on Italian as the official language.

Jean Ribault was a French navigator and naval officer. He is best remembered for colonizing what would eventually become the American Southeast. Jean Ribault also played an important role in the attempts of the French to colonize Florida.

François Bonivard was a nobleman and historian whose life was the inspiration for Lord Byron's 1816 poem The Prisoner of Chillon. He was a partisan of the Protestant Reformation and a Geneva patriot at the time of the Republic of Geneva. His life was tumultuous, and by most accounts, he was a libertine. He was married four times.