
Claude d'Annebault (1495-2 November 1552) was a Marshal and Admiral of France and Governor of Piedmont. In 1546, he served as a special ambassador to England to negotiate an end to the Italian War of 1542-46.
Biography[]
Claude d'Annebault was the son of the Master of the Hunt under King Francis I of France, and Claude himself became a favorite of the King. He became Marshal of France in 1538, Governor of Piedmont in 1541, and Admiral of France in 1543, and he led the French invasion of the Isle of Wight in 1545 during the Italian War of 1542-46. From 20 to 30 August 1546, he visited England as a special ambassador for peace, and he was happy to be cordially greeted by Prince Edward (in Latin) and by Princesses Mary and Elizabeth. D'Annebault told the King that he did not have the authority to renegotiate the Anglo-French treaty, and the King also told D'Annebault to send his love to the dying King Francis, but to also remind him of his own mortality, something which he had forgotten in the past.