Guillaume Gouffier, seigneur de Bonnivet

On 31 December 1517 he was made Admiral of France, in charge of all maritime affairs from which he received substantial revenues, including portions of the gains from wrecks and prizes.

[1] In the imperial election of 1519 he superintended the candidature of Francis, and spent vast sums of money in his efforts to secure votes, but without success.

[2] Brantôme says that the Battle of Pavia was fought at Bonnivet's instigation, and that, seeing the disaster he had caused, he deliberately sought a heroic death.

According to Brantôme, he was the successful rival of the king for the favours of Madame de Châteaubriant, and if, as is thought, he was the hero of the fourth story of the Heptaméron, Marguerite, future Queen of Navarre, was also courted by him.

[2] Bonnivet's correspondence is preserved in the Bibliothèque Nationale, Paris and in The National Archives (United Kingdom);[3] the complete works of Brantôme, vol.