François de Candie
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François de Candie, 1st Vice-Count of Geneva (c. 1314 – 26 December 1360; in Italian Conte Franco de Candia) was a nobleman and military commander of the Prince-Bishop of Geneva, under the Catholic Lordship of the Knights of the Swiss Kingdoms of the Priory of Sion (Sitten).
François de Candie was a lord from the noble family of the Castle of Candia (château de Candie) in the Duchy of Savoy descendent of a Burgundian dynasty, France. He was the son of Count Giacomo de Candia di Savoia and the second daughter of the Burgundes princes to Geneva.
In his early military career, de Candie fought for the protection of the Alpine passages and in 1377 was Captain of the Castle of the Rhon River (capitaine du château de l'Ile sur le Rhône). Though he originally began his military career to serve his land, later heirs to the Vice-Count lordship of Geneva gave him the chance to develop great diplomatic skills, and gained legal control over territories and strategic mountain passes in the Alps. In the following year, de Candie had the honour of being chosen one of the masters of the Most Noble Order of the Priory of Geneva. He attended the needs and diplomatic duties of the Count of Geneva of the House of Savoy in dealings with France and Italy. This caused the great powers such as France, England, and Spain to take the Vice-Count’s opinions into account.
In accordance with the records of his higher education at the Monastery of the Bishop of Sion by-the-Alps, François de Candie was versed in Roman and Catholic canon law, and fluent in various languages such as French, Italian, German, Latin and Greek. He was well-known by his analytic mind and distinguished by his diplomatic strategies. His hereditary title of Vice-Count of Geneva was held by the de Candiæ family until the referendum of the Swiss Protestant Reformation.
[edit] See also
- House of Candia
- Chateau de Candie at [1]
[edit] References
- Dynastic House of Candia - extract from the Annuaire de la noblesse de France, 1861
