Background
He was the son of Bertrand III of Baux, Count of Andria and Montescaglioso and his second wife, Marguerite d"Aulnay.
Captain General Senator of Rome
He was the son of Bertrand III of Baux, Count of Andria and Montescaglioso and his second wife, Marguerite d"Aulnay.
Francis"s father was a Senator of Rome, Captain General of Tuscany, and Justiciar of Naples. The half-royal Baux family was one of the greatest families of the kingdom after the Duke"s marriage to Marguerite of Taranto in 1348. In 1349, Francis was given an extensive grant by Louis, Prince of Taranto.
Francis was created Duke of Andria and was the first magnate to be raised to ducal dignity in the kingdom.
Andria had been a royal fief which the Duke"s father received from Beatrice of Anjou, by virtue of her dower. Margaret"s claim was supported by Pope Gregory XI. Queen Joanna, however, decided to exercise direct rule over the Prince of Taranto"s Greek possessions.
In April 1374, Queen Joanna decided to suppress the family and stripped Francis of all his lands and titles. This action led to a civil war between the Queen and the Baux family.
An account is recorded in the Aragonese version of the Chronicle of the Morea.
Francis married three times. She died about September 1380 in imprisonment. They had two children:
James of Baux, Prince of Achaea and the last titular Latin Emperor of Constantinople.
Antonia of Baux, queen consort to Frederick III, King of Sicily.
In 1381, Francis married thirdly to Sueva Orsini, by whom he had issue including Margaret of Baux. Mother of Jacquetta of Luxembourg.
Through Margaret, Francis was a great-grandfather of queen consort Elizabeth Woodville, wife of King Edward IV of England.