The story of Louis XII is partly reminiscent of the fate of another French king - Henry IV. Also a distant royal relative - a second cousin of Louis XI and his son-in-law - but due to problems with direct heirs, a very confident contender for the throne. Before his coronation in 1498 at the age of 36, Louis XII was called Louis II and bore the title of Duke of Orléans (Louis I was his grandfather, killed on the orders of John of Burgundy - see previous post).
Louis XI treated his son-in-law almost the same way as Catherine de Medici treated Henry of Bourbon 100 years later. They did not like him, limited his influence in every possible way, and even - a very subtle and insidious calculation - married the barren and ugly princess Jeanne, so that the Orlen branch, even if she came to power, would not have heirs. As Louis XI later wrote to the Count of Dammartin, "It will be a quiet marriage, not burdened with children, I'm sure."
Louis of Orleans survived all the humiliation and became king. Henry IV, upon his accession to the throne, said, “Paris is worth a mass.” Louis remarked, “The King of France forgave the Duke of Orleans’s offenses.” As king, Louis XII pursued such a successful domestic policy that he even earned the nickname "Father of the People."
Louis XII (1462-1515, king from 1498), artist Jean Perreal:
The father of Louis XII was Duke Charles of Orleans, a great French poet (“Prince Poet and Prince of Poets,” as his contemporaries called him). He spent 25 years as a prisoner of the British during the Hundred Years' War, where he was treated with great honor, but was not released until he received a ransom. There Charles d'Orléans wrote his famous lines:
"Standing on the seashore near Dover,
I directed my greedy gaze towards France.
I remembered how much happiness and peace
There was once a promise for me every day.
And I couldn’t hold back my sighs:
I felt - with all my heart I love
“My fatherland, my France!”
Charles of Orleans was married three times: 1. to Isabella of France (daughter of Charles VI and widow of the English king Richard II), 2. Bonnet d'Armagnac (thanks to this marriage, he became the head of the Armagnac party) and 3. Mary of Cleves (niece of the Burgundian Duke Philip the Good).
Parents of Louis XII - Charles of Orleans (1394-1465) and Maria of Cleves (1426-1487):
A collection of poetry by Charles of Orleans "The Mill of Thought" and a postage stamp issued for the 700th anniversary of his birth:
Louis XII, like his father, was married 3 times (see portraits of his wives below):
1. from 1476 to Joan of France (1464-1505), divorced from 1499;
2. from 1499 on Anne of Brittany (1477-1513 (or 1514);
3. from 1514 on Mary of England (1496-1533)
1. Jeanne of France (Jeanne de Valois). Father: King Louis XI of France (1423-1483), mother: Charlotte of Savoy (1441-1483). Saint Joan of France - recognized as Blessed in the 17th century, canonized in 1950.
When the cunning Louis XI invited the mother of Louis of Orleans to marry his children, this was greeted with delight as a great honor and rapprochement with the royal family. The bride had not yet been seen and did not know what she was like - “hunchbacked, rickety, lame.” When this fact surfaced, mother and son tried to break off the engagement, but the king insisted on his own.
At the wedding feast, the groom cried with rage, and the bride with humiliation. Immediately after the marriage, Louis sent Jeanne to the castle of Linieres and only occasionally, under the threats of the king and against his will, visited his abandoned wife. At the same time, Zhanna loved her husband very much. She followed him into exile and looked after him faithfully during his illness. But even this could not break Louis’s disdain. Probably, if it were her will, Zhanna would have sacrificed her personal happiness and refused to marry her loved one, so as not to turn their life into torture. But Louis XI was adamant.
After becoming king, the first thing Louis XII did was deal with his divorce. This was almost the only case when the divorce process cost “little blood.” There were as many as 2 pretexts - close relationship and infertility of the queen. The Pope at that time was none other than Alexander VI (in the world Rodrigo Borgia), with whom it was also quite possible to come to an agreement.
Louis ascended the throne in 1498 and already on October 12, 1499 he received a sanction for divorce and permission to remarry. At the same time, the documents were delivered to the king personally by Caesar Borgia, for which he received the title of Duke of Valentinois and a promise of marriage with the king's relative Charlotte d'Albret.
After the divorce, Jeanne of France devoted herself entirely to charitable activities, for which she was subsequently canonized and elevated to the ranks of saints.
2. Anna of Brittany (Anne de Montfort). Duchess of Brittany, Queen of France - widow of King Charles VIII Father: Duke of Brittany Francis II (1433-1488), mother: Margaret of Foix (1458-1486).
Anna of Brittany is too outstanding a person to write about her briefly, so later there will be a separate post, as well as about Mary of Burgundy.
3. Mary of England (Mary Tudor). Father: King Henry VII of England (1457-1509), mother: Elizabeth of York (1466-1503) (niece of Richard III).
Maria was left to her own devices from childhood. Her mother died when she was 7 years old, her father when she was 13. Her brother, the famous Henry VIII, who at that time was barely 18 and who was primarily concerned with himself, his entertainment, his mistresses and much more besides his sister, became king. Therefore, it is not surprising that Mary’s behavior was by no means impeccable. Moreover, having matured, she began to be considered the most beautiful princess in Europe. She was constantly surrounded by male attention, which she did not always consider necessary to refuse. Until a certain Karl Brandon, Duke of Suffolk, appeared among her fans. He was a bright personality and, on top of that, the best friend of Henry VIII. There were even rumors about the intention of the young people to marry and then Henry, who needed peace with France, informed his sister of his intention to marry her to the elderly Louis. Maria was 19 at that time, her future husband 52. Maria did not oppose this marriage, but set a condition - if she survives Louis XII, then she will be allowed to marry of her own choice.
Among the ladies-in-waiting who were part of the retinue of the princess leaving for France was Anne Boleyn, the future wife of Henry VIII and the mother of Elizabeth I. Charles Brandon also followed his beloved. In France, the princess's cortege was met by the young Duke Francis of Angoulême (future King Francis I), who, due to the absence of Louis XII's sons, was the heir to the French throne. He liked Maria immediately, as did most of the young people around her. Immediately after the wedding, he began to court the queen, but was stopped in time. The personal physician of the royal couple, who, apparently, had already gradually begun to serve the future monarch, said that Mary could not have children from Louis XII. But they could be from him. In this case, Francis will have to be content with seeing his son on the throne instead of himself. Having made a choice between love and the crown in favor of the latter, Francis stopped his courtship and even persuaded Charles Brandon to protect the queen from other annoying suitors.
All three did not have to wait long. Louis XII, who tried with all his might to entertain his young wife by participating in feasts, tournaments and other activities more typical of young people, died... a month after the wedding on January 1, 1515.
Maria returned to England, where she reminded her brother of the terms of the treaty. Henry “broke” for a long time and as a result, the lovers could not stand it and got married secretly. The king fell into a terrible anger, but soon calmed down. Whatever you say, sister and best friend.
They lived happily for 17 years until Mary’s death from tuberculosis in 1533. Charles, however, did not grieve for long and soon married again, while remaining a friend of such an absolutely unreliable person as Henry VIII until the end of his life.
Louis XII:
St. Joan of France (1464-1505), first wife of Louis XII:
Lively and cheerful by nature, Louis fought in tournaments, went hunting, loved to feast and in his youth was not interested in politics.
Louis made many of his political decisions under the influence of the advisers around him, especially Georges Amboise. At the beginning of his reign, he eased taxes and took care of improving legal proceedings. In March 1499, notables assembled in Blois to develop rules for the trial. Louis regulated the relations between peasants and owners, defining more precisely the feudal duties of the former. For his judicial reforms, generosity and cordiality, he was called the “father of the people.”
With experienced commanders, Louis moved to Italy, crossed the Alps (July) and took Milan on September 14. The Duke of Milan, Lodovico Moro, fled. The outrages of the French caused widespread discontent in the city and paved the way for its return. Two months later, Lodovico managed to drive the French out of Milan, but in the spring of 1500 he was defeated near Novara and soon betrayed by his Swiss mercenaries, who handed him over to the French. Having gotten rid of a dangerous rival, the king of France was able to continue his conquests in Italy.
Louis appointed Armagnac as the ruler of this part, who argued over two regions with Gonsalvo, the Spanish commander. War began between France and Spain on Italian territory. Gonsalvo defeated the French and Swiss mercenary troops at Cerignola (1503); another Spanish commander, Andrada, defeated the French army at Seminara. Louis himself was defeated at Garigliano and concluded an agreement with Isabella and Ferdinand, according to which he renounced his claims to Naples ().
Louis now directed his concerns to maintaining and expanding his rule in Northern Italy, pacified Genoa () and joined the League of Cambrai against Venice (Maximilian, Pope Julius II, Ferdinand of Aragon;). Julius II, wanting to oust the French from Italy, separated from Louis and concluded a “holy league” against France. The council of clergy convened by Louis in Tours () decided to protect the rights of the Gallican Church, allowed the king to repel the attacks of the pope and approved Louis's intention to convene an ecumenical council in Pisa.
Since 1512, the war in Italy took a turn unfavorable for Louis: his troops suffered defeats, Milan slipped out of his hands, Maximilian Sforza was proclaimed Duke of Milan. In 1513, French troops suffered heavy defeats at Novara and Guingata. The French treasury was empty. After long negotiations, Louis made peace in August 1514 with the English and Spanish kings.
He died on January 1, 1515, as they joked at the time, “from trying to get an heir,” shortly before his death, having married for the third time Mary Tudor, daughter of Henry VII (Anne of Brittany died in 1514). Louis left no sons; his successor was his cousin and son-in-law, Francis, Count of Angoulême.
| Capetians (987-1328) |
| 987 | 996 | 1031 | 1060 | 1108 | 1137 | 1180 | 1223 | 1226 | |||||||
| Hugo Capet | Robert II | Henry I | Philip I | Louis VI | Louis VII | Philip II | Louis VIII | ||||||||
| 1226 | 1270 | 1285 | 1314 | 1316 | 1316 | 1322 | 1328 | ||||||
| Louis IX | Philip III | Philip IV | Louis X | John I | Philip V | Charles IV | |||||||
| 1328 | 1350 | 1364 | 1380 | 1422 | 1461 | 1483 | 1498 | ||||||
| Philip VI | John II | Charles V | Charles VI | Charles VII | Louis XI | Charles VIII | |||||||
| 1498 | 1515 | 1547 | 1559 | 1560 | 1574 | 1589 | |||||
| Louis XII | Francis I | Henry II | Francis II | Charles IX | Henry III | ||||||
| Bourbons (1589-1792) |
| 1589 | 1610 | 1643 | 1715 | 1774 | 1792 | ||||
| Henry IV | Louis XIII | Louis XIV | Louis XV | Louis XVI | |||||
| 1792 | 1804 | 1814 | 1824 | 1830 | 1848 | 1852 | 1870 | ||||||
| - | Napoleon I (Bonaparte) | Louis XVIII | Charles X | Louis Philippe I (House of Orleans) | - | Napoleon III (Bonaparte) | |||||||
|
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While this was happening in St. Petersburg, the French had already passed Smolensk and were moving closer and closer to Moscow. The historian of Napoleon Thiers, just like other historians of Napoleon, says, trying to justify his hero, that Napoleon was drawn to the walls of Moscow involuntarily. He is right, as are all historians who seek an explanation of historical events in the will of one person; he is just as right as Russian historians who claim that Napoleon was attracted to Moscow by the art of Russian commanders. Here, in addition to the law of retrospectivity (recurrence), which represents everything that has passed as preparation for an accomplished fact, there is also reciprocity, which confuses the whole matter. A good player who has lost at chess is sincerely convinced that his loss was due to his mistake, and he looks for this mistake at the beginning of his game, but forgets that in every step of his, throughout the entire game, there were the same mistakes that none his move was not perfect. The error to which he draws attention is noticeable to him only because the enemy took advantage of it. How much more complex than this is the game of war, taking place in certain conditions of time, and where it is not one will that guides lifeless machines, but where everything stems from countless collisions of various arbitrarinesses?
After Smolensk, Napoleon sought battles beyond Dorogobuzh at Vyazma, then at Tsarev Zaymishche; but it turned out that due to countless conflicts of circumstances, the Russians could not accept the battle before Borodino, one hundred and twenty versts from Moscow. Napoleon ordered from Vyazma to move directly to Moscow.
Moscou, la capitale asiatique de ce grand empire, la ville sacree des peuples d "Alexandre, Moscou avec ses innombrables eglises en forme de pagodes chinoises! [Moscow, the Asian capital of this great empire, the sacred city of the peoples of Alexander, Moscow with its countless churches, in the shape of Chinese pagodas!] This Moscou haunted Napoleon's imagination. On the march from Vyazma to Tsarev Zaimishche, Napoleon rode on his salty anglicized pacer, accompanied by the guard, guard, pages and adjutants. The chief of staff, Berthier, fell behind in order to interrogate the one captured by the cavalry Russian prisoner. He galloped, accompanied by the translator Lelorgne d'Ideville, caught up with Napoleon and stopped his horse with a cheerful face.
- Eh bien? [Well?] - said Napoleon.
- Un cosaque de Platow [Platov Cossack] says that Platov’s corps is uniting with a large army, that Kutuzov has been appointed commander-in-chief. Tres intelligent et bavard! [Very smart and talkative!]
Napoleon smiled and ordered to give this Cossack a horse and bring him to him. He himself wanted to talk to him. Several adjutants galloped off, and an hour later Denisov’s serf, whom he had given over to Rostov, Lavrushka, in a batman’s jacket on a French cavalry saddle, with a roguish and drunken, cheerful face, rode up to Napoleon. Napoleon ordered him to ride next to him and began to ask:
-Are you a Cossack?
- Cossack s, your honor.
“Le cosaque ignorant la compagnie dans laquelle il se trouvait, car la simplicite de Napoleon n"avait rien qui put reveler a une imagination orientale la presence d"un souverain, s"entretint avec la plus extreme familiarite des affaires de la guerre actuelle" , [The Cossack, not knowing the society in which he was, because the simplicity of Napoleon had nothing that could open the presence of the sovereign to the Eastern imagination, spoke with extreme familiarity about the circumstances of the present war.] - says Thiers, recounting this episode Indeed, Lavrushka, who got drunk and left the master without dinner, was flogged the day before and sent to the village to get chickens, where he became interested in looting and was captured by the French. Lavrushka was one of those rude, insolent lackeys who had seen all sorts of things, which duty to do everything with meanness and cunning, which are ready to do any service to their master and who cunningly guess the master’s bad thoughts, especially vanity and pettiness.
Once in the company of Napoleon, whose personality he recognized very well and easily. Lavrushka was not at all embarrassed and only tried with all his heart to serve the new masters.
He knew very well that it was Napoleon himself, and the presence of Napoleon could not confuse him more than the presence of Rostov or the sergeant with rods, because he had nothing that neither the sergeant nor Napoleon could deprive him of.
He lied about everything that was said between the orderlies. Much of this was true. But when Napoleon asked him how the Russians thought, whether they would defeat Bonaparte or not, Lavrushka squinted and thought.
He saw subtle cunning here, as people like Lavrushka always see cunning in everything, he frowned and was silent.
“It means: if there is a battle,” he said thoughtfully, “and in speed, then it’s so accurate.” Well, if three days pass after that very date, then it means that this very battle will be delayed.
It was translated to Napoleon as follows: “Si la bataille est donnee avant trois jours, les Francais la gagneraient, mais que si elle serait donnee plus tard, Dieu seul sait ce qui en arrivrait” [“If the battle takes place before three days, the French will win him, but if after three days, then God knows what will happen.”] - smilingly conveyed Lelorgne d "Ideville. Napoleon did not smile, although he was apparently in the most cheerful mood, and ordered these words to be repeated to himself.
Lavrushka noticed this and, to cheer him up, said, pretending that he did not know who he was.
“We know, you have Bonaparte, he beat everyone in the world, well, that’s another story about us...” he said, not knowing how and why in the end a boastful patriotism slipped into his words. The translator conveyed these words to Napoleon without ending, and Bonaparte smiled. “Le jeune Cosaque fit sourire son puissant interlocuteur,” [The young Cossack made his powerful interlocutor smile.] says Thiers. Having walked a few steps in silence, Napoleon turned to Berthier and said that he wanted to experience the effect that would have sur cet enfant du Don [on this child of the Don] the news that the person with whom this enfant du Don was speaking was the Emperor himself , the same emperor who wrote the immortally victorious name on the pyramids.
Louis XII, King Louis XIII
Louis XII(French Louis XII), nicknamed Father of the people(French le Père du peuple; June 27, 1462 (14620627) - January 1, 1515) - King of France since April 7, 1498. From the Orleans branch of the Valois dynasty, son of Duke Charles of Orleans. The main event of his reign was the wars that France waged on Italian territory.
Lively and cheerful by nature, Louis fought in tournaments, went hunting, loved to feast and in his youth was not interested in politics.
Louis was married to Jeanne, daughter of King Louis XI. When the latter died, Louis became a dangerous rival for the ruler of France, Anne de Beaujeux, who was his wife's elder sister. The leader of the Orleans party was Count Dunois. With the help of government officials, the Orleans party hoped to take power from Anna, but this failed. Soon, however, a new coalition was formed: Louis of Orleans, the Dukes of Breton and Lorraine, Alain d'Albret and others. The purpose of the alliance was to free the king from the hands of bad advisers (Anna). The “Crazy War” of the coalition against the crown began. At the Battle of Saint-Aubin-du-Cormier in 1488, the insurgents were defeated, and Louis was captured and imprisoned in Bourges. Three years later, Louis was released thanks to the requests of his wife.
After Charles VIII, who died childless, Louis ascended the throne without hindrance and treated all his former enemies mercifully, forgetting the insults inflicted on him (“The King of France,” said Louis, “forgot the insults of the Duke of Orleans,” French Le roi de France a oublié les injures du duc d'Orléans).
Wanting to retain Brittany for France, Louis married Anne of Brittany, the widow of Charles VIII (Louis divorced his first wife, the ugly Jeanne, with the permission of Pope Alexander VI).
Louis made many political decisions under the influence of the advisers around him, especially Georges Amboise. At the beginning of his reign, he eased taxes and took care of improving legal proceedings. In March 1499, notables assembled in Blois to develop rules for the trial. Louis regulated the relations between peasants and owners, defining more precisely the feudal duties of the former. For his judicial reforms, generosity and cordiality, he was called the “father of the people.”
Louis's foreign policy led to a series of unhappy wars. As the grandson of Valentina Visconti, he laid claim to the Duchy of Milan, continuing, following the example of Charles VIII, to think about the conquest of the Kingdom of Naples. On his side were the pope, the French nobility, Henry VII of England and Emperor Maximilian. With experienced commanders, Louis moved to Italy, crossed the Alps (July 1499) and took Milan on September 14. The Milanese rebelled, but Louis pacified them by capturing Lodovico Moro. In 1500, Louis concluded an alliance with Ferdinand of Aragon in Granada, dividing the Kingdom of Naples with him. King Federigo of Naples was captured (1501); Louis received Abruzzo and Campania.
Louis appointed Armagnac as the ruler of this part, who argued over two regions with Gonsalvo, the Spanish commander. War began between France and Spain on Italian territory. Gonsalvo defeated the French and Swiss mercenary troops at Cerignola (1503); another Spanish commander, Andrada, defeated the French army at Seminara. Louis himself was defeated at Garigliano and concluded an agreement with Isabella and Ferdinand, according to which he renounced his claims to Naples (1504).
Louis now directed his concerns to maintaining and expanding his rule in Northern Italy, pacified Genoa (1507) and joined the League of Cambrai against Venice (Maximilian, Pope Julius II, Ferdinand of Aragon; 1509). Julius II, wanting to oust the French from Italy, separated from Louis and concluded a “holy league” against France. Convened by Louis in Tours (1510), the council of clergy decided to protect the rights of the Gallican church, allowed the king to repel the attacks of the pope and approved Louis's intention to convene an ecumenical council in Pisa.
Since 1512, the war in Italy took a turn unfavorable for Louis: his troops suffered defeats, Milan slipped out of his hands, Maximilian Sforza was proclaimed Duke of Milan. In 1513, French troops suffered heavy defeats at Novara and Guingata. The French treasury was empty. After long negotiations, Louis made peace in August 1514 with the English and Spanish kings.
He died on January 1, 1515, as they joked then, “from trying to get an heir,” shortly before his death he married Mary Tudor, daughter of Henry VII, for the third time (Anne of Brittany died in 1514). Louis left no sons; his successor was his cousin and son-in-law, Francis, Count of Angoulême.
| Capetians (987-1328) |
| Bourbons (1589-1792) |
| 1589 | 1610 | 1643 | 1715 | 1774 | 1792 | ||||
| Henry IV | Louis XIV | Louis XV | Louis XVI | ||||||
| Rulers of Brittany | |
|---|---|
| Early rulers, c. 818 - 913 |
Varoch I Varoch II Yudikael Morvan Viomarc Nominoe Erispoe Salomon Paskveten Gurvan Yudikael Alain I Gurmaelon |
| Nantes House, 938-958 |
Alen II Drogo Hoel I Gueres Alen (III) |
| Rennes House, 958-1072 |
Conan I Geoffroy I Alain III Ed I Conan II Avoise with Joel II |
| Cornuai House, 1072-1156 |
Alain IV Conan III Hoel III Bertha with Ed II |
| House of Penthievres, 1156-1194 |
Conan IV Constance with Geoffrey II and Ranulf of Chester |
| Plantagenets, 1194-1203 | |
| House of Thouars, 1203-1221 |
Alix with Pierre I |
| House of Dreux, 1221-1364 |
Jean I Jean II Arthur II Jean III Joan with Charles I |
| House de Montfort, 1341/65-1514 |
Jean IV Jean V Jean VI Francis I Pierre II Arthur III Francis II Anna with Charles II and Louis I |
| House of Valois, 1514-1547 |
Claude with Francis Francis III Henry |
| Titular dukes, 1547 - n. V. |
Louis II Louis III Francis VI de Bourbon |
king louis xiii, louis 12, louis xi, louis xii, louis xiv, louis xv, louis xv: black sun, louis xvi, louis xvii, louis xviii
When Louis was born, it seemed incredible that he would take the throne of the French kings: after all, he was in third place in the line of heirs to the throne after the king's brother and his own father. Louis XI himself showed obvious irritation at the appearance of this “heir to the throne” and openly doubted the legality of his birth. Indeed, Louis’s father, the Duke of Orleans, was already at that time. He was 68 years old and was not in good health. Without thinking about the French throne, Louis in his youth was much more concerned about receiving his grandmother's inheritance. As the grandson of Valentina Visconti, he could lay claim to the Duchy of Milan.
Louis XI had a long-standing dislike for the Dukes of Orleans. This hostility gave him a truly diabolical idea - to strike a blow at the future of the House of Orleans. Soon after the birth of Louis, the king had a daughter, Jeanne, with a physical deformity, and before this fact became known to everyone, he managed to come to an agreement with Louis’s unsuspecting father about the future wedding of the children. One could not expect that this marriage would be happy, and besides, he could well remain childless. Later, when the condition of the unfortunate princess was no longer a secret to anyone, mother and son tried to thwart these plans. But the king remained inexorable and, despite resistance, forced the marriage. It was not in his power, however, to force the Duke of Orleans to reconcile with him. Jeanne sincerely loved her husband, looked after him, without fear of becoming infected when in 1483 he fell ill with smallpox, but she never managed to overcome the duke’s dislike. The sight of the newlyweds at a luxurious wedding feast - the young Duke did not touch the food and, not paying attention to anyone, sobbed with anger and powerlessness, and the bride shed tears of resentment and disappointment - did not bode well. Only the king's threats could force the young husband to visit - however, very rarely and not for long - the chambers of his wife, who lived separately from him in the castle of Liniers. Later, as soon as he ascended the throne, Louis started a case to declare the marriage invalid. At the trial, despite his wife’s objections, he argued that during the entire twenty years of their marriage there had never been a marital relationship between them.
The life of the Duke, removed from political activities by the king and trying to find solace in luxury and debauchery, seemed to be completely determined by numerous love affairs, hunting and other entertainments. However, when the brother of Louis XI died without leaving heirs, and the Dauphin Charles remained the only son of the king, the position of the Duke of Orleans noticeably strengthened: he now became the second contender for the throne, directly after the direct heir Charles. The rapidly decrepit Louis XI understood very well the threat this posed to the minor heir to the throne, and tried to reduce it with his latest orders. Upon the death of the king, his daughter and son-in-law, Anne and Pierre de Beaujeu, were to receive the regency. The Duke of Orleans was forced to swear on the Gospel that he would not seek regency under them. Of course, the Duke forgot about his promise immediately after the king's death. First, he tried to challenge his will before the Estates General, and when this did not work, he began an armed rebellion in 1485. But he was not successful on this path either. In July 1488, Louis almost died at the Battle of Saint-Aubin-du-Cormier. He was captured and thrown into prison without any trial. He spent the next three years in very strict confinement in terrible conditions, among guards who tormented him with rough treatment. Only in June 1491 did the grown-up Charles VIII decide, without asking Anne Beaujeu’s consent, to free Louis, return his favor to him and restore the rights taken from him. From that time on, Louis d'Orléans was officially considered his heir.
In April 1498, Charles died without leaving any sons. Having become king, Louis treated his former enemies very generously, and even Anna Boje did not remind him of the hardships of his three-year imprisonment. The country's financial situation was desperate. The Italian campaign of Charles VIII devastated the treasury. Nevertheless, the new king not only did not raise taxes, but even went to some extent to reduce them. He did not collect the usual tax for coronation celebrations, although he had every right to do so. The king diligently took up reforms, trying to improve the well-being of the country. His first decrees concerned monetary circulation, coinage, customs duties, trade and other economic and financial issues. He cared about the improvement of roads, the growth of trade, the rise of agriculture, and the prosperity of crafts. France's economic situation was quickly improving. The Italian War, which soon resumed, did not prevent this.
As before, Louis considered his main concern to be the acquisition of the Duchy of Milan. In June 1499, the king crossed the Alps and was greeted in a friendly manner in Savoy. After the first clashes with the French army, the mercenaries of the Duke of Milan, Louis More, began to scatter. He himself fled to Tyrol under the protection of the emperor. In September the French entered Milan. But the following year the Milanese rebelled against them. Louis More returned to his capital, but in March 1500 he suffered a final defeat and was captured. In April, the French captured Milan for the second time, and in November, Louis concluded an agreement with the Spanish king Ferdinand on the division of the Kingdom of Naples. In the summer of 1501, the French invaded southern Italy, took Capua and destroyed it. At the same time, the Spaniards landed in Calabria. The Neapolitan king Federigo gave up resistance and surrendered to Louis. As expected, the Kingdom of Naples was divided among the victors, but soon strife began between the French and the Spaniards, which escalated into open war in 1503. Louis, outraged by Ferdinand's treachery, gathered a new army and moved it to Italy. In November-December, the French were defeated in the seven-week Battle of Garigliano. Upon learning of this defeat, Louis fell ill, locked himself in his rooms and did not receive anyone. In March 1504, he signed peace with Spain and renounced all claims to southern Italy. Things didn't go well in the north either. Neither the pope nor the emperor wanted to recognize Louis' rights to Lombardy. Spain, Switzerland, Venice and England joined their union. In 1512 Milan again came under the rule of the Sforza family. At the same time, the Spaniards captured Navarre. The following year the Swiss invaded Burgundy and approached Dijon. To make peace, Louis had to give up all his conquests.
The same failure awaited the king in another respect: he never managed to secure the throne for his dynasty. Having parted with Jeanne, Louis soon married the widow of his predecessor, Queen Anne. In subsequent years, she bore him two daughters and two sons, but both boys died in infancy. After the death of his second wife, Louis married for the third time the young English princess Mary. But this new marriage only undermined his strength: two months after the wedding, the king died.
All the monarchs of the world. Western Europe. Konstantin Ryzhov. Moscow, 1999
Louis XII.
Louis XII (1462-1514) - king of France from the Valois family, who reigned from 1498-1514. Son of the Duke of Orleans Charles and Maria of Kyiv.
2) from January 8 1499 Anne, Duchess of Brittany, widow of King Charles VIII of France (b. 1477 + January 9, 1514);
When Louis was born, it seemed incredible that he would take the throne of the French kings: after all, he was in third place in the line of heirs to the throne after the king's brother and his own father. Louis XI himself showed obvious irritation at the appearance of this “heir to the throne” and openly doubted the legality of his birth. Indeed, Louis’s father, the Duke of Orleans, was already at that time. He was 68 years old and was not in good health. Without thinking about the French throne, Louis in his youth was much more concerned about receiving his grandmother's inheritance. As the grandson of Valentina Visconti, he could lay claim to the Duchy of Milan.
Louis XI had a long-standing dislike for the Dukes of Orleans. This hostility gave him a truly diabolical idea - to strike a blow at the future of the House of Orleans. Soon after the birth of Louis, the king had a daughter, Jeanne, with a physical deformity, and before this fact became known to everyone, he managed to come to an agreement with Louis’s unsuspecting father about the future wedding of the children. One could not expect that this marriage would be happy, and besides, he could well remain childless. Later, when the condition of the unfortunate princess was no longer a secret to anyone, mother and son tried to thwart these plans. But the king remained inexorable and, despite resistance, forced the marriage. It was not in his power, however, to force the Duke of Orleans to reconcile with him. Jeanne sincerely loved her husband, looked after him, without fear of becoming infected when in 1483 he fell ill with smallpox, but she never managed to overcome the duke’s dislike. The sight of the newlyweds at a luxurious wedding feast - the young Duke did not touch the food and, not paying attention to anyone, sobbed with anger and powerlessness, and the bride shed tears of resentment and disappointment - did not bode well. Only the king's threats could force the young husband to visit - however, very rarely and not for long - the chambers of his wife, who lived separately from him in the castle of Liniers. Later, as soon as he ascended the throne, Louis started a case to declare the marriage invalid. At the trial, despite his wife’s objections, he argued that during the entire twenty years of their marriage there had never been a marital relationship between them.
The life of the Duke, removed from political activities by the king and trying to find solace in luxury and debauchery, seemed to be completely determined by numerous love affairs, hunting and other entertainments. However, when the brother of Louis XI died without leaving heirs, and the Dauphin Charles remained the only son of the king, the position of the Duke of Orleans noticeably strengthened: he now became the second contender for the throne, directly after the direct heir Charles. The rapidly decrepit Louis XI understood very well the threat this posed to the minor heir to the throne, and tried to reduce it with his latest orders. Upon the death of the king, the regency was to be given to his daughter and son-in-law, Anne and Pierre de Beaujeu. The Duke of Orleans was forced to swear on the Gospel that he would not seek regency under them. Of course, the Duke forgot about his promise immediately after the king's death. First, he tried to challenge his will before the Estates General, and when this did not work, he began an armed rebellion in 1485. But he was not successful on this path either. In July 1488, Louis almost died at the Battle of Saint-Aubin-du-Cormier. He was captured and thrown into prison without any trial. He spent the next three years in very strict confinement in terrible conditions, among guards who tormented him with rough treatment. Only in June 1491 did the grown-up Charles VIII decide, without asking Anne Beaujeu’s consent, to free Louis, return his favor to him and restore the rights taken from him. From that time on, Louis d'Orléans was officially considered his heir.
In April 1498, Charles died without leaving any sons. Having become king, Louis treated his former enemies very generously, and even Anna Boje did not remind him of the hardships of his three-year imprisonment. The country's financial situation was desperate. The Italian campaign of Charles VIII devastated the treasury. Nevertheless, the new king not only did not raise taxes, but even went to some extent to reduce them. He did not collect the usual tax for coronation celebrations, although he had every right to do so. The king diligently took up reforms, trying to improve the well-being of the country. His first decrees concerned monetary circulation, coinage, customs duties, trade and other economic and financial issues. He cared about the improvement of roads, the growth of trade, the rise of agriculture, and the prosperity of crafts. France's economic situation was quickly improving. The Italian War, which soon resumed, did not prevent this.
As before, Louis considered his main concern to be the acquisition of the Duchy of Milan. In June 1499, the king crossed the Alps and was greeted in a friendly manner in Savoy. After the first clashes with the French army, the mercenaries of the Duke of Milan, Louis More, began to scatter. He himself fled to Tyrol under the protection of the emperor. In September the French entered Milan. But the following year the Milanese rebelled against them. Louis More returned to his capital, but in March 1500 he suffered a final defeat and was captured. In April, the French captured Milan for the second time, and in November, Louis concluded an agreement with the Spanish king Ferdinand on the division of the Kingdom of Naples. In the summer of 1501, the French invaded southern Italy, took Capua and destroyed it. At the same time, the Spaniards landed in Calabria. The Neapolitan king Federigo gave up resistance and surrendered to Louis. As expected, the Kingdom of Naples was divided among the victors, but soon strife began between the French and the Spaniards, which escalated into open war in 1503. Louis, outraged by Ferdinand's treachery, gathered a new army and moved it to Italy. In November-December, the French were defeated in the seven-week Battle of Garigliano. Upon learning of this defeat, Louis fell ill, locked himself in his rooms and did not receive anyone. In March 1504, he signed peace with Spain and renounced all claims to southern Italy. Things didn't go well in the north either. Neither the pope nor the emperor wanted to recognize Louis' rights to Lombardy. Spain, Switzerland, Venice and England joined their union. In 1512 Milan again came under the rule of the Sforza family. At the same time, the Spaniards captured Navarre. The following year the Swiss invaded Burgundy and approached Dijon. To make peace, Louis had to give up all his conquests.
The same failure awaited the king in another respect: he never managed to secure the throne for his dynasty. Having parted with Jeanne, Louis soon married the widow of his predecessor, Queen Anne. In subsequent years, she bore him two daughters and two sons, but both boys died in infancy. After the death of his second wife, Louis married for the third time the young English princess Mary. But this new marriage only undermined his strength: two months after the wedding, the king died.
All the monarchs of the world. Western Europe. Konstantin Ryzhov. Moscow, 1999
Louis XII.
Reproduction from the site http://monarchy.nm.ru/
Louis XII
King of France
Louis XII Father of the Nation
Louis XII le Pere du Peuple
Years of life: June 27, 1462 - January 1, 1515
Reign: April 7, 1498 - January 1, 1515
Father: Charles of Orleans
Mother: Maria Klevskaya
Wives: 1) Jeanne of France (Saint Jeanne)
2) Anna Bretanskaya
3) Mary Tudor
Daughters: Claudia, Renata
Among the heirs to the throne, Louis occupied only third place after the Dauphin Charles and his father. His appearance on the throne seemed almost incredible, and therefore in his youth Louis paid more attention to obtaining the Milanese inheritance of his grandmother Valentina Visconti. Nevertheless, Louis XI sought to completely eliminate the Orleans branch of the Valois. When his physically handicapped daughter Jeanne was born, he agreed with Charles of Orleans about a marriage between the children before everyone knew about the princess’s deformity. Charles tried to annul this agreement, but the king was adamant. There were no more unhappy people at the wedding than the bride and groom. Zhanna sincerely loved her husband. When he fell ill with smallpox in 1483, she looked after him without fear of becoming infected. However, Louis openly neglected his wife, visited her bedroom extremely rarely, and soon moved her to another castle.
After the death of Louis XI, young Charles VIII became king, and his elder sister Anne Beaujeu became regent. Louis himself claimed the regency. Having united with Francis of Brittany, he went to war against Anna, but was defeated, captured and spent three years in prison in terrible conditions. Having begun to rule on his own, Charles freed Louis, restored him to rights and declared him his heir.
After the death of the childless Charles, Louis became king. He treated his enemies generously and did not even remind Anna Bozhe of past grievances. The treasury was devastated by Charles's Italian campaign, but Louis not only did not introduce new taxes, but even slightly reduced the old ones. His first decrees concerned monetary circulation, coinage, customs duties, trade and other economic and financial issues. He cared about the improvement of roads, the growth of trade, the rise of agriculture, and the prosperity of crafts. France's economic situation was quickly improving. The Italian War, which soon resumed, did not prevent this.
Louis did not abandon his former dream of capturing the Duchy of Milan. By 1500 Milan came under the rule of Louis. Soon he signed a treaty with Spain on the division of Southern Italy. Having attacked the Kingdom of Naples from two sides, Louis and Ferdinand quickly captured it, but very soon quarreled. Louis was defeated by the army of the Spanish king, and in March 1504 he renounced his claims to Southern Italy. In the north, things were also not going well. Spain, Switzerland, England and Venice united against Louis, not wanting to recognize his rights to Lombardy. In 1512, the Spanish captured Navarre, the Swiss invaded Burgundy, and Louis was forced to return Milan to the Sforza family, abandoning all his conquests.
Louis also failed to secure the throne for his dynasty. As soon as he became king, he began to seek a divorce from Jeanne, after which he took the widow of Charles VIII as his wife. However, of their children, only two daughters survived. After the death of Anne of Brittany, he married for the third time to the young English princess Mary, but died soon after the wedding.
Material used from the site http://monarchy.nm.ru/
France in the 16th century(chronological table).
