The fate of Jeanne, the wife of Louis 12. Louis XII of France before his accession to the throne

The advantage of a man who loves one single woman is that she protects him from everyone else.

(Heyem)

Ever since Louis XII got his dear little Breton into his bedroom, he seemed to be a completely contented man. He, who once did not miss a single skirt, now remained completely indifferent to the prettiest girls of his court. One might think that he spends such tiresome nights with the queen that during the day he simply does not have the strength to think about such trifles.

Now he looked calm and peaceful. In the morning, getting out of bed, he loved to stroll through the groves surrounding Blois, humming some frivolous song. And sometimes, still humming, he would appear at his Council meeting.

In short, he was happy.

But if on a personal level Louis had some reasons to congratulate himself on this marriage, then as a king it turned out to be much less. Indeed, the marriage contract signed in Nantes looked much less profitable for France than the contract once signed in Langeais. Small. The Breton took advantage of Louis's love to regain everything that she had to cede to Charles VIII after her father's troops were defeated.

The new contract stipulated the following terms:

1) Anne of Brittany retains the right to personal administration of the duchy;

2) If children appear from the current marriage, the duchy will be inherited by the second child, be it male or female, and if the spouses have only one heir, then the dukedom will pass to the second child of this heir;

3) If the duchess dies before the king without leaving offspring, Louis XII will retain Brittany for the rest of his life, but after him the duchy will be returned to the direct heirs of Madame Anne.

Blinded by love, Louis XII agreed to the terms dictated by the cunning little duchess in an ermine robe. Thus, Brittany retained its independence, which it regained with the death of Charles VIII.

In July 1499, Louis. XII, whose intentions regarding Italy completely coincided with those of Charles VIII, set out to conquer the Duchy of Milan. Before leaving Blois, he took Queen Anne to the castle of Romorantin, who through his efforts was expecting a child at that time.

Better than here. “Madame, you will not find a place to give birth to the Dauphin we are waiting for,” he told her.

To be honest, it's an interesting idea. After all, in this castle lived the Countess of Angoulême, Louise of Savoy, mother of Francis, Duke of Valois, a plump five-year-old boy whom a bizarre kaleidoscope of premature deaths made the rightful heir to the French throne. It is easy to imagine what feelings overwhelmed this woman at the sight of Anne of Brittany, who hoped to produce a Dauphin. While the entire court tirelessly prayed for the birth of a boy, Louise secretly dreamed that the queen would have a daughter and that Francis would inherit the throne of Louis XII.

For five years now, the young Countess of Angoulême had lived with the hope that her son would become king. Achieving this goal would be perceived by her as a kind of revenge. Until now, fate had indeed not been too merciful to her. After a joyless childhood, as soon as she was twelve years old, her father, Philippe de Bresse, married Louise to Count Charles of Angoulême, who was thirty years old at the time.

The count took his wife to Cognac, where he lived for his own pleasure with two mistresses: Antoinette de Polignac, the daughter of the Angoulême governor, and Jeanne Comte, a girl from among the court ladies. Louise was so happy about her marriage that she did not express the slightest dissatisfaction with her husband’s hobbies and very quickly got used to the strange family life four of us. However, at first Charles of Angoulême was very passionate about his twelve-year-old wife. For a while, he even left his favorites, who, not tormented by jealousy at all, took advantage of the pause to catch their breath. It must be admitted that the Count of Angouleme was distinguished by rare tirelessness, but at the same time, it seems, there was no one who would explain to him that the bed, by the way, was also intended for sleeping.

After several months of extremely exhausting life, Louise suddenly became very sad.

“I’m not at all like other women,” she once said sadly.

To persistent questions from one of the ladies in her retinue, she burst into tears and replied that is it normal not to get pregnant when you are already thirteen years old?

And that is to say, in Cognac, where all the court ladies acquired bastards, her case was strange. And so Louise of Savoy went to Plessis-les-Tours to receive a blessing from Francois de Paul, who was rumored to be able to restore a woman’s ability to give birth through prayers. The holy man was excited by her premature alarm and predicted to the young countess that she would become the mother of the king...

Louise returned to Cognac with some confidence, and after a few months she was able to announce her high expectations. Was this the son predicted for her? No. On April 11, 1491, she gave birth to a blue-eyed girl, who was christened Margaret.

<Накануне свадьбы дочери Филипп де Бресс писал своей второй жене, Клодине де Бресс, что Луиза очень озабочена предстоящей ей брачной ночью, а «это означает, отмечал он, что она жаждет овладеть тем умением, которым владеете вы, взрослые замужние женщины…».>

Why was she called by this name? - the courtiers were perplexed.

Due to the persistent curiosity of one of the ladies in her retinue, an explanation was soon found. At the beginning of her pregnancy, Louise always wanted oysters, and one day she accidentally swallowed a pearl along with an oyster... By the way, “margarita” means “pearl” in Latin.

After the birth of little Margaret, Charles of Angoulême returned to his former amusements with Antoinette de Polignac, and then with Jeanne Comte, without, however, stopping his relationship with his wife; at night he came to the bedroom of the one who inexplicably aroused constant attraction in him. On some nights, when his appetite was especially wild, he successively honored each of the three beauties.

The result was impressive: in 1494, Antoinette, Jeanne and Louise became pregnant at the same time. These three upcoming motherhoods delighted Charles of Angoulême. Until the very end of the summer, he looked with pride at his three rounded bellies, which testified to his rare ability to treat the ladies.

Finally, on December 12, on the lawn under an oak tree, Louise of Savoy gave birth to a loud-mouthed, strong man who was named Francis.

“Isn’t he supposed to be king?” - she asked herself a question.

But Francois de Paul's prediction looked too fantastic. In those days, the House of Angoulême was very far from the throne...

Immediately after the birth of little Francis, both favorites gave birth to daughters. For several months, the proximity of children's cradles tired Charles so much that he went to sleep with one of the court beauties in the most distant chambers.

Finding herself suddenly abandoned, Louise suffered greatly. And then there was Karl, being in a wonderful mood, every day expanding the circle of his affections. Now he visited Louise’s bed less and less often, and the poor countess was in complete despair.

And suddenly, on January 1, 1496, Charles dies due to a severe cold. A widow at the age of nineteen, Louise almost immediately takes as her lover the manager of the castle, Jean de Saint-Gelais, with whom she, with the ardor inherent in youth, indulges in love pleasures, wanting to find the disturbed balance. Several years passed like this. And so, after the death of Charles VII, her Francis becomes the legal heir. Then Louise decides to approach the royal court. One fine day, accompanied by her own children and lover, the favorites of the late Count Charles and their bastards, she appeared at the Chinon Castle, where this whole very colorful company caused a real scandal. Eventually she had to return to Romorantin in the hope that Anne of Brittany would fail to bear a son to Louis XII, just as she had failed to provide an heir to Charles VIII.

Now you can easily imagine Louise’s condition while the queen was about to give birth in her castle.

She spent hours in prayer, fingering rosaries and lighting candles, in the hope that Louis would not have a son. And on October 13, 1499, heaven rewarded her: Anna gave birth to a girl, who was named Claude.

Naturally, Louise tried her best to hide her joy, but the queen, being a delicate little thing, immediately noticed the sparkle of triumph in the eyes of the Countess of Angoulême and at the same moment flared up with great hatred for her.

Meanwhile, in Italy, Louis XII, whom the queen had simply transformed, was thinking only about war.

For the first time in his life military campaign did not serve as a reason to wander around the dens. During the previous campaign, he organized such deafening orgies that the memory of them was alive throughout northern Italy. That is why all the beauties from the Milanese aristocracy awaited the arrival of the King of France with a mixed feeling of fear and hope.

Alas! They spent completely in vain on decorations and toilets: Louis’s love for Anna was so great that he did not even look at the local beauties.

This sudden loyalty literally shocked everyone.

It’s okay,” these completely spoiled individuals consoled themselves, “a person doesn’t change that quickly!” It will be night before he returns to us.

But they were mistaken, just as a few years later the Genoese were mistaken, who dreamed of removing Louis XII from the scenes of military events and sent a woman to him for this purpose so that she would seduce him.

Everything was arranged so that the king, before he could arrive, would immediately lose his head. On the streets along which the royal cortege followed, he could see in the windows, on the galleries and balconies of palaces and residential buildings the most beautiful women cities, " most of of which she was in white silk dresses, tied with a belt just under the chest and short enough so that you could see your legs...” And all together, according to a contemporary, “represented a dazzling garland of Genoese women, so dear to the heart of the gallant Frenchman for their majestic bearing and gentle charms, for their grace and ardor, for their passion for chatting with taste, for their constancy in feelings and fidelity.”

In the following days, magnificent events were held in the city. highest degree exquisite festivities where the Genoese brought their wives and daughters “contrary to local customs,” exclusively obeying the orders of the city senators. Each was charged with making the French king fall in love at any cost and involving him in some kind of intrigue.

In the blink of an eye, Genoa became a city completely devoted to pleasure.

In the evening, when Louis XII left the palace and went to one of the balls, the streets were brightly lit with torches and fireworks, fragrant with flowers and filled with the sweet sounds of serenades. As a contemporary of the events, Jean d'Othon, narrates, to all these amusements, where the night hours flew unnoticed in courtship, dancing, masquerades and games, “the Genoese brought their wives, daughters, sisters and relatives, wanting to ensure a pleasant pastime for the king and his entourage. Some from these entourage they chose the most beautiful women and presented them to the king, kissing them first for testing, after which the king did the same with great pleasure, and then he danced with them and received the most honorable reward from them.”<Жан д"Отон. История Людовика XII в 1502 году.>.

Precisely the most honorable one, because Louis XII limited himself only to a friendly conversation with beauties, shaking their delicate hands or playfully biting their ears, which, of course, was the highest manifestation of gallantry. And if at the same time, carried away, he caressed a woman’s breast, it was only because habit is second nature.

It was then that the disappointed and impatient Genoese commissioned the most brilliant woman in the city, Tomassina Spinola, the wife of a famous lawyer, to melt the ice of royal chastity and seduce him.

As a special mission, she was to obtain from Louis XII a number of concessions in favor of the Genoese Signorine. To achieve this goal, a detailed mise-en-scène was developed.

Laurent Cataneo, one of the most noble and famous nobles in the country, was given the task of involving the King of France in a situation favorable for love affairs. To achieve this, he invited the king to his villa and treated his guest to the most exciting spectacle possible. Under the marble portico, the “youngest, with dazzlingly white skin” creatures, dressed with exquisite lust according to all the rules of Italian coquetry, danced, gradually getting rid of their clothes.

After a performance that lasted about an hour, during which only highly stimulating drinks were served, Louis XII finally saw Tomassina Spinola.

It goes without saying that he liked her and agreed to walk with her along the garden alley. However, love for his little Bret, as he called Anne of Brittany, prevented the king from enticing the beautiful Genoese into the dense thickets, as he had done before.

In the following days, similar meetings were skillfully arranged again and again, because the Genoese were stubborn, but as a result of this, the most ridiculous thing imaginable happened: Tomassina herself fell in love with the king.

Pale, with a pleading gaze, she asked permission to become the lady of his heart, just as he himself became her “honored friend.”

Louis agreed “to such a sweet relationship,” and Thomassina, delighted that “she was desired by the king,” began to wear the colors of France and announced to her husband “that she did not want to sleep with him anymore.”

But the plan failed.

When the king, some time later, left the city to return to France, the Genoese, deeply upset, discovered that Tomassina, all in tears, had retired to a monastery.

She did not stay there long, because three years later, that is, in 1505, when a rumor came to Italy that Louis XII had died, the beauty died of grief.

Touched by such affection, the King of France sent several poetic lines to the Genoese so that they would be carved on Tomassina’s gravestone “as a sign of eternal memory and an unforgettable impression.”

This was supposed to please the Genoese, who since 1502 still could not forget their failure.

Anne of Brittany, naturally, knew all the details of this platonic story and was very proud of the fact that she had turned one of the most frivolous French princes into a faithful husband and wise king.

For several years, Louis XII and Anne lived happily. It has been a long time since the French court was such a respectable place as it was in these years.

An observer of those times reports that the queen “invited all the unmarried ladies of the court to her place and, having carefully examined each one, chose the one who behaved more modestly and, in her manners, more closely resembled a country girl. All of them were forbidden to secretly meet and be courteous with the nobles. In turn, men at court were allowed to have only chaste and decent conversations with ladies. The Queen warned that if any of them wants to talk about love, then we can only talk about permitted love, in other words, about pure and bashful love, which inevitably leads to marriage, and the desire to unite in marriage should be expressed in just a few words ... The prudent princess did not want her house to be open to those terrible people who, in conversations with ladies, freely indulged in obscenity and obscenity.”<Шарль де Сент-Март. Надгробная речь на смерть Франсуазы Алансонской>.

Is this why most of the charming ladies who adorned the French court hastened to leave Blois and settle in those courts where life was not so dull?

Nevertheless, one day the pious queen herself almost became the cause of a diplomatic scandal because of the indecent words she uttered. Without intent, of course. Here's how it happened. Anna, who was engaged in state affairs while the king was absorbed in the war in Italy, herself received foreign ambassadors arriving at court. Out of a desire to please the ambassadors, she did not miss the opportunity to make a short speech to each of them in her native language. Usually she was helped in this by the officer who served with her, Señor de Grigno, who knew German, English, Spanish, Swedish and Italian and taught the queen those few words that so flattered foreigners.

One day the officer came up with the absurd idea of ​​playing a farce of dubious nature. Knowing that the ambassadors of Ferdinand of Spain were about to arrive in Blois, he allowed the queen to learn very rude expressions in Spanish, and, according to the historian who spoke about this, “simply vile curses.” Suspecting nothing, Queen Anne uttered these dubious words in front of her guests.

Pleased with his own invention, Señor de Grigno also turned out to be talkative. He told the king about this joke, who was quite amused, but nevertheless warned the queen.

Anna never forgave Senor de Grigno for this joke.

All this time in Amboise, Louise of Savoy spent her days in the company of Marshal de Gier, the new mentor of her son, who replaced Jean de Saint-Gelais in this post. Evil tongues claimed that the young marshal was, like his predecessor, the lover of the charming countess.

The truth was that he was madly in love with her. Every evening he tried to get into Louise's room, and every time she rejected him. In the end, his unsatisfied desire drove him into such a rage that he went to the royal court in Blois and there began to tell right and left that Louise of Savoy was the mistress of Jean de Gelay and at the same time tried with all her might to seduce him, Pierre de Gier...

There is no doubt that this story caused a lot of noise; Anne of Brittany, who even had a nervous attack on this occasion, threw herself on her knees in front of the crucifix and asked the ladies of the court to pray with her so that such abominations would not bring the wrath of God on the Kingdom of France.

After that, completely sick, she retired to her bedroom.

Some believe that this nervous breakdown, coupled with extreme annoyance at the betrothal of her daughter Claude to Francis Valois (which took place against her wishes), shortened her life. She died at the age of thirty-eight on February 9, 1514.

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:

Louis XII. Portrait by J. Perreal, ca. 1514

Internal reforms of Louis XII

The French king Charles VIII, who died childless in 1498, was succeeded by Louis XII, Duke of Orleans, a descendant of the brother of Charles VI. Until now, the people in France have suffered greatly from the standing army, which has appeared since the time of Charles VII and fed at the expense of the unarmed inhabitants: Louis XII freed the people from this burden, assigning certain incomes for the maintenance of the army, appointing famous and well-intentioned people as commanders of the army instead of seekers adventures and robber knights, as before, finally prohibiting troops from being stationed in villages and small towns, and allowing them to stand only in large cities, where the inhabitants could restrain them from rampaging. In addition, under Louis XII, useful changes were made regarding the courts, regarding coins, and all these concerns of the supreme power about improving the life of their subjects gave Louis the glorious nickname father people.

Italian Wars under Louis XII – French capture of Milan (1499)

But Louis soon showed that he did not intend to limit himself to internal orders alone: ​​he accepted the title of King of Neapolitan, Sicilian and Jerusalem, Duke of Milan. First of all, he wanted to take possession of Milan on the grounds that his grandmother was from the house of Visconti that previously reigned there. Wanting to ensure his success in taking possession of Milan, Louis XII attracted to his side Pope Alexander VI, whom he promised to establish dominion in Italy to his son, Caesar Borgia, famous for his immorality; entered into an alliance with the Venetians, dissatisfied with the Duke of Milan, Louis Moreau. But the French king had few troops, he considered it necessary to hire the Swiss, but there was no money; in such need, he demanded money from the tax collectors and began to sell their places, thus giving the buyers the right to collect their money from the poor tax payers. Money was raised, the Swiss were hired, and in 1499 Louis XII marched against Milan. The success was brilliant, because everyone in Milan hated Louis Moreau as a tyrant, a stealer of power, a murderer of his nephew, who belonged to the throne; Moreau was forced to flee Milan, then returned with the hired Swiss, was betrayed by them and sent to France. Having taken possession of Milan, Louis XII began to think about Naples. The success was incorrect, because an equally powerful Spanish state was formed next to powerful France, and Ferdinand the Catholic, who already owned Sicily, did not want to allow the French to strengthen themselves in Italy.

Rivalry for Southern Italy with the Spanish

Thus, the Italian wars acquire special significance for us: we see how France, seeking to strengthen itself at the expense of a divided and weak Italy, is restrained by Spain. In order not to have interference from the Spanish king Ferdinand the Catholic, Louis XII decides to share the spoils with him: both kings entered into an agreement according to which Apulia and Calabria should go to Ferdinand. In 1501, the French army under the command of d'Aubigny (Scottish Stuart) moved towards Naples; the uncle of the deceased King Ferdinand II, Frederick, reigned here: he was captured by the French and ended his life as a prisoner in France. Meanwhile, the famous commander of Ferdinand the Catholic, Gonzalvo of Cordua, had already occupied the southern regions of Neapolitan, and soon a quarrel arose between him and the French: the division was difficult! In the summer of 1502, a clear war broke out between the Spaniards and the French, a war in which the dying knighthood was expressed for the last time in all its strength; the French knight Bayard became especially famous here, “a knight without fear or reproach." It ended with the fact that in 1503, having suffered two defeats from the Spaniards, the French were forced to clear the Kingdom of Naples, which fell to the Spaniards; Louis XII sent a new army to conquer Naples, but it was also defeated by Gonzalve of Corduan under Garigliano In 1504, Spain and France concluded a truce: Naples remained with Spain, Milan with France.

Thus, the two most powerful continental powers established themselves at the two ends of Italy. Of the Italian powers, the most powerful was Venice, with which Emperor Maximilian alone could not cope and therefore began to try to break it with an alliance; allies were found easily, because many wanted to humiliate the proud Venetian oligarchy and divide the possessions of the republic; In addition to Emperor Maximilian, the alliance was entered into by the French king Louis XII, Ferdinand the Catholic and Pope, now the warlike Julius I: the allies in Cambrai directly agreed to divide the Venetian possessions among themselves. The French began military operations and defeated the Venetian army at Agnadello (1509); King Louis began to take over Venetian cities. Then Venice hastened to break the alliance, giving the pope and Ferdinand the Catholic everything they wanted.

Holy League against Louis XII

The Pope, pleased with the humiliation of Venice, began to act against the French, because he did not at all want to strengthen them in Italy; Louis XII, for his part, took up arms against the pope, demanding church reforms; Through his efforts, a council was convened in Pisa, the fathers of which proclaimed the need for reforms of the Church, at its head and in its members, and proclaimed that the pope must submit to the decision of the council. But this church matter could not have consequences, because political relations were against it. Ferdinand the Catholic considered it necessary not to hand over the pope to the powerful French king, and in the fall of 1511 the so-called Holy League was formed, an alliance to protect the Roman Church. The members of the union were: the pope, the Venetians, Spain; Ferdinand also attracted his son-in-law, the English king Henry VIII, to the alliance; Ferdinand wrote that if the French were allowed to take control of Rome, the freedom of Europe would perish. In 1512, hostilities began: it was difficult for the allies to act against the French army, whose leader was the royal nephew, Gaston de Foix. nicknamed Italian Lightning, Gaston really ran through vast spaces with incredible speed with his army, unexpectedly appearing here and there where danger required. The Italians were against the French, who especially drove them out of patience with their immorality regarding women, but the French extinguished the uprising in the blood of the rebels, and behaved worse than the Tatars.

Expulsion of the French from Milan (1512)

In the spring of 1512, the Allied troops met the French at Ravenna: after a bloody battle, in which up to 20,000 people died on both sides, the French remained victorious, but lost their famous leader, Gaston de Foix. With the death of Gaston, happiness left the French, who could hardly stay in Italy, and meanwhile the Spaniards and the British attacked France itself; the French had to leave Milan, where the descendant of the Sforza family that had previously reigned here had established themselves; the fathers of the Council of Pisa had to retire first to Milan, and then to Lyon, and the cathedral was recognized by France alone.

In 1513, Louis XII sent a new army to conquer Milan; but the allies hired the Swiss, who defeated the French at Novara and forced them to flee to their fatherland; and at the very beginning of 1515, Louis XII died childless, leaving the throne to his cousin, Francis.

When writing the article, I used the “Course of New History” by S. M. Solovyov

Participation in wars: French-Spanish War. Crazy war. Italian campaign
Participation in battles:

(Le Père du Peuple, Louis XII of France) king of France from the Valois dynasty (Orléans branch)

The life of Louis XII was colorful and unusual. The boy was born on June 27, 1462 near Paris at the Castle of Blois. His father was Duke Charles of Orleans. Louis lost his parents at an early age and, after the death of his father, was raised by the king. Louis XI. The king patronized Louis and it was clear to everyone that the king had his own plans for the young man. At the age of 14, in 1476, Louis, by order of the king, marries his daughter Princess Jeanne.

Zhanna was a very sickly girl with a completely unattractive appearance. Moreover, as it turned out, she could not have children. For those especially close to him, it was clear that the king wanted to interrupt the younger branch Valois dynasty: if branch Dukes of Orleans is interrupted, then the senior branch of Valois will no longer be threatened by possible pretenders to the throne. However, after the death of the king, Louis seeks to have his marriage with the barren Jeanne dissolved. He justifies his decision by his too close relationship with his wife. The Pope approved the divorce and Jeanne, not too upset by the divorce, retires to Bourges. It was there that she founded the famous Order of the Annunciates. Subsequently, for her piety and good deeds, Princess Jeanne was canonized.

After the death of the king, the question arose of who would become regent for his young son. Charles VIII. Louis was counting on this position, but it goes to Anne de Beaujeu, daughter of the late king Louis XI. Of course, the Duke of Orleans did not disagree with this turn of events. Frustrated and angry, he decides with Francis II, Duke of Brittany, to start a war, which later became known as "crazy". However, the war ends in 1486 with the defeat of the Duke of Orleans and his allies. Louis d'Orléans is captured. He was held captive for several years, but later managed to reconcile with Charles VIII. Subsequently, Louis even accompanied the king on Italian campaign. However, the French hopes of taking the Duchy of Milan did not materialize.

On April 7, 1498, as a result of an accident, King Charles VIII died. He hit his head on the door frame and was seriously injured. After the death of a childless Charles VIII it became obvious to everyone that the throne would be occupied by the closest relative of the tragically deceased king - Louis d'Orléans.

To celebrate the fulfillment of his cherished dream, Louis forgives all the sins of his enemies. Louis' reign was accompanied by the same French foreign policy: the king tried in vain to seize Italy. At first, Louis was even lucky. However, fortune turned out to be insidious and changeable. Very soon Louis lost all his Italian conquests. He had to abandon the idea of ​​annexing Naples, Milan and Venice to his possessions.

Louis XII glorified his native Blois, making the region the center of all France. It was during the reign of the Duke of Orleans that the construction of a magnificent royal palace began in Blois.

The death of Louis XII was unexpected for everyone. After his second wife died, Anna of Breton, Louis marries again Mary Tudor. However, three months after marrying the young English princess, Louis XII dies. The tragic event occurred on January 1, 1515. Louis had no sons, so the French throne is occupied by his cousin,

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, he sought to completely destroy 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 his death, the young man became king, and his elder sister Anna de Beaujeu became his regent. Louis himself claimed the regency. Having united with, 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, at the request of his sister Jeanne, he freed her husband Louis, restored him to his rights and declared him his heir.

After the death of the childless Louis, he became king. Under the terms of the Franco-Breton treaty, Louis married Anne of Brittany, a widow, for which he had to divorce his first wife. Louis treated his enemies generously and did not even remind Anne de Beaujeu of past grievances. The treasury was devastated by the 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 conquest. Without encountering much resistance, French troops took Milan in the fall of 1499 exactly two months after entering the territory of the duchy. fled to Germany. When at the beginning of the next year he managed, having strengthened his army with German and Swiss mercenaries, to recapture Milan and Novara, Louis sent Georges d'Amboise against him as responsible for the Italian campaign and La Tremouille, the commander-in-chief. In Novara, Swiss mercenaries fought in the armies of both opponents. They did not want to fight each other at all, and as a result, La Tremouille managed to be captured on April 8, 1500. The prisoner was brought to France, where he died in 1508 at the castle of Loches.

Soon Louis signed an agreement with Spain on the division of Southern Italy. Having attacked from two sides, Louis quickly captured it, but very soon they 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. , Switzerland, and Venice, led by a warlike pope, united against Louis, not wanting to recognize his rights to Lombardy. The Spaniards captured Burgundy in 1512, the Swiss invaded Burgundy in 1513, the English defeated the French in August 1513 at Guinegatte, and Louis was forced to return to his family, abandoning all his conquests.

In this gloomy situation that developed in 1513, one event favorable for Louis occurred: his death in February 1513. His successor was peace-loving and not as power-hungry as his two predecessors.

At the end of December 1513, reconciliation took place between and Louis XII. And after long negotiations, Louis made peace in August 1514 with the English and Spanish kings. Moreover, he entered into an alliance with and married his sister.

Louis died on January 1, 1515 from exhaustion after six months of communication with his too young and too hot wife, as they joked then “from trying to get an heir.” The queen, after the death of the king, endlessly spread rumors that she was pregnant; and although in reality this did not happen, they said that she put something under her dress, getting fatter and fatter, so that when the time came, she could take the child from some woman who gave birth at the same time. But Louise of Savoy, who could not be denied intelligence, knew perfectly well how children are made, and saw that for her and for her son, the heir to the throne, everything could end badly. Therefore, she ordered the doctors and midwives to examine the queen, and they found bundles of linen and curtains under her dress. So Mary Tudor was exposed and she did not become Queen Mother. Soon after this, she left France, and on January 25, 1515, Louis XII's cousin and son-in-law, Count of Angoulême, was crowned at Reims Cathedral.