Louis XII of France
Louis XII the Father of the People (
French:
Louis XII le Père du Peuple) (
June 27,
1462 –
January 1,
1515) was
King of France 1498 –
January 1,
1515.
Birth
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Louis XII personal emblem |
Louis XII, King of France was born on
June 27,
1462 in the
Chateau de Blois,
France. The son of
Charles, duc d'Orleans and
Marie of Cleves, he succeeded his father as
Duke of Orleans in
1465.
Marriage
In
1476 Louis was required to marry the pious, but disabled
Jeanne of France (
1464 –
1505), the daughter of his second cousin,
Louis XI, King of France. After Louis's predecessor
Charles VIII, King of France died childless, this marriage was annulled in order to allow Louis to marry Charles' widow,
Anne of Brittany (
1477-
1514), the heiress and daughter of
Francis I of Brittany in a strategy meant to ally the French Monarchy with the duchy of
Brittany. After Anne's death, Louis married
Mary Tudor (
1496 –
1533), the daughter of
Henry VII, King of England in
Abbeville, France on
October 9,
1514 in an attempt to conceive an heir to his throne, but was unsuccessful.
Children
Louis's only marriage which produced any children was his second, with Anne of Brittany. By her he had two surviving daughters:
*
Claude of France (
1499 –
1524), later married to
Francis I, King of France.
*
Renée of France (
1510 –
1575), later married to
Ercole d'Este, Duke of Ferrara.
Notable events
In an attempt to make good his claim to the duchy of
Milan, Louis led several invasions of
Italy. He successfully secured Milan in
1499 from his enemy
Ludovico Sforza, and it remained a French stronghold until
1511, when
Pope Julius II formed the
Holy League to oppose the French ambition in Italy. The French were eventually driven from Milan by the Swiss in
1513.
Louis also pursued
Charles VIII's claim to the kingdom of
Naples with
Ferdinand II, King of Aragon. Each power took a partition of this kingdom during the
Treaty of Granada (
1500), but were eventually at war over the partitioning, and by
1504 France had lost its share of Naples.
Death
Louis proved to be a popular king, introducing reforms in the judicial system and reducing taxes. These reforms and his caring nature earned him the epithet
Father of the People. He died on
January 1,
1515 and was interred in
Saint Denis Basilica. Because of the
Salic Law, which did not allow women to inherit the throne of France, he was succeeded by his cousin, Francis, Count of Angoulême, husband of Louis's daughter
Claude of France, who reigned as Francis I.
