Louis XII (France) (Born 1462–1515; Ruled 1498–1515)

LOUIS XII (FRANCE) (born 1462–1515; ruled 1498–1515)

LOUIS XII (FRANCE) (born 1462–1515; ruled 1498–1515), king of France. The only son of Charles of Orléans and Mary of Cleves, Louis was the great-grandson of Charles VI (ruled 1380–1422). As a youth, Louis did not expect to gain the throne since he was several degrees of blood distant from the ruling family. Louis XI (ruled 1461–1483) coerced him into marrying his deformed daughter Jeanne, who was probably incapable of bearing children. He spent his early adulthood seeking an annulment for the marriage. When Louis XI's son became Charles VIII in 1483, Louis competed with Charles's older sister Anne of Beaujeu to become regent for the underage king. His purpose was largely to gain a position of authority from which to secure an annulment. When the Estates-General of 1484 refused him the office, he led the "Fools' War" against the monarchy. Defeated at the Battle of St-Aubin in Brittany in 1488, he was imprisoned for three years. He was released in time to join Charles in the first French invasion of Italy (1494), to make good the French claim to the kingdom of Naples.

Because Charles's only child died at age three, Louis gained the throne when Charles died in April 1498. Those who had opposed him in the Fools' War were fearful that he would exact revenge on them now that he was king, but Louis soothed them with his famous remark: "It is not honorable for the king of France to avenge the quarrels of a duke of Orléans." After loading Pope Alexander VI's (reigned 1492–1503) son Cesare Borgia with French titles and gold, he received an annulment from Jeanne of France and married Charles's widow, Anne of Brittany, in January 1499. With her he had two daughters, Claude and Renée. Theologians of the University of Paris bitterly criticized the annulment, and when it led to unrest among the students, Louis cracked down on the university in 1499 and severely reduced its autonomy.

Louis had a claim to the duchy of Milan through his grandmother Valentina Visconti, and he sought to make good his Italian rights in the second French invasion of Italy (1499). Concentrating on winning Milan, which he achieved in 1500, he agreed to divide Naples with Ferdinand of Aragon (ruled 1468–1516), but Ferdinand expelled the French from the entire realm in 1503. For the next several years France was largely at peace. Louis dramatically reduced taxes, which, along with the era's broad prosperity, prompted the Estates-General to name him "Father of the People" in 1506. Louis's most prominent advisor was Cardinal Georges d'Amboise, whose influence and place in government were so vast that the saying "Let George do it!" is said to have referred to d'Amboise.

Although his tastes still were largely those of the Middle Ages, Louis took an interest in Renaissance culture, which he saw on several trips to Italy. He patronized the Italian humanists Lescaris and Aleandro, who taught Greek in France, and supported the classics advocate and humanist Guillaume Budé at the beginning of his career. In 1499 Louis brought Italian architects and artists to France to rebuild the château of Blois, although the principal architect was probably the French mason Colin de Briart. The rebuilt château introduced the concept that a king need not live in a gloomy, fortified stronghold but in a beautiful place with open spaces and pleasant gardens for gracious living.

Louis allowed Pope Julius II (reigned 1503–1513) to persuade him to join an anti-Venetian league, bringing him back into the thick of Italian politics. After defeating the Venetians at Agnadello in May 1509, he found that Julius had organized a league to drive him out of Italy. Louis attempted to counter Julius by convoking the schismatic Council of Pisa in 1511, but it drew only four cardinals and a few French bishops. After Louis's nephew Gaston de Foix defeated the papal-Spanish army at Ravenna in March 1512, the cardinals at Pisa declared Julius deposed and convoked the college of cardinals to elect a successor. De Foix's death prevented the French army from marching on Rome to effect Julius's deposition. The pope excommunicated Louis and promised parts of France to the Swiss, Aragón, England, and the Holy Roman Empire, which had joined his alliance. Ferdinand of Aragón seized southern Navarre, and Henry VIII invaded northern France. The French army retreated back to France, leaving Milan to the Swiss. The death of Julius in 1513 allowed Louis to make peace with the new pope, the Medici Leo X (reigned 1513–1521). When Anne died in January 1514, he secured peace with Henry VIII by marrying his sister Mary. The excitement of the wedding and his young bride probably hastened his death on 1 January 1515. His first cousin, Francis of Angoulême, who had married his daughter Claude in 1514, succeeded him as Francis I.

See also Cambrai, League of (1508) ; Charles VIII (France) ; France ; Julius II (pope) .

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Baumgartner, Frederic J. Louis XII. New York, 1994. A recent scholarly biography.

Bridge, John. A History of France from the Death of Louis XI. 5 vols. Oxford, 1921–1936. A detailed history of France for the era of Louis's reign, it is especially strong on the French wars in Italy.

Quilliet, Bernard. Louis XII: pere du peuple. Paris, 1986. Especially good on the cultural developments of Louis's reign.

Frederic J. Baumgartner