1499 – Louis XII of France marries Anne of
Brittany
Anne of Brittany was the only woman to
be fortunate enough to be married to not just one king of France but to two
Kings. First she was married to Charles VIII and upon his death in 1498 when
she was just 21 years old; she was legally obligated to marry the new king,
Louis XII. This proved to be a small problem as the new king was already
married to Joan, the old king’s sister! Anne thought that this could be her
escape from the French court so she agreed to marry Louis if he obtained an
annulment from Joan within a year – a task that she believed would be
impossible, therefore freeing her from yet another marriage of duty and
enabling her to return home to Brittany to rule there. Unfortunately for her,
the marriage was dissolved by the Pope before the year was out.
January 8th 1499 Anne
married Louis XII wearing white, setting a precedent for future brides. The
marriage produced two daughters, Claude and Renée, the former would marry the
heir to the French throne Francis of Angoulême and become Queen of France
herself. Since there were no sons, and none seemed likely to appear, Louis had
his wife set aside for her inability to produce an heir.
Anne Brittany
by Mildred Allen Butler
No comments:
Post a Comment