Louis XII of France
| Louis XII | |
|---|---|
King Louis XII
(by workshop of Jean Perréal, c. 1514) |
|
| King of France | |
| Reign | 7 April 1498 – 1 January 1515 |
| Coronation | 27 May 1498 |
| Predecessor | Charles VIII |
| Successor | Francis I |
| Duke of Milan | |
| Reign | 6 September 1499 – 16 June 1512 |
| Predecessor | Ludovico Sforza |
| Successor | Massimiliano Sforza |
| King of Naples | |
| Reign | 2 August 1501 – 31 January 1504 |
| Predecessor | Frederick |
| Successor | Ferdinand III |
| Born |
27 June 1462 Château de Blois |
| Died | 1 January 1515 (aged 52) Hôtel des Tournelles |
| Burial | Saint Denis Basilica |
| Spouse |
Joan of France Anne, Duchess of Brittany Mary of England |
| Issue among others... |
Claude, Queen of France Renée, Duchess of Ferrara |
| House | Valois-Orléans |
| Father | Charles, Duke of Orléans |
| Mother | Marie of Cleves |
| Religion | Roman Catholicism |
Louis XII (27 June 1462 – 1 January 1515) was a monarch of the House of Valois who ruled as King of France from 1498 to 1515 and King of Naples from 1501 to 1504. The son of Charles, Duke of Orléans, and Maria of Cleves, he succeeded his cousin Charles VIII, who died without a closer heir in 1498.
Before his accession to the throne of France, he was known as Louis of Orléans and was compelled to be married to his disabled and supposedly sterile cousin Joan by his second cousin, king Louis XI. By doing so, Louis XI hoped to extinguish the Orléans cadet branch of the House of Valois.
Louis of Orléans was one of the great feudal lords who opposed the French monarchy in the conflict known as the Mad War. At the royal victory in the Battle of Saint-Aubin-du-Cormier in 1488, Louis was captured, but Charles VIII pardoned him and released him. He subsequently took part in the Italian War of 1494–1498 as one of the French commanders.
When Louis XII became king in 1498, he had his marriage with Joan annulled by Pope Alexander VI and instead married Anne of Brittany, the widow of his cousin Charles VIII. This marriage allowed Louis to reinforce the personal Union of Brittany and France.
Louis persevered in the Italian Wars, initiating a second Italian campaign for the control of the Kingdom of Naples. Louis conquered the Duchy of Milan in 1500 and pushed forward to the Kingdom of Naples, which fell to him in 1501. Proclaimed King of Naples, Louis faced a new coalition gathered by Ferdinand II of Aragon and was forced to cede Naples to Spain in 1504.
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Wikipedia