Louis XII of France - Marriages

Marriages

In 1476, Louis XI (the "Spider King") forced Louis (his second cousin) to marry his pious daughter Joan of France (1464–1505).

Louis XI was succeeded by Charles VIII, who died childless in 1498, and was succeeded by Louis XII. Charles had been married to Anne, Duchess of Brittany (1477–1514), to unite the quasi-sovereign Duchy of Brittany with the Kingdom of France. To sustain this union, Louis had his marriage to Joan annulled so that he could marry Anne, now a widow.

The annulment, described as "one of the seamiest lawsuits of the age", was not simple, however. Louis did not, as might be expected, argue the marriage to be void due to consanguinity (the general allowance for the dissolution of a marriage at that time). Though he could produce witnesses to claim that the two were closely related due to various linking marriages, there was no documentary proof, merely the opinions of courtiers. Likewise, Louis could not argue that he had been below the legal age of consent (fourteen) to marry: no one was certain when he had been born, with Louis claiming to have been twelve at the time, and others ranging in their estimates between eleven and thirteen. As there was no real proof, however, he was forced to make other arguments.

Accordingly, Louis (much to the horror of his wife) claimed that she was physically malformed, providing a rich variety of detail precisely how, and that he had therefore been unable to consummate the marriage. Joan, unsurprisingly, fought this uncertain charge fiercely, producing witnesses to Louis' boast of having "mounted my wife three or four times during the night." Louis also claimed that his sexual performance had been inhibited by witchcraft; Joan responded by asking how he was able to know what it was like to try to make love to her.

Had the Papacy been a neutral party, Joan would likely have won, for Louis' case was exceedingly weak. Unfortunately for the Queen, Pope Alexander VI (Rodrigo Borgia) was committed for political reasons to grant the divorce, and accordingly he ruled against Joan. He granted the annulment on the grounds that Louis did not freely marry but was forced to marry by Joan's father Louis XI. Outraged, Joan reluctantly submitted, saying that she would pray for her former husband. She became a nun and was canonized as a saint in 1950.

Louis married the equally reluctant queen dowager, Anne, in 1499. They had four stillborn sons, and two daughters. The elder daughter, Claude (1499-1524), was betrothed by her mother's arrangement to the future Emperor Charles V in 1501. But after Anne failed to produce a living son, Louis dissolved the betrothal and betrothed Claude to his heir presumptive, Francis of Angoulême, thereby insuring Brittany would remain united with France. Anne opposed this marriage, which took place only after her death in 1514. Claude succeeded her mother in Brittany, and became queen consort to Francis. The younger daughter, Renée (1510–1575), married Duke Ercole II of Ferrara.

After the death of Anne, Louis married Mary Tudor (1496–1533), the sister of King Henry VIII of England, in Abbeville, France, on 9 October 1514. This was a final attempt to produce an heir to his throne; despite two previous marriages, the king had no living sons. Louis died on 1 January 1515, less than three months after he married Mary, reputedly worn out by his exertions in the bedchamber. Their union produced no children.