Renee Of FRANCE

Family/Spouse: Duke of Ferrara Ercole II D'ESTE. Ercole (son of Alfonso I d'Este Duke of FERRARA and Lucrezia BORGIA) was born on 5 Apr 1508; died on 3 Oct 1559. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

1. Anna D'ESTE was born on 16 Nov 1531; died on 17 May 1607.

Notes:

Louis XII, King of France was born on June 27, 1462 in the Ch‚teau de Blois, France. The son of Charles, duc d'OrlÈans and Marie of ClËves, he succeeded his father as Duke of OrlÈans in 1465.

[edit] 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.

[edit] 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.
RenÈe of France (1510 ? 1575), later married to Ercole d'Este, Duke of Ferrara.

[edit] Notable events

The Louis XII wing he constructed at the Ch‚teau de Blois.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.

[edit] 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 was the protector and patron of the historian Paulus Aemilius Veronensis (Paolo Emilio of Verona). Louis 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 AngoulÍme, husband of Louis's daughter Claude of France, who reigned as Francis I.

Louis married Anne Of BRITTANY. Anne (daughter of Frances II Duke Of BRITTANY and Margaret Of FOIX) was born on 25 Jan 1477 in Nantes, Brittany; died on 09 Jan 1514. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]