Anne of Brittany
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Anne of Brittany (January 25, 1477 – January 9, 1514), also known as Anna of Brittany (French: Anne de Bretagne; Breton: Anna Vreizh), was a French aristocrat, who was to become queen to two successive French kings, and ruling Duchess of Brittany. She was born in Nantes, in Brittany, and was the daughter of Francis II, Duke of Brittany and Margaret of Foix. Her maternal grandparents were Gaston IV of Foix and Eleanor of Navarre. Upon her father's death, she became sovereign Duchess of Brittany, Countess of Nantes, Montfort and Richmont and Viscountess of Limoges. In her time, she was the richest European woman.
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[edit] Early Life
Anne was the only child of Francis and Margaret to survive childhood (she had a younger sister, Isabeau, who died in 1490). Accordingly, she was brought up as the heiress to the Duchy, given a good education, under the guidance of Françoise de Dinan, Lady of Laval and Chateaubriant, and the poet Jean Meschinot.
Brittany had since the Breton War of Succession been understood to operate according to semi-Salic Law – women could only inherit once the male line had died out. By the time Anne was born, her father was the only male left of the Breton House of Dreux, and accordingly, Anne's right to succeed was not questioned (although the War of Succession had ended with an agreement that the heirs of Jeanne of Penthievre would succeed, no one remembered the claim by this time), and her father had her recognised by the Breton estates as heiress in 1486. However, the question of her marriage remained a diplomatic issue. Francis had no intention of allowing Brittany to be absorbed by France; accordingly, his daughter must marry a figure capable of withstanding French power.
Brittany being an attractive prize, Anne had no shortage of suitors. She was officially promised in marriage to Edward, Prince of Wales, son of Edward IV of England in 1481; however, the boy disappeared, and was presumed dead, soon after the death of Edward IV and the accession of his brother, Richard III. Others who bid for her hand included Maximilian of Habsburg (the widower of Mary of Burgundy, another heiress), Alain d'Albret, Jean de Châlons (Prince of Orange) and even the married Louis, Duke of Orleans.
In 1488, the armies of Francis II were defeated at Saint-Aubin-of-Cormier, ending the Guerre fol. In the Treaty of Verger, which concluded the peace settlement, the Duke was forced to accept clauses stipulating that his daughters were not to marry without the approval of the King of France. Francis died soon after, on 9 September 1488, after a fall from his horse. Anne became Duchess of Brittany; Brittany was plunged into fresh crisis, leading to the last Franco-Breton war.
[edit] Duchess of Brittany
The first necessary move for Anne was to secure a husband, preferably anti-France and powerful enough to maintain Breton independance. Maximilian of Habsburg was considered to be the most suitable candidate, and a marriage was arranged between himself and the Duchess, taking place at Rennes by proxy on 19 December 1490. The marriage gained Anne the title Queen of the Romans. However, the marriage proved to have serious consequences. The French regarded it as a serious provocation: it not only violated the Treaty of Verger (the King of France not having consented to the marriage), but it placed the rule of Brittany in the hands of an enemy of France. The marriage was also to prove ill-timed: the Habsburgs were too busy in Hungary to pay any serious attention to Brittany, and the Castilians were busy fighting in Granada; whilst both Castile and England sent small numbers of troops to supplement the Ducal army, neither wished for open warfare with France. Thus, the Spring of 1491 saw new French success at Trémoille, and Charles VIII came to lay siege to Rennes, where Anne was, so that she would give up her marriage with the enemy of the kingdom of France.
After a siege, without assistance and little hope, Rennes fell. Anne, defeated, gave in, and was engaged to Charles in the vault of the Jacobins in Rennes. Then, escorted by her army (and thus apparently free – which was necessary to prove that she willingly consented to the marriage, and to secure Brittany), Anne of Brittany went to Langeais, to be married. Although Austria made diplomatic protests, (in particular in front of the Holy See), claiming that the marriage was illegal because the bride was unwilling, that she was already legally married to Maximilian, and that Charles was legally betrothed to Margaret of Austria, Maximilian's daughter, Anne celebrated her second wedding at the castle of Langeais on 6 December, and married King Charles VIII of France.
The marriage was made quickly, and only validated by Pope Innocent VIII afterwards (on February 15, 1492). The husbands exchanged by the marriage contract their rights on Brittany; the contract also included a clause of mutual donation to the alive last. It was also agreed that if Charles died without male heirs, Anne would marry only his successor.
[edit] Queen of France
Anne's first marriage began badly: she notably brought two beds with her when she came to marry Charles, and the King and Queen often lived apart. She was anointed and crowned Queen of France at Saint-Denis on 8 February 1492; she was forbidden by her husband to use the title "Duchess of Brittany", which became a bone of contention between the two. Denied political power – because she was still young (and because her husband and his family considered her judgement flawed), when her husband fought in the wars in Italy, the regency was undertaken by his sister Anne of Beaujeu – she spent much of married life pregnant, fulfilling a purely honorary position. She lived primarily in the royal castles of Amboise, Loaches and Plessis or in the towns of Lyon, Grenoble or Moulins (when the king was in Italy). She becomes queen of Sicily and Jerusalem at the time of the conquest of Naples by Charles VIII.
The marriage produced four living children; of these, only the first, Charles Orland, lived any notable amount of time, from 11 October 1492 – 16 December 1495; a healthy and intelligent child, his parents doted on him, and both suffered terrible grief when he died suddenly of the measles. After him was born Charles in 1496, who lived for less than a month; and Francis and Anne, who died almost immediately after being born. These tragedies caused a great deal of pain to Anne, who wanted to produce a son, and who prayed openly for such after the death of Francis.
[edit] Widowhood and Remarriage
When Charles VIII died in 1498, Anne was 21 years old and childless. Legally, she was now required to marry the new King, Louis XII; however, he was already married, to Jeanne, daughter of Louis XI and sister of Charles VIII. She therefore made a gamble with him: she would marry him, as was demanded, if he obtained an annulment from Jeanne within a year. This conditional promise of marriage was made at Étampes, on 19 August, 1498, a few days after the law suit attempting to dissolve the marriage of Jeanne and Louis began. Unfortunately for Anne, it was a gamble she would lose, Louis' first marriage being dissolved by the Pope at the end of the year.
Anne returned to Brittany in October 1498, and took control of it. In particular, she restored the chancellery of Brittany, headed by the faithful Philippe de Montauban, named the Prince of Orange as Hereditary Lieutenant General of Brittany, convened the Estates of Brittany, and ordered production of a coinage bearing her name. She took the opportunity to tour the Duchy, visiting many places which she had never been able to attend as a child. Her vassals received her sumptuously, and she met the people at the time of festivities, and triumphal entries into the cities of the duchy.
Anne's third marriage ceremony, on 8 January 1499 (she wore white, setting a precedent for future brides), was concluded under conditions radically different to those of the second. She was no longer a child, but was a Queen dowager, and was determined to ensure the recognition of her rights as sovereign duchess from now on. Her new husband was of dubious qualities to her: an old ally, friend and applicant, he had also been noted by her as being not particularly affected by the deaths of her sons in previous years. In accordance with the provisions of the marriage contract with Charles VIII, her new husband recognised her rights as heiress of Brittany, and to the title "Duchess of Brittany"; on the other hand, the kingly capacity in Brittany was exerted by Louis XII, who took the title of duke consort, though the decisions were made in the name of the duchess.
As Duchess, Anne fiercely defended the independence of her Duchy. She initially arranged the marriage of her daughter, Claude, to Charles of Luxembourg in 1501, to reinforce the Franco-Spanish alliance and ensure French success in the Italian Wars; Louis broke the marriage when it became likely that Anne would not produce a male heir, and that Claude would inherit Brittany, arranging instead a marriage between Claude and the next heir, Francis of Angouleme. Anne, determined to maintain Breton independence, refused until death to sanction the marriage, pushing instead for Claude to marry Charles, or for the Duchy to be inherited by her daughter, Renee. The marriage eventually took place in the year following her death.
[edit] Death
The winter of 1513-1514 was hard and cold, and Anne failed to survive it, dying of a gravel attack at the Chateau of Blois. She was buried in the necropolis of Saint Denis. Her funeral was of exceptional length, lasting 40 days, and inspiring all future French royal funerals until the 18th century.
According to her will, her heart was placed in a raised enamel gold reliquary, then transported to Nantes to be deposited, on March 19, 1514, in the vault of the Carmelite friars, in the tomb made for her parents, later being transferred to the Saint-Pierre cathedral. The reliquary of the heart of the Anne, Duchess of Brittany is a box oval, bivalvular, made of a sheet of gold pushed back and guilloched, articulated by a hinge, broadside of a gold cordelière and topped by a crown of lily and clover. It is inscribed as follows: En ce petit vaisseau De fin or pur et munde Repose ung plus grand cueur Que oncque dame eut au munde Anne fut le nom delle En France deux fois royne Duchesse des Bretons Royale et Souveraine. It was made by an anonymous goldsmith of the court of Blois, perhaps drawn by Jean Perréal. In 1792, by order of the National Convention, the reliquary was exhumed, emptied, and seized as part of a collection of precious metals pertaining to churches, and sent to Nantes to be melted down. However, it was instead kept in the National Library, and was returned to Nantes in 1819, being kept in various museums, and in the Castle of the dukes of Brittany since 2007.
Anne's will also conferred the succession of Brittany upon her second daughter, Renee. This was ignored by her husband, who confirmed Claude as Duchess and married her to Francis.
[edit] Personal characteristics
Anne was a highly intelligent woman who spent much of her time on the administration of Brittany. She made the safeguarding of Breton autonomy, and the preservation of the Duchy outside the French crown, her life's work: although that goal would prove failed shortly after her death.
Anne was also a patron of the arts and enjoyed music. A prolific collector of tapestries, one of her commissions were the so-called 'unicorn tapestries', made in celebration of her wedding to Louis XII; she also commissioned a book of French manuscripts (a Book of Hours), known as The Grand Hours of Anne of Brittany She also instituted the Queen's Maids of Honour at the court.
One of Anne's legs was shorter than the other, causing a limp. To fix the problem, she wore a higher heel on that leg.
Anne kept a box of precious stones and semi-precious stones. She would randomly pick one and give it to her visitors.
She was a devoted mother, spending as much time as possible with her children, and buying them toys. For herself and her son, Charles-Orland, she commissioned a book of prayers, intended to be used in teaching him how to pray, and as a guidance to him as the future King of France; unfortunately, Charles-Orland died in 1495, and no other son lived more than a few weeks.
At her marriage to Charles VIII, aged 14, Anne was described as a young and rosy-cheeked girl; by the time of her marriage to Louis, aged 22, however, she was described as pale-faced and wan.
[edit] Marriage and Issue
Anne's first marriage ceremony, on 19 December 1490, was a marriage by proxy to Maximilian of Habsburg. It was dissolved by the Pope in the following year; because it was only by proxy (rather than in person), it is not generally considered a 'real' marriage.
Her second husband was Charles VIII of France, whom she married at Chateau Langeais on 6 December 1491. She was pregnant by him seven times:
- Charles Orlando, Dauphin of France. Her only healthy son, he lived 1492-1495, but died of the measles.
- A still-born son. She became pregnant in late 1492/early 1493, but travelled with her husband from castle to castle; she went into labour during a drive in the forest of Courcelles, and the child was premature and stillborn.
- A still-born girl. Anne became pregnant again five months after her miscarriage, and avoided travel (instead residing in Amboise near the Dauphin). However, in February 1494, she accompanied the King to Lyons, where he was preparing to depart for the Italian Wars, and after arriving on 15 March, attended all the ceremonies; the stress of the occasion caused her to go into premature labour, and she gave birth to a still-born girl.
- A still-born child. She became pregnant again in August 1494, but lost the baby soon after.
- Charles, Dauphin of France. He lived 8 September-2 October 1496. His death prompted Anne to withdraw to Moulins temporarily in despair.
- Francis, Dauphin of France. He lived and died several hours in 1497.
- Anne of France. She lived and died 20 March 1498 at Plessis les Tours.
Her third husband was Louis XII of France. They had two surviving daughters:
- Claude of France (1499 -1524) became her heir and also Queen Consort of Francis I.
- Renée of France (1510 - 1575) married, Ercole II d'Este, the Duke of Ferrara and became the Duchess of Chartres.
In addition, she gave birth to two children - 1508 and 1512 - who failed to survive. She also had a number of miscarriages.
[edit] Popular Culture
Even whilst alive, the royal propaganda of Charles VIII and of Louis XII introduced Anne of Brittany as a perfect queen, a symbol of the union and peace between the kingdom of France and the duchy of Brittany. Maximilian of Habsburg, by contrast, held a different view of the events. In the following centuries, historians and popular culture sometimes presented Anne of Brittany in differing fashions, allotting to her physical and psychological acts or characteristics which are not necessarily attested by historical elements.
In 1991, the five-hundredth anniversary of the marriage of Anne of Brittany and Charles VIII of France was celebrated in Langeais. In Rennes, which had paid the price of this marriage by siege, food shortage, and an occupation, it was hardly mentioned.
Anne is also referred to by:
- a song of Gilles Servat which evokes his life: Koc'h ki gwenn ha koc'h ki du
- Some lines in the song of the group Soldier Louis, c'est un pays
- Duchesse Anne, name of a beer produced in Brittany
- the square three-masted ship Duchesse Anne, moored in the Port of Dunkirk.
- Anne of Brittany, a Breton opera featuring Agnès Bove in the title role
- If dead died, an anonymous poem going back to her funeral, and now sung by Tri Yann. Another song of the repertory refers to the Duchess.
[edit] Anne in Breton culture
Anne of Brittany is Brittany's most popular historical figure, if one puts aside Saint Yves. In testimony exist a large number of trades, hotels and street names bearing her name. There are several explanations for this: the destiny of this duchess who married three kings, including two kings de France, and who was only a child when she had to marry the first (even if early engagements were at that time); the historical role of Anne in the union of the duchy to the kingdom of France; the fact that very little of the history of Brittany is taught in Breton schools (the official school syllabus being written in Paris for all the French territory -territories of overseas included - those retain only Anne as a notable Breton). This established fact leads some to consider that the History of Brittany starts and finishes with Anne of Brittany.
| Preceded by Francois II |
Duchess of Brittany (With Charles of France, and Louis of France) 9 September 1488 – 9 January 1514 |
Succeeded by Claude of France |
| Preceded by Charlotte of Savoy |
Queen of France 6 December 1491 – 7 April 1498 |
Succeeded by Jeanne de France |
| Preceded by Jeanne de France |
Queen of France 9 January 1499 – 9 January 1514 |
Succeeded by Mary of England |
| Preceded by Isabella del Balzo |
Queen consort of Naples 1501 – 1504 |
Succeeded by Isabella of Castile |
[edit] External links
Jean-Luc Deuffic: Les manuscrits d'Anne de Bretagne [1] [2]
