76-529: Affable may refer to: Charles VIII of France , "the Affable" (1470–1498) Affable Records [REDACTED] Look up affable in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. See also [ edit ] Affable savages , a book by Francis Huxley Topics referred to by the same term [REDACTED] This disambiguation page lists articles associated with
152-747: A cadet branch , serving as nobles under the Direct Capetian and Valois kings. In 1589, at the death of Henry III of France , the House of Valois became extinct in the male line. Under the Salic law , the Head of the House of Bourbon, as the senior representative of the senior-surviving branch of the Capetian dynasty, became King of France as Henry IV . The application of the Salic Law meant that with
228-544: A claim to the French throne . The Hundred Years' War could be considered a lengthy war of succession between the houses of Valois and Plantagenet. The early reign of Philip VI was a promising one for France. The new king fought the Flemings on behalf of his vassal, the count of Flanders, and restored that count to power. Edward III's aggression against Scotland, a French ally, prompted Philip VI to confiscate Guyenne. In
304-752: A personal union that enabled France to avoid total encirclement by Habsburg territories . To secure his rights to the Neapolitan throne that René of Anjou had left to his father, Charles made a series of concessions to neighbouring monarchs and, due to his revolutionary artillery, conquered the Italian Peninsula without much opposition. A coalition formed against the French invasion of 1494–1498 attempted to stop Charles' army at Fornovo, but failed and Charles marched his army back to France. Charles died in 1498 after accidentally striking his head on
380-709: A conflict known as the Mad War (1485–1488), which resulted in a victory for the royal government. In a remarkable stroke of audacity, Charles married Anne of Brittany in 1491 after she had already been married by proxy to the Habsburg Holy Roman Emperor Maximilian I in a ceremony of questionable validity. Preoccupied by the problematic succession in the Kingdom of Hungary , Maximilian failed to press his claim. Upon his marriage, Charles became administrator of Brittany and established
456-632: A counterweight against the Guises. Antoine of Navarre converted to Catholicism and became Lieutenant-General of the Kingdom. The Massacre of Vassy sparked the "first" religious war between the Catholics and the Huguenots. Navarre and Guise died in this war. Anne de Montmorency , Constable of France, was the notable casualty of the second war. Condé died in the third war. The Huguenots were unable to win
532-597: A substantive victory, but were able to keep an army in the field. Henry, King of Navarre , married Margaret of France , sister of Charles IX, in 1572. The marriage, which had been expected to reconcile the Protestants and Catholics, proved to be a disappointment. The St. Bartholomew's Day massacre ensued; the Huguenots who flocked in Paris for the wedding were massacred en masse . Navarre and Condé were spared, forced to convert, and detained. The guilt of having permitted
608-568: A truce the French and English kings intervened in the War of the Breton Succession . In 1346, Edward invaded France and pillaged the countryside rather than attempt to hold territory. French forces led by Philip VI confronted Edward III at the Battle of Crécy , which resulted in a devastating and humiliating defeat for the French. Despite this, the most that Edward could make out of his victory
684-419: A woman, could not succeed, then she could not transmit any such right to her son. Thus the French magnates chose as their new monarch Philip of Valois, who became King Philip VI of France . The throne of Navarre went its separate way, to Joan of France, daughter of Louis X, who became Joan II of Navarre. Because diplomacy and negotiation had failed, Edward III would have to back his claims with force to obtain
760-573: The Battle of Marignano , Francis defeated the Swiss, who had ousted his predecessor from Milan, and took control of the duchy. In the Imperial Election of 1519 , the Kings of Spain, France, and England fought for the imperial title. The King of Spain was a grandson of the deceased emperor, but the electors thought him to be a foreigner as much as the French king. The kings resorted to bribes, and
836-680: The Castilian Civil War , while the Black Prince supported the reigning king, Peter of Castile . The Black Prince won, but Peter refused to pay for his expenses. The Black Prince tried to recover his losses by raising taxes in Aquitaine, which prompted them to appeal to the King of France. War was renewed. The French recovered their territories place after place. When Charles died in 1380, only Calais, Bordeaux and Bayonne were left to
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#1732779891241912-567: The Clos Lucé in Amboise. There still remained the matter of Charles' first betrothed, the young Margaret of Austria. Although the cancellation of her betrothal meant that she by rights should have been returned to her family, Charles did not initially do so, intending to marry her usefully elsewhere in France. Eventually, in 1493, she was returned to her family, together with her dowry – though
988-623: The Kingdom of Spain , the Holy Roman Empire and the Kingdom of Naples, appeared to have trapped Charles in southern Italy and blocked his return to France. Charles would have to cross the territory of at least some of the League members to return home to France. At Fornovo in July 1495, the League was unable to stop Charles from marching his army out of Italy. The League lost 2,000 men to Charles' 1,000 and, although Charles lost nearly all
1064-662: The League of the Public Weal , an alliance of the feudal princes, which consisted of Charles, Duke of Berry , the king's brother, the Count of Charolais, the Dukes of Brittany, Bourbon, Lorraine (then a member of the House of Anjou), and several others, attempted to restore their feudal prerogatives. Louis feared a further escalation of the conflict against this formidable coalition. To obtain peace he conceded all their demands, including
1140-671: The lintel of a door at the Château d'Amboise , his place of birth. Since he had no male heir, he was succeeded by his second cousin once removed and brother-in-law at the time, Louis XII , from the Orléans cadet branch of the House of Valois . Charles was born at the Château d'Amboise in France, the only surviving son of King Louis XI by his second wife Charlotte of Savoy . His godparents were Charles II, Duke of Bourbon (the godchild's namesake), Joan of Valois, Duchess of Bourbon , and
1216-413: The Affable (French: l'Affable ; 30 June 1470 – 7 April 1498), was King of France from 1483 to his death in 1498. He succeeded his father Louis XI at the age of 13. His elder sister Anne acted as regent jointly with her husband Peter II, Duke of Bourbon until 1491, when the young king turned 21 years of age. During Anne's regency, the great lords rebelled against royal centralisation efforts in
1292-461: The Angevin possessions to the king. At the end of his reign royal power had become absolute in France. Charles VIII succeeded his father in 1483, at the age of 13. During his minority the nobles again attempted to seize power, but they were defeated by Charles' sister Anne of France . Charles' marriage to Anne of Brittany prevented a future total Habsburg encirclement of France. As the heir of
1368-420: The Black Prince , eldest son and heir of Edward III, led an army to a chevauchée in France. John pursued the Black Prince, who tried to avoid battling the French king's superior force. Negotiations broke down. In the Battle of Poitiers , the French suffered another humiliating defeat, and their king was captured. Edward hoped to capitalize on the victory by invading France and having himself crowned at Reims. But
1444-533: The Burgundian dominions. At the death of Charles the Bold in 1477, he seized the duchy of Burgundy, which he claimed as a reverted fief, even though the original grant did not specify the exclusion of female heirs. But the marriage of Mary of Burgundy , heiress of Charles the Bold, to Maximilian of Austria would prove problematic for later generations. In 1481, the last male of the House of Anjou died, willing all
1520-634: The Burgundian party gained ascendancy in Paris. Henry proceeded to conquer Normandy. The Armagnacs assassinated John the Fearless , duke of Burgundy, a belated revenge for the assassination of Louis I, Duke of Orléans. The new duke, Philip the Good , allied himself with the English. In the Treaty of Troyes , Henry V of England became regent of France and heir to that throne; he also married Catherine of Valois ,
1596-585: The Catholic League led by Henry of Guise , fought a three-way contest for the control of France. After the humiliation of the Day of the Barricades , Henry III fled from Paris. Guise had entered Paris against his express prohibition; he resolved to assassinate the audacious duke. The assassination of Guise drew the odium of the Catholic League. Henry III sought the alliance of Navarre. The two kings were on
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#17327798912411672-647: The Duchies of Milan and Mantua, the Kings of Spain and Naples, the Emperor and the Pope, united against the French. Charles, who did not wish to be trapped in Naples, had to fight against them in the Battle of Fornovo . Charles succeeded in returning to France, but all his conquests and booty were lost. The debts he incurred for the campaign prevented him from resuming the war, and he died in an accident in 1498. With his death
1748-992: The Duchy of Burgundy was retained in the Treaty of Senlis . Around the king there was a circle of court poets, the most memorable being the Italian humanist Publio Fausto Andrelini from Forlì , who spread Renaissance humanism in France. During a pilgrimage to pay respects to his father's remains, Charles observed Mont Aiguille and ordered Antoine de Ville to ascend to the summit in an early technical alpine climb, later alluded to by Rabelais . To secure France against invasions, Charles made treaties with Maximilian I of Austria (the Treaty of Senlis with Maximilian of Austria on 19 January 1493), Ferdinand II of Aragon (The Treaty of Barcelona (1493) ), and England (the Treaty of Étaples with England on 3 November 1492), buying their neutrality with large concessions. The English monarch Henry VII had forced Charles to abandon his support for
1824-462: The Duchy of Milan. From 1499 to 1512, excepting a brief period in 1500, Louis XII was Duke of Milan. French military activity continued in Italy, with various leagues formed to counter the dominant power. Louis died without a son, and was succeeded by his cousin and son-in-law, Francis of Angoulême, who became Francis I of France in 1515. Francis I belonged to a cadet branch of the House of Orleans. In
1900-457: The Duchy of Normandy to his brother, which carried with it one-third of the offices of state. Louis seldom relied on the fortunes of war, but rather on intrigue and diplomacy. He maintained his power by paying pensions to well-placed people in the courts of his vassals and in neighboring states. He retook Normandy from his brother at the first opportunity. He bought off Edward IV of England to desist from attacking France. He fomented rebellions in
1976-421: The English. The ancient, great families of the feudal nobility had largely been replaced by an equally powerful class – the princes of the royal blood. With the confiscation of Guyenne, the only remaining non-Capetian peer was the Count of Flanders. The Montfort dukes of Brittany, the houses of Évreux and Bourbon, and the princes of the House of Valois, constituted the great nobility of the kingdom. Succeeding to
2052-535: The French Army took Naples without a pitched battle or siege; Alfonso was expelled, and Charles was crowned King of Naples. There were those in the Republic of Florence who appreciated the presence of the French king and his Army. The famous friar Savonarola believed that King Charles VIII was God's tool to purify the corruption of Florence. He believed that once Charles had ousted the evil sinners of Florence,
2128-427: The French king prepared for the renewal of war, while the English relaxed and took a break from fresh taxes. By 1450, the French had reconquered Normandy, and Guyenne the next year. A final English attempt to recover their losses ended in decisive defeat at the Battle of Castillon , 1453. With this victory, the English had been expelled in all of France except Calais. The Valois succession was upheld and confirmed. With
2204-738: The French king's daughter. The Dauphin Charles was effectively disinherited. To assume a greater appearance of legality, it was ratified by the Estates General later that year. To accept the Treaty of Troyes would be a denial of the legitimacy of the Valois. While England was accustomed to change her kings, the French largely adhered to theirs. The treaty was recognized only in English-controlled territories in northern France, and by
2280-712: The French throne. For a few years, England and France maintained an uneasy peace. Eventually, an escalation of conflict between the two kings led to King Philip VI confiscating the Duchy of Aquitaine (1337). Instead of paying homage for Aquitaine to the French king, as his ancestors had done, Edward claimed that he himself was the rightful King of France. These events helped launch the Hundred Years' War (1337–1453) between England and France. Though England ultimately failed to win that prolonged conflict, English and British monarchs until 1801 continued to maintain, at least formally,
2356-591: The Habsburg dominions between his son, Philip II of Spain , who gained Spain and the Low Countries, and his brother Ferdinand I , who became emperor. The French retook Calais after England allied with Spain. The Peace of Cateau-Cambrésis (1559) ended the Italian Wars. The French lost all their Italian territories except Saluzzo, and were confirmed in the possession of Calais and the three bishoprics. It
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2432-528: The House of Anjou, Charles VIII decided to press his claim to the Kingdom of Naples. It was the beginning of the Italian Wars . In September 1494 Charles invaded Italy with 25,000 men, and attained his object by 22 February 1495, virtually unopposed. But the speed and power of the French advance frightened the powers of Italy. The League of Venice , which consisted of the Republics of Venice and Florence,
2508-574: The Spanish king became Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor . The election of the Spanish king to the imperial throne made him the first monarch in Europe, both in title and in reality. Annoyed, the French king demanded that the emperor pay homage for Flanders and Artois; the emperor responded by reasserting his claim to the duchy of Burgundy. The rivalry of the French royal house with the Habsburgs dominated
2584-460: The State. The speed and power of the French advance frightened the other Italian rulers, including the Pope and even Ludovico of Milan. They formed an anti-French coalition, the League of Venice on 31 March 1495. The formation of the League of Venice, which included the northern Italian states of Duchy of Milan, the Republic of Venice, the Duchy of Mantua, and the Republic of Florence in addition to
2660-471: The Treaty of Madrid, in which he renounced claims in Naples and Milan, surrendered Burgundy to Spain, abandoned sovereignty over Flanders and Artois, and gave up two of his sons as hostages. Francis repudiated the treaty. Having often found himself alone in his struggle against the emperor, Francis formed the Franco-Ottoman alliance with the sultan, to the scandal of Christian Europe. Francis supported
2736-528: The Valois to the throne as the senior surviving branch of the Capetian dynasty. The Capetian dynasty seemed secure in the rule of the Kingdom of France both during and after the reign of King Philip IV (Philip the Fair, r. 1285–1313 ). Philip left three surviving sons ( Louis , Philip and Charles ) and a daughter ( Isabella ). Each son became king in turn, but each died young without surviving male heirs, leaving only daughters who could not inherit
2812-501: The affairs of other Italian states was continued by his successor, Pope Alexander VI (1492–1503), when the latter supported a plan for a carving out a new state in central Italy. The new state would have impacted on Milan more than any of the other states involved. Consequently, in 1493, Ludovico Sforza , the Duke of Milan , appealed for help to Charles VIII. Charles then returned Perpignan to Ferdinand II of Aragon to free up forces for
2888-492: The allied dukes of Burgundy and Brittany. Henry V died before his sickly father-in-law, Charles VI, leaving the future of the Lancastrian Kingdom of France in the hands of his infant son Henry VI of England , and his brother, John, Duke of Bedford . The able leadership of Bedford prevented Charles VII from retaking control of northern France. In 1429, Joan of Arc successfully raised the siege of Orléans and had
2964-515: The beginning of his reign Louis reversed his father's policies, abolishing the Pragmatic Sanction to please the pope and the standing armies, which he distrusted, in favor of Swiss mercenaries. As a prince he had leagued with the nobility against his father, but as a king he found that his power could only be maintained by subduing them. He was the lifelong enemy of Charles the Bold , Count of Charolais, and later Duke of Burgundy. In 1465,
3040-430: The booty of the campaign, the League was unable to stop him from crossing their territory on his way back to France. Meanwhile, Charles' remaining garrisons in Naples were quickly subdued by Aragonese forces sent by Ferdinand II of Aragon , ally of Alfonso on 6–7 July 1495. Thus in the end, Charles VIII lost all the gains that he had made in Italy. Over the next few years, Charles VIII tried to rebuild his army and resume
3116-514: The brothers Antoine, King of Navarre , and Louis, Prince of Condé , were Protestants. The House of Guise identified themselves as champions of the Catholic cause. They were on the point of executing Condé when the young king died. With the succession of her minor son Charles IX in 1560, Catherine de' Medici maneuvered for a balance of power. She released Condé, hoping to use the Bourbons as
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3192-402: The campaign, but he was hampered by the large debts incurred in 1494–95. He never succeeded in gaining anything substantive. Charles died in 1498, two and a half years after his retreat from Italy, as the result of an accident. While on his way to watch a game of jeu de paume ( real tennis ) in Amboise he struck his head on the lintel of a door. At around 2:00 p.m., while returning from
3268-610: The city would become a center of morality. Thus, Florence was the appropriate place to restructure the Church. This situation would eventually spill over into another conflict between Pope Alexander VI , who despised the idea of having the king in northern Italy where the Pope feared the King of France would interfere with the Papal States, and Savonarola, who called for the king's intervention. This conflict would eventually lead Savonarola to be suspected of heresy and to be executed by
3344-555: The conversion of the German princes to Protestantism, as it increased his potential allies against the emperor. In his own dominions, the Protestants were suppressed. Henry II succeeded to the throne in 1547. He continued his father's policies, as did his successors. He persecuted Protestants in his kingdom, while Protestants abroad were his allies. Henry captured the three bishoprics of Metz , Toul , and Verdun . French offensives failed in Italy. In 1556, Charles V abdicated, splitting
3420-614: The disputed succession to Mathias Corvinus , King of Hungary . Anne of Brittany was forced to renounce Maximilian (whom she had only married by proxy) and agree to be married to Charles VIII instead. In December 1491, in an elaborate ceremony at the Château de Langeais , Charles and Anne of Brittany were married. The 14-year-old Duchess Anne, not happy with the arranged marriage , arrived for her wedding with her entourage carrying two beds. However, Charles's marriage brought him independence from his relatives and thereafter he managed affairs according to his own inclinations. Queen Anne lived at
3496-730: The expulsion of the English, Charles VII had reestablished his kingdom as the foremost power of Western Europe. He created France's first standing army since Roman times, and limited papal power in the Gallican Church by the Pragmatic Sanction of Bourges . But his later years were marred by quarrels with his eldest son and heir, the Dauphin Louis , who refused to obey him. The dauphin was banished from court for his intrigues, and did not return to France until his father's death. Louis XI succeeded his father in 1461. At
3572-652: The game, Charles strikes his head on the lintel of a door. The 2012 Spanish TV series Isabel also depicts the death of Charles VIII. In that series, Charles was played by the actor Héctor Carballo. In the 2017 German-Austrian historical drama Maximilian , a young Charles when he was Dauphin is portrayed by French actor Max Baissette de Malglaive. Made available by American cable network Starz in 2018. House of Valois The Capetian House of Valois ( UK : / ˈ v æ l w ɑː / VAL -wah , also US : / v æ l ˈ w ɑː , v ɑː l ˈ w ɑː / va(h)l- WAH , French: [valwa] )
3648-489: The game, he fell into a sudden coma and died nine hours later. Charles bequeathed a meagre legacy: he left France in debt and in disarray as a result of his ambition. However, his expedition did strengthen cultural ties to Italy, energizing French art and literature in the latter part of the Renaissance . Since his children predeceased him, Charles was the last of the elder branch of the House of Valois . Upon his death,
3724-473: The heiress of Flanders, found it more convenient to rule his vast dominions from Paris. Charles terminated his uncles' regency at the age of 21, even though he would have been entitled to it as early as the age of 14. His early reign was promising, but the onset of madness, which he may have inherited from the Bourbon dukes through his mother, would prove to be disastrous for France. Burgundy, the most powerful of
3800-449: The independence of her duchy against the ambitions of France, arranged a marriage in 1490 between herself and the widower Maximilian. The regent Anne of France and her husband Peter refused to countenance such a marriage, however, since it would place Maximilian and his family, the Habsburgs, on two French borders. The French army invaded Brittany, taking advantage of the preoccupation of Maximilian and his father, Emperor Frederick III , with
3876-553: The invasion of Italy. The next year in 1494, Milan faced an additional threat. On 25 January 1494, Ferdinand I, King of Naples , died unexpectedly. His death made Alfonso II , king of Naples. Alfonso II laid claim to the Milanese duchy. Alfonso II now urged Charles to take Milan militarily. Charles was also urged on in this adventure by his favorite courtier, Étienne de Vesc . Thus, Charles came to imagine himself capable of actually taking Naples, and invaded Italy. In an event that
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#17327798912413952-432: The king crowned at Reims, an important French propaganda victory. Power struggles between Bedford, his brother Humphrey, Duke of Gloucester , and their uncle Cardinal Beaufort hampered the English war effort. The Duke of Burgundy, alienated by the blunders of Gloucester, reconciled with the King of France in the Treaty of Arras , 1435. Bedford had died that same year. The warring parties arranged long truces, during which
4028-525: The king's brother, in 1584, meant that the Huguenot King of Navarre had become heir presumptive to the throne of France. Pressured by the Catholic League, the king issued the Treaty of Nemours , which outlawed Protestantism and made Protestants incapable of holding royal office. In the resulting War of the Three Henrys , the royalists led by the king, the Huguenots led by Henry of Navarre, and
4104-463: The massacre would haunt Charles for the rest of his life. In 1573, the king's brother, Henry, Duke of Anjou , was elected King of Poland. In 1574, only three months after Henry's coronation as King of Poland, he succeeded to the French throne as Henry III . The next year the king's only remaining brother, the Duke of Alençon , fled the court and joined with Condé and Navarre. This combined threat forced
4180-487: The new king to grant the demands of the rebels. Alençon was made Duke of Anjou. The concessions to the Huguenots disquieted the Catholics, who formed the Catholic League . The League was led by the princes of the House of Lorraine – the dukes of Guise, Mayenne, Aumale, Elboeuf, Mercœur and Lorraine, supported by Spain. The Huguenots held the southwest and were allied to England and the princes of Germany. The death of
4256-422: The new leader, the Dauphin Charles , avoided another pitched battle, and the city of Reims withstood siege. In the Treaty of Brétigny , the English king gained an enlarged Aquitaine in full sovereignty, gave up the duchy of Touraine, the counties of Anjou and Maine, the suzerainty of Brittany and of Flanders, and his claim to the French throne. Charles V became king in 1364. He supported Henry of Trastámara in
4332-441: The novel The Sultan's Helmsman . In the 2011 Showtime series The Borgias , Charles VIII is portrayed by French actor Michel Muller . In the 2011 French-German historical drama Borgia , Charles VIII is played by Simon Larvaron. The event of the king's death is depicted in the TV series Borgia with a small twist: in the episode, Charles himself plays a game of jeu de paume with Cesare Borgia and loses; while leaving
4408-418: The past the English kings would have to submit to the King of France. But Edward, having descended from the French kings, claimed the throne for himself. France was then at the height of its power. No one believed that the English king could make good his claim to France. Edward's initial strategy was to ally with Flanders and the princes of the Empire. The alliances were costly and not very productive. While on
4484-405: The point of taking Paris with their great army, when the French king fell by the hands of an assassin. With his death the male line of the House of Valois had been completely extinguished, after reigning for 261 years in France. The royal Bourbons originated in 1272, when the youngest son of King Louis IX married the heiress of the lordship of Bourbon . The house continued for three centuries as
4560-470: The pretender Perkin Warbeck by despatching an expedition which laid siege to Boulogne . He devoted France's resources to building up a large army, including one of Europe's first siege trains with artillery . In 1489, Pope Innocent VIII (1484–1492), then being at odds with Ferdinand I of Naples , offered Naples to Charles, who had a vague claim to the Kingdom of Naples through his paternal grandmother, Marie of Anjou . Innocent's policy of meddling in
4636-464: The princes and peers, naturally took power in his hands. But his nephew, Louis I, Duke of Orléans , the king's brother, contested his authority. Rivalry between the two princes and their descendants led to the Armagnac–Burgundian Civil War . In 1415 Henry V of England , great-grandson of Edward III, invaded France. In the Battle of Agincourt , the Armagnac faction fought the English and were decimated. The dukes of Orléans and Bourbon were captured, and
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#17327798912414712-431: The rest of the sixteenth century. The emperor took Milan from the French in 1521. The King of England and the pope supported the emperor. France was surrounded by enemies on all sides. Domestic troubles led to the defection of Charles III, Duke of Bourbon and Constable of France, to the emperor. In 1525, at the Battle of Pavia , the French were defeated and the king himself was captured. Francis obtained his release through
4788-399: The senior line of the House of Valois became extinct. He was succeeded by his cousin, the Duke of Orleans, who became Louis XII of France . Louis XII married his predecessor's widow, Anne of Brittany, in order to retain that province for France. The new king also continued his predecessor's policy in Italy. The Dukes of Orleans were descended from Valentina Visconti , and through her claimed
4864-399: The teenage Edward of Westminster , the son of Henry VI of England who had been living in France since the deposition of his father by Edward IV . Charles succeeded to the throne on 30 August 1483 at the age of 13. His health was poor. He was regarded by his contemporaries as possessing a pleasant disposition, but also as foolish and unsuited for the business of the state. In accordance with
4940-415: The throne at the age of 11, the reign of Charles VI of France was the first minority since that of Saint Louis' in 1226. Power devolved into the hands of his uncles, the dukes of Anjou, Berry and Burgundy. The dukes squandered the resources of the monarchy to pursue their own ends. Anjou pursued his claim in the Kingdom of Naples ; Berry governed his large estates in Languedoc; and Burgundy, having married
5016-516: The throne passed to his brother-in-law and second cousin once removed, Louis XII . Anne returned to Brittany and began taking steps to regain the independence of her duchy. In order to stymie these efforts, Louis XII had his 24-year childless marriage to Charles's sister, Joan , annulled and married Anne. Charles and Anne had: The 1671 English play Charles VIII of France by John Crowne depicts his reign. Charles VIII's invasion of Italy and his relations with Pope Alexander VI are depicted in
5092-402: The throne was based on a precedent in 1316 (later retroactively attributed to the Merovingian Salic law ) which excluded females ( Joan II of Navarre ), as well as male descendants through the distaff side ( Edward III of England ), from the succession to the French throne. After holding the throne for several centuries the Valois male line became extinct and the House of Bourbon succeeded
5168-531: The throne. When Charles IV died in 1328 the French succession became more problematic. In 1328 three candidates had a plausible claim to the French throne: In England, Isabella of France claimed the throne on behalf of her 15-year-old son. In contrast to France it was unclear whether a woman could inherit the English crown but English precedent allowed succession through the female line (as exemplified by Henry II of England , son of Matilda ). The French rejected Isabella's claim, arguing that since she herself, as
5244-477: The title Affable . If an internal link led you here, you may wish to change the link to point directly to the intended article. Retrieved from " https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Affable&oldid=821532613 " Category : Disambiguation pages Hidden categories: Short description is different from Wikidata All article disambiguation pages All disambiguation pages Charles VIII of France Charles VIII , called
5320-500: The wishes of Louis XI, the regency of the kingdom was granted to Charles' elder sister Anne , a formidably intelligent and shrewd woman described by her father as "the least foolish woman in France". She ruled as regent, together with her husband Peter of Bourbon, until 1491. Charles was betrothed on 22 July 1483 to the 3-year-old Margaret of Austria , daughter of the Archduke Maximilian of Austria (later Holy Roman Emperor Maximilian I ) and Mary, Duchess of Burgundy . The marriage
5396-447: Was a cadet branch of the Capetian dynasty . They succeeded the House of Capet (or "Direct Capetians") to the French throne , and were the royal house of France from 1328 to 1589. Junior members of the family founded cadet branches in Orléans , Anjou , Burgundy , and Alençon . The Valois descended from Charles, Count of Valois (1270–1325), the second surviving son of King Philip III of France (reigned 1270–1285). Their title to
5472-530: Was a diplomatic victory for Philip II, who gave up nothing which belonged to himself. The Spanish king retained Franche-Comté and was confirmed in his possession of Milan, Naples, Sicily, Sardinia, and the State of Presidi, making him the most powerful ruler in Italy. The last phase of Valois rule in France was marked by the French Wars of Religion . Henry II died in a jousting accident in 1559. His eldest son and heir, Francis II , succeeded him. The new king
5548-430: Was already King of Scotland by right of his wife, Mary, Queen of Scots . The queen's maternal relatives, the House of Guise , gained an ascendancy over the young king. The House of Guise was a cadet branch of the ducal House of Lorraine. They claimed descent from Charlemagne and had designs on the French throne. They considered the House of Bourbon , princes of the blood, as their natural enemies. The leading Bourbons,
5624-509: Was arranged by Louis XI, Maximilian, and the Estates of the Low Countries as part of the 1482 Peace of Arras between France and the Duchy of Burgundy . Margaret brought the counties of Artois and Franche-Comté to France as her dowry, and she was raised in the French court as a prospective queen. In 1488, however, Francis II, Duke of Brittany , died in a riding accident, leaving his 11-year-old daughter Anne as his heir. Anne, who feared for
5700-438: Was the capture of Calais. John II succeeded his father Philip VI in 1350. He was menaced by Charles II of Navarre , of the Évreux branch of the Capetian family, who aspired to the French throne by the right of his mother, the senior descendant of Philip IV of France . Charles' character eventually alienated both the French and English monarchs, because he readily switched sides whenever it suited his interest. In 1356, Edward,
5776-595: Was to prove a watershed in Italian history, Charles invaded Italy with 25,000 men (including 8,000 Swiss mercenaries ) in September 1494 and marched across the peninsula virtually unopposed, using gunpowder artillery powerful enough to rapidly reduce Italian fortifications not designed to endure it. He arrived in Pavia on 21 October 1494 and entered Pisa on 8 November 1494. The French army subdued Florence in passing on their way south. Reaching Naples on 22 February 1495,
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