On this day in history, 9th January 1514, Anne of Brittany, queen consort of King Louis XII of France, died at the Chateau of Blois. Anne was buried in the Cathedral Basilica of Saint Denis.
Anne had been married three times. In 1490, she was married by proxy to Maximilian I of Austria, but was then forced to put this marriage aside and marry Charles VIII of France in 1491. When he died in 1498, Anne found herself being pushed into marrying the new French king, Louis XII. The couple married in 1499 after the annulment of his previous marriage.
Anne had no surviving children with Charles VIII but gave Louis XII two surviving daughters: Claude, Queen of France, and Renée, Duchess of Ferrara. Claude inherited her mother’s title, Duchess of Brittany. Poor Anne is said to have been pregnant fourteen times by the time she died in 1514 at the age of thirty-six.
Louis XX went on to marry Mary Tudor, sister of Henry VIII, in October 1514 but their marriage was cut short by Louis’ death on 1st January 1515. Louis was succeeded to the throne by his son-in-law, Francis I, son of Charles, Count of Angoulême, so Louis’ daughter, Claude, became Queen of France.
I visited Anne’s resting place at Saint Denis back in 2015 and here are photos of the tomb of Anne and Louis. You can see further photos and read more about Saint Denis is a guest article written by Yann Kergourlay – click here.
My favorite character in the French history! She was extraordinary.
How sad…14 children, only two living. Having read the companion article and this one I was going to ask about the desecration in 1793, particularly as I recently watched a documentary on the search for the Head of Henri Iv and read the BMJ article on this. Parts of the bodies of the Kings and Queens of France were scattered or put into a mass grave. Other parts were removed and saved. At the restoration of the monarchy they were dug up and placed in two large tombs in the crypt. One was the head of Henri iv which was later tracked down by two French journalists and examined, having been in safe keeping for several decades by the same family. The DNA was not possible, but various scientists used forensic methods to examine his skull and portrait and death mask and came to the conclusion it was him. The evidence has been challenged since, but the original scientific scholars say it is him. The article is very convincing, the match is very close so it probably is Henry iv.
What I would like to know is if there are any other bones that they know are from their Queens and Kings? For example, Anne of Brittany was adored as a great scholar and benign person. Do we know if her bones were saved?
Anne of Brittany was a remarkable woman. Rest in peace.
Hi Banditqueen,
To answer your question, there are accounts of what was done during the desecration of 1793. Henri IV was a particular case, since the remains they found were said to be astonishingly well preserved, which led to them becoming prized possessions.Sketches were even made of it. To my knowledge, most of the remains were put into a mass grave after being stripped of the valuables they might have carried. No claim has been made to this day that Anne of Brittany’s bones were kept. The gold reliquary her heart was placed in turned out to be the main interest.
Given the number of books currently being published on figures from the late medieval/early modern eras, I’m amazed that there is still no modern English-language biography avaialble on Anne – her eventful life and her attempts to safeguard the autonomy of Brittany in the face of constant forces working against this surely warrant this!
Hi Vermillion, the only modern book I know of is one called Anne of Brittany Library Intellectual Life at Her Court by Brown which is very expensive. The others are as you say, very old….Anne of Brittany..Twice Crowned Queen by Constance La Warr…Anna of Brittany. The Story of a Life..Dominique Le Page in French
Twice Crowned Queen of France Mildred Allen Butler
Anne of Brittany by Helen Josephine Sanborn Reprint 2016..Kindle Beautifully Illustrated
There is a novel…Sense of Touch Love and Passion Court of Anne of Brittany by Rozsa Gaston available in book or Kindle..reasonable.
I would love a modern biography of this amazing lady.
Cheers
BQ
The book by Cynthia Brown was the Queens Library….Image Making at the Court of Anne of Brittany, very expensive, but excellent read.
I would like to know the cause of death of Anne of Brittany. She was only 36yrs. old.