Louis XII of France

Born Louis of Orléans, Louis XII succeeded his cousin Charles VIII in 1498. After obtaining the annulment of his marriage to Joan of France, he married the widowed Anne of Brittany in 1499. His reign continued French intervention in Italy, including campaigns in Milan and Naples, while the succession centred increasingly on his daughter Claude.

Louis is a major figure in fiction about Anne of Brittany, the Italian Wars and the transition from the late medieval Valois monarchy to the reign of Francis I. His marriage can be presented as both a political settlement and a partnership, but the private character of that relationship remains partly interpretive.

In Rozsa Gaston’s Anne and Louis, the new king, Louis XII, must first secure the annulment of his existing marriage before he can fulfil the agreement that will make Anne queen of France for a second time. In Rozsa Gaston’s Anne and Louis: Rulers and Lovers, their domestic conflict unfolds beside the partition of Naples and renewed war in Italy, where agreements among France, Spain and the papacy prove as fragile as the dynasty they are trying to preserve. Other novels featuring Louis XII of France include Rozsa Gaston’s The Queen’s Maid, Rozsa Gaston’s Anne and Louis: Forever Bound, and Rozsa Gaston’s Marguerite and Gaston.