BIRTH OF LOUIS XII OF FRANCE

 

 On this day ~ 27th June 1462 
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 BIRTH OF LOUIS XII OF FRANCE 

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 Louis was born on 27th June 1462 in the Château de Blois, Touraine, France.

Louis was the son of Charles Duke of Orléans, and Marie of Cleves.

His father was almost seventy years old, when Louis was born.

 Louis himself had an interesting life.

He became king purely by accident.

His cousin, King Charles VIII died after hitting his head on a doorframe.

As Charles had no immediate heirs, Louis inherited the throne.

 The first thing he did when he became King, was to annul his marriage to Joan of France.

Louis had no interest in Joan, their marriage was purely political.

He claimed it was because Joan was so deformed, that he couldn’t 'do his business' with her.

Joan had a curvature of the spine, and humiliated, she left and became a nun.

Louis then married Charles’ widow, Anne of Brittany.

 Louis and Anne’s marriage produced 4 stillborn boys and 2 daughters.

Anne of Brittany died in January 1514.

Nine months later, in October 1514, he married Mary Tudor, the little sister of Henry VIII.
Mary was young and beautiful, and this would be Louis last ditch attempt to produce a male heir.

 It didn’t work though, because legend has it that Louis went to town making love to his new beautiful young bride - so much so that all the excitement killed him.

On New Year’s Day in 1515, King Louis XII of France died, much to the elation of Mary Tudor!

Their marriage lasted 3 months......

 In reality, on 24th December 1514, Louis was reportedly suffering from a severe case of gout.

In the early hours of 1st January 1515, he received the final sacraments, and died later that evening.

Louis was interred in Saint Denis Basillica.

 Mary was forced to stay in France for a few months after Louis' death, in case she was carrying the future King of France.

She wasn’t, and the crown passed to Louis’ cousin and son-in-law King Francis I ~ who later went on to wrestle the life out of Henry VIII during 'The field of cloth of gold' in 1520.

The Tudor Intruders (and more)
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 Source~thetudorials

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 Portrait of Louis XII of France in circa 1514.

Workshop of Jeanne Perréal~Royal Collection Trust, Windsor Castle.