On this day in history, Louis XI, the sixth king of the Valois dynasty of France, was born. He is known as the founder of the unification of French territory, and is also known as the "Universal Spider" and "The Maker of French Territory." He is the sixth king of the Valois Dynas

On this day in history, Louis XI, the sixth king of the Valois dynasty of France, was born.

He is known as the founder of the unification of the French territory, and is also known as " Universal Spider " and "The Maker of French Territory" . He is the sixth king of the Valois Dynasty of France - —Louis XI. During his 22nd term of rule, France annexed the Principality of Burgundy, the Principality of Anjou, the Counties of Provence, and the Counties of Maine, basically unifying the entire territory of France.

"Universal Spider" - Louis XI

Why is Louis XI called " Universal Spider "? This comes from his cunning, sophistication and wit, and his amazing mobility.

All this is related to his living environment since childhood.

Louis XI, who was born on July 3, 1423 (this day in history) , has lived in Dulainn, France (now Loche in the Loire Valley of the Andre-Loire Province in central France) since he was a child. The isolation of the castle made Louis XI, who was originally very smart, develop a taciturn and suspicious character in the future. This period of not-so-comfortable childhood made him hate the beautiful castle where he was almost imprisoned. Even when he later ruled France, he even transformed it into a prison. Maybe that was the only way. , in order to understand the "painful experience" he experienced in the same year. Until now, when people visit this place, they can still feel the atmosphere of a medieval prison, Louis XI tower, hammer, interrogation room, graffiti-covered room, dark cell, solid fortifications, underground palace...

Chateau de Loche

Children of royal families always need to be headed early, and Louis XI is no exception.

Before he was thirteen years old, he was arranged by his father Charles VII to marry Margaret Stuart of Scotland . This Margaret was not simple. She was the daughter of King James I of Scotland The first child, her brother James II became King of Scotland at the age of six. Strictly speaking, such a "diplomatic marriage" made Louis XI very unhappy. Although Louis XI formally embraced Margaret when the two met for the first time, their marriage was Unfortunately, in addition to having no children, their marriage only lasted 9 years. 1445, Margaret died of fever.

Queen of France——Margaret Stuart

The marriage of the two was filled with struggles between Louis XI and his father, Charles VII, and Margaret supported her father. Charles VII was estranged from her husband Louis XI, which led to Margaret's death in 1445. Neither of them was able to leave a son and a half daughters. His son, later Charles VIII , also the last king of Valois dynasty , was born to him and his later wife Charlotte.

is in the royal family. Even if he is married, he cannot have sex because has not yet fully developed. Therefore, Charles VII sent Louis XI to Poitou to command the defense of Languedoc. At that time, it was still in the Hundred Years' War between England and France. The purpose of his going there was to resist the British invasion.

But Louis XI, who was only 16 years old, already had the ambition to seize the king's power at that time. During the foreign campaign, he also participated in and led the rebellion launched by the great feudal lord against the rule of Charles VII, his father.

However, Louis XI, who was not yet full-fledged, failed to succeed. Instead, he was suppressed by Charles VII. But as his father, King Charles VII of France did not punish him for the crime of rebellion because he cherished his talents, especially his military abilities. This forgiveness was more due to the contribution of his wife Margaret. Because at that time, Margaret had adapted well to life in the French palace and got along well with Charles VII. Charles VII even treated her as his "own daughter", so Charles VII still chose In order to forgive Margaret's husband, her son Louis XI.

The Hundred Years' War between England and France

If you don't say "poor parents in the world", not only did Charles VII not punish him, he even continued to let him lead the army to resist the attack of the British army, and also gave him the power to manage the prince's territory. This approach was equivalent to giving Louis XI a complete fiefdom as prince, leaving a certain basis for him to seize the throne in the future.

Louis XI, who owned the territory, not only did not change his original intention of "seizing power", but also secretly formed an alliance with the neighboring Savoy dynasty , which is now a dynasty near Turin, Italy. The two of them formed an alliance The first step after the war was to carve up the territory of the Duke of Milan (the area near today's Milan, Italy) east of Savoy. Moreover, after the death of Margaret, Louis XI directly married Charles, the daughter of Ludovico, Duke of Savoy. Lot.

Of course, Louis XI, who was suspicious and withdrawn by nature, was not able to give the French queen any gorgeous palace life. Queen Charlotte and her family were later placed by Louis XI in Amboise Castle to live, almost. It’s also isolated from the world! The tomb of Leonardo da Vinci, completed in June 2012, is placed in the Saint-Hubert chapel of Amboise Castle. This Italian-style palace is also one of the most representative castles in France during the Renaissance. one.

Amboise Castle

Louis XI's alliance with Savoy and his marriage to the Duke's daughter finally made Charles VII, the fifth king of Loireu, France intolerable. In addition, at that time Louis XI's first His wife, Margaret, had also died, and the king directly deprived Louis XI of his salary.

Louis XI, aware of the crisis, secretly left his princedom in 1456, the fifth year after marrying Charlotte (1451), and ran to join the kind-hearted Philip III, Duke of Burgundy . Of course, Burgundy was also the territory of members of the French royal family at that time, including most of today's Boulogne administrative region in France.

Philip III

Although at that time Charles VII had already won the Hundred Years War between England and France (which ended in 1453), the keen Charles VII still realized that his son was definitely not a simple ambition. After Louis X After escaping to the Duchy of Burgundy, he predicted: "Philippe has raised a fox, and sooner or later he will eat his hens.".

Sure enough. 1 In July 461, after the death of King Charles VII of the Valois dynasty at the age of 58, Louis XI, who was exiled, quickly returned to the royal family and inherited the throne . In the twenty-two years after he took office, he spent most of his time fighting against these large feudal landowners. The most eye-catching one was his relationship with Philip III, who once took him in. Son, Charles the Bold, Duke of Burgundy.

The bold Charles inherited his father's dukedom in 1467, six years later than Louis XI inherited the throne of the Loireux dynasty. He was also ten years younger than Louis XI. He was the "public welfare" who opposed the centralization of power by the French king at that time. The leader of the "Alliance", his biggest dream is to seek the Principality of Burgundy to become an independent kingdom.

Bold Charles

But the cold, arrogant and withdrawn Louis XI did not give him such a chance. Not only did he first severely hit the old courtiers of Charles VII in the country, but at the same time gave generous gifts to the King of England in exchange for England no longer supporting him. The Duchy of Burgundy also incited rebellion in the lowlands, causing civil strife in the Duchy of Burgundy, which was managing the lowlands at that time.

The bold and alcoholic Charles was eventually killed in the Battle of Nancy . The final result of that battle was that the Principality of Lorraine and the Swiss Confederation won, while the Principality of Burgundy was completely disintegrated. The territory was also divided between France and Austria..

The Battle of Nancy

The war between Burgundy, the Swiss Confederation and the Duchy of Lorraine was also instigated by Louis XI. In addition, the bold Charles did not leave a male heir, which led to the final Burgundy The principality perished. After the death of his biggest rival, Louis XI also began to let go of his hands and took the opportunity to gain more territory.

By the end of his reign, Anjou , Mann, Provence were all incorporated into the French royal territory, and only the Principality of Brittany had not yet been incorporated. Of course, the Port of Calais and its surrounding areas also remained in British hands. At this time, France already basically had a prototype, which was similar to the territory of modern France.

Of course, Louis XI also spent the later period of his reign in a state of panic. It was precisely because of his suspicious nature that he suffered from severe paranoia during his reign. He was always afraid of the feudal power below. The landowners "committed rebellion", so he later moved out of the palace and lived in Plessy-le-Tour Castle. basically didn't go out much. The people stationed around were the Swiss mercenaries he hired at a high price.

Of course, such a tradition continued until the Bourbon dynasty collectively ascended the guillotine during the Revolution. And to this day, in the Vatican , the Pope's personal safety is still protected by Swiss mercenaries.

In August 11483, Louis XI died of cerebral hemorrhage in the Castle of Preissy-le-Tour.

French writer Hugo in the novel " Notre Dame de Paris " describes the social status quo and various aspects of life in France during the reign of Louis XI. British writer Scott 's novel "The Castle" is It is written with Louis XI as the protagonist, including the "battle of wits and courage" with the bold Charles, Duke of Burgundy. It is also described in quite detail. Friends who are interested can read this novel.

Scott's novel "The Storm in the Castle"

" bah ah listen to me " history, today's historical story ends here, we will see you in the next issue!

organized ~ Ying Yajun

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