nne of Brittany, 1477-1514, queen of
France as consort of Charles VIII (1491-98) and of Louis XII (1499-1514).
The daughter of Duke Francis II of Brittany, she inherited the
duchy in 1488. Her hand and her duchy were eagerly sought by a
number of suitors. A French army under Louis de La Trémoille
invaded (1488) Brittany, while Jean d’Albret, Archduke
Maximilian (later Emperor Maximilian I), Louis d’Orléans (later
Louis XII of France), and Henry VII of England sent small forces
to young Anne’s assistance. La Trémoille was victorious,
and Anne was forced to promise to marry only with the consent of
the French crown. Warfare was resumed in 1489, and Anne appealed
to Maximilian for protection. In 1490 Maximilian married Anne by
proxy but failed to assist her with armed strength. Beseiged at
Rennes, Anne was forced by the French to annul her marriage, and
in 1491 she was married to Charles VIII. It was agreed that if
Charles died before Anne without issue, she was to marry his
successor. Accordingly, in 1499, she married Louis XII, who had
previously obtained a divorce from his first wife. Brittany
remained theoretically seperate, but the marriage (1514) of
Claude, Anne’s daughter by Louis XII, to Francis of Angoulême
(later Francis I of France) led to the eventual incorporation (1532)
of Brittany into France. See biography by H. J. Sanborn (1917). [The
Illustrated Columbia Encyclopedia, 1969]
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