Anne of Brittany is the only woman who became Queen of France twice.
At the age of 11 Anne became Duchess of Brittany when her father died. Because the Duchy of Brittany had been an independent state, as heir to the duchy Anne had been the marriage target for a number of key players including the future king of England.
The year after she became Duchess of Brittany she was married by proxy to Maximilian of Austria. This was handled the usual way, with his representative attending the church ceremony in Rennes and subsequently placing a toe in the bed with Anne, which was supposed to represent the marriage having been consummated.
This marriage provoked a swift reaction from France. There had been an agreement that any marital alliances had to be approved by France. Not only had this not occurred, but Anne had married a potential enemy of France. The French King Charles VIII was twenty one years old when he successfully laid siege to Brittany.
Anne, the Duchess of Brittany signed a treaty with France. This included marrying the young French king. It was going to be complicated. Not only was Anne legally married to Maximilian of Austria, but Charles was engaged to Maximilian’s young daughter Margaret who was living in the royal residence in Amboise.
They were regarded as details which could be overcome and almost a year to the day after the wedding to Maximilian, Anne married Charles VIII.
Anne became pregnant immediately and gave birth to a son and heir to the French throne named Charles-Orland. Virtually each of the next five years, she gave birth, with none of the children surviving.
Charles Orland, the only surviving child died of measles at the age of three.
A few days after the birth – and death – of the youngest daughter, Charles was at the Chateau of Amboise where he went to watch a “jeu de paume” – a type of tennis played in the dry moat. He hit his head on the lintel and died from the injury a few hours later. He was twenty seven. His widow Anne was twenty one.
The importance of Brittany to France had been shown by a clause in the agreement which meant that if the French King died without an heir, Anne of Brittany would marry his successor.
This was somewhat complicated by the fact that the new King, Louis XII was already married – to Charles VIII’s sister. However it was a marriage that had been forced on him and he had tried to get out of many times. This time the Pope came through for him and the marriage was annulled. Louis XII married Anne of Brittany in January 1499. They lived in his Chateau of Blois.
Again she was pregnant immediately and gave birth to a daughter named Claude. Anne then gave birth to two sons who did not survive, and had a number of miscarriages. Eleven years after giving birth the Claude, she had a second daughter, Renée, who survived. The year after giving birth to yet another stillborn son, Anne died at the age of 36. Claude succeeded her as Duchess of Brittany.
Four months later Louis XII went ahead with his plan to marry his elder daughter Claude to then heir of the French throne – François. Seven months later on New Years Day 1515 François became King of France. Anne of Brittany’s daughter was now Queen of France.
