#1 – Anne and Charles
When Francis II dies in 1488, eleven-year-old Anne inherits Brittany amid a French campaign to end the duchy’s independent course. Her proxy marriage to Maximilian of Habsburg offers an alliance against France, but invasion and political isolation force Anne into a settlement with the young king…
#2 – Anne and Louis
Widowed in 1498, Anne returns to Brittany and briefly resumes the authority denied to her during Charles VIII’s reign. 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…
#3 – Anne and Louis: Rulers and Lovers
By 1501 Anne and Louis have a surviving daughter, Claude, but no son to secure the crown. Anne favours a Habsburg marriage between Claude and the future Charles V, hoping to protect Brittany, while the French court increasingly supports Francis of Angoulême as both Claude’s husband…
#4 – Anne and Louis: Forever Bound
In the later years of their reign, Anne and Louis continue to seek a male heir while their daughter Claude’s marriage to Francis of Angoulême becomes increasingly difficult to prevent. Repeated pregnancies, bereavement and the unresolved Breton succession place mounting pressure on the queen’s health and…