Louis XI of France

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Louis XI (1423-1483), called the Spider King, was king of France from 1461 to 1483. He suppressed baronial power, made peace with England, and reorganized French royal authority.

The prosperity of France and the authority of the Crown were the major concerns of Louis XI. During his reign France recovered from the foreign and civil disasters of the Hundred Years War (1339-1453) and its economic collapse of the early 15th century. By extending his authority into every area of public life, Louis weakened the French aristocracy, always a threat to the Crown, and destroyed the power of the ducal house of Burgundy. He encouraged the development of new industries and put his country on the road to economic recovery after a century of war and occupation.

Louis XI was born at Bourges, the son of Charles VII and Marie of Anjou. At that time most of France was in English hands, and Charles's enemies scornfully called him the "King of Bourges" (that city being his temporary capital). During the next 2 decades Charles slowly reestablished his authority. Joan of Arc and later Jacques Coeur and other civil and military officials were of great help to Charles and earned him the epithet "the Well-served."

Louis grew up in the fortress of Loches under the direction of tutors and, like most princes of his day, learned classical Latin. He also achieved a highly developed command of written French and is one of the few kings who has a distinguished personal literary style. At the age of 13, Louis married Margaret Stuart, daughter of James I of Scotland.

Rebellious Dauphin

After 1436 Louis began to accompany his father on military campaigns and civil inspections of his diminished kingdom. Shortly afterward Louis was made lieutenant general of Languedoc and later of Poitou. He was responsible for defending these provinces against bands of roving mercenary soldiers who had terrorized the countryside for most of the century and also for collecting taxes, always a chief concern of the impoverished king of France. In 1440, apparently at the instigation of the dukes of Alençon and Bourbon, Louis joined a conspiracy against his father. After Charles put down the Praguerie, as the revolt was called, Louis again accompanied him on his journeys, but his participation in another conspiracy against the King in 1445 resulted in his banishment to Dauphiné, the traditional province of the heir apparent to the throne of France. From 1445 to 1456 Louis learned the business of ruling.

Louis's wife died in 1445, and in 1451, against his father's wishes, he married Charlotte of Savoy. In 1456, having again angered his father, Louis fled to the protection of Philip the Good, Duke of Burgundy, the most powerful enemy of the French royal house, where he remained until his father's death in 1461. Louis's contemporary biographer Philippe de Comines assessed the importance of this period in Louis's life: "In my opinion, what he did in his youth, when he was a fugitive from his father under the Duke of Burgundy, where he remained six years, was very valuable to him, for he was compelled to please those of whom he had need, and this benefit (which is not small) taught him the meaning of adversity."

King of France

Upon the death of Charles VII in 1461, Louis ascended the throne of France. At the age of 38, Louis already had the striking appearance that was to inspire so many caricatures. He was somewhat below medium height and dressed very simply. He had a long nose, deeply set eyes, thin lips, a powerful jaw, and a jutting chin. He grew somewhat heavier in later life, but his legs remained thin. His epithet of "Spider King" was due to both his appearance and his authoritarian and unscrupulous character. Louis was a great talker and listener, and Comines wrote: "No man ever listened more constantly, or sought information on so many subjects as he, or sought to know so many people. … And his memory was so perfect that he retained everything." Louis was obsessed with the need to obtain accurate information, whether through diplomatic channels or otherwise, and he was just as concerned with the distribution of his own views to all parts of his realm. Louis was religious in an idiosyncratic and often misunderstood way. He endowed and rebuilt many churches, collected relics, and constantly sought the prayers of the French clergy and the Pope. But he also intervened often in Church affairs.

Above all else, Louis worked at rebuilding France. He worked long and hard and brought his will to bear on the great problems of his kingdom in a manner sometimes temperamental and cruel, sometimes jovial and unassuming. Comines's assessment of Louis's life remains a perceptive judgment: "I think that if all the good days he enjoyed during his life, days in which he had more pleasure and happiness than hard work and trouble, were carefully numbered, they would be found to be few; I believe one would find twenty days of travail and worry for every one day of ease and pleasure."

French Aristocracy and the English King

The great territorial principalities of 15th-century France, such as Burgundy and Brittany, were nominally fiefs granted by the king, but the allegiance of the great nobles had been strained or obliterated by English success during the Hundred Years War. Before he became king, Louis himself had attempted to profit from aristocratic disaffection in a series of revolts against his father. In 1464 Louis was faced with a serious revolt of the nobles who had formed the League of the Public Weal. He was forced to fight against the combined strength of the dukes of Burgundy, Bourbon, Brittany, and Lorraine, the Count of Armagnac, the Prince of Calabria, and his own brother, Charles of France. Louis fought the barons to a standoff in 1465 and settled the revolt by granting financial and legal concessions. In 1468 another conspiracy was formed, directed by Charles the Bold of Burgundy and supported by Edward IV of England. Again, Louis's adroitness and readiness to make concessions that he could later repudiate ended the revolt. In 1472 and again in 1474 Louis put down uprisings led by Charles. From 1475 to 1477 Louis withstood a last revolt and emerged with great gains. Charles the Bold and Edward IV had again allied against France, but Louis was able to secure a final truce between England and France in the Treaty of Picquigny (1475). This treaty marked the real end of English intervention in France after a century and a half of conflict. Charles the Bold was killed at Nancy in 1477 in a battle against the Swiss, with whom Louis had formed an alliance. With Charles's death the greatest single threat to Louis's stabilizing rule was removed.

Besides his political and military skill, Louis also had dynastic fortune on his side in his struggles with the nobles. During his reign the dynasties which ruled the great princely houses began to die out, thus allowing the king to reabsorb these dangerous principalities into the authority of the Crown. By skill, luck, and persistence, Louis had reassembled his kingdom.

Louis's Government of France

Louis was faced with the task of reorganizing the civil institutions of France. His reign was a sustained attempt to use royal authority to alleviate the economic and social problems of the kingdom. His methods did not make him loved. He continually raised old taxes and invented new ones. He insisted upon maintaining the effective standing army that his father had created. But he ruthlessly repressed abuses, particularly those of the nobility. His infinite capacity to obtain and absorb information made him intimately familiar with the events in the remotest parts of the kingdom - more familiar than some men would have cared him to be.

Louis's awareness of the complex role of economics in 15th-century society drove him to practice not only economic warfare against his enemies but also effective economic protectionism on behalf of his own territories. He urged the renewal of fairs and the abolition of tariff restrictions within the kingdom; he supported efficient city government; and he was always prepared to lessen the severity of his economic measures when he thought it necessary. Louis was much concerned with the role of the state in France's economy, and he experimented with state-owned shipping in the Mediterranean, state-operated arsenals, urban development, and control of the silk trade.

At his death in 1483, France had begun to improve its economic position, the great barons had been humbled, and the income of the Crown had been quadrupled. Louis left his son and heir, Charles VIII, a full treasury, a strong diplomatic position, and a restored throne.

Further Reading

The standard biography of Louis is Pierre Champion, Louis XI (2 vols., 1927; trans. 1929). A fascinating and reliable modern study is James Cleugh, Chant Royal (1970). See also Paul M. Kendall, Louis XI (1971). Very informative but outdated is D. B. Wyndham Lewis, King Spider: Some Aspects of Louis XI of France and His Companions (1929). The author's idiosyncratic religious and political views often flaw his work. The greatest work on Louis remains Philippe de Comines's Mémoires (many English translations), the observations of the most astute political observer of the 15th century and a man who knew Louis intimately. Recommended for general historical background are Edouard Perroy, The Hundred Years War (1945; trans. 1951); Denys Hay, Europe in the Fourteenth and Fifteenth Centuries (1966); and P. S. Lewis, Later Medieval France: The Polity (1968). The Burgundian background is treated in Joseph Calmette, The Golden Age of Burgundy (1959; trans. 1963).

Additional Sources

Tyrrell, Joseph M., Louis XI, Boston: Twayne, 1980.

Early Life

As dauphin Louis was almost constantly in revolt against his father. He was pardoned after joining (1440) the Praguerie; after conspiring (1446) against Agnès Sorel and Pierre de Brézé, he was exiled to the Dauphiné, which he governed himself. His continued intrigues forced another exile (1456-61), this time to the court of Philip the Good of Burgundy.

Conflict with the Nobility

Louis began his reign by dismissing many of his father's best advisers; but he soon deserted his former allies of the Praguerie and began the task of centralizing all authority in the crown. His measures to curb the power of the great nobles aroused (1465) the League of the Public Weal, headed by Charles the Bold, son of Philip the Good; Francis II, duke of Brittany; Jean, comte du Dunois; Antoine de Chabannes; and the dukes of Alençon and Bourbon, under the nominal leadership of the king's brother Charles. The lesser nobility, the bourgeoisie, and the lower classes supported Louis, who also allied with the citizens of Liège, a Burgundian protectorate, against Charles the Bold. Louis successfully defended Paris, but in Oct., 1465, he granted the demands of the rebels in the treaties of Conflans and Saint-Maur-des-Fossés. He soon violated the treaties, taking Normandy from his brother Charles, to whom it had been granted.

In 1467 a new coalition against the king was formed by Charles the Bold, now duke of Burgundy, with Francis II; Charles also obtained the support of King Edward IV of England. When the duke of Brittany invaded Normandy, Louis arranged a truce with him. In 1468, at the expiration of the truce with Brittany, he subdued Normandy and forced Francis II to sign the Peace of Ancenis (1468). Having visited Péronne for an interview with Charles the Bold, Louis was made (1468) prisoner and forced to sign a treaty granting important concessions and compelling him to participate in suppressing the revolt of Liège, which he had helped instigate. After his release Henry involved himself in English affairs against Edward IV (see Roses, Wars of the), aiding the restoration of King Henry VI.

Conflict with the French nobles continued. The death (1472) of Louis's brother Charles removed one opponent, and after a brief campaign Louis signed truces with Francis II and Charles the Bold. Charles renewed his alliance with Edward IV, who had regained the English throne. Louis, however, succeeded in buying off Edward IV when he invaded (1475) France to aid Charles, and in uniting the enemies of Charles the Bold, among whom the Swiss were the strongest. The Swiss victories over Charles and his death (1477) at Nancy enabled Louis to take Burgundy, Picardy, Boulogne, Artois, and Franche-Comté from Charles's daughter, Mary of Burgundy. Mary's husband, Maximilian of Austria (later Holy Roman Emperor Maximilian I), defeated (1479) Louis at Guinegate, but was ultimately forced to concede the Burgundian territories to Louis in the Treaty of Arras (see Arras, Treaty of). On the extinction of the house of Anjou, Louis acquired Anjou, Maine, Bar, and Provence.

Characteristics of Louis's Reign

A born diplomat, Louis skillfully checked his foreign and domestic enemies and set up an efficient central administration. He used commissions (and the one States-General he convoked) to give his acts the appearance of popular approval. He diminished the prestige of the courts. Despite his revocation (1461) of his father's pragmatic sanction of Bourges, he intervened freely in church affairs. He imposed heavy taxes, using much of the revenue to purchase support. He also encouraged industry and expanded domestic and foreign trade. Louis preferred men of humble origin, and among his advisers were Olivier Le Daim, Louis Tristan L'Hermite, and Cardinal Balue, whom he rewarded liberally, though he was niggardly in his own expenses. Fearing assassination, he spent his last years in virtual self-imprisonment near Tours. He was succeeded by his son, Charles VIII.

Bibliography

See writings of a contemporary, Comines; biographies by P. H. Champion (tr. 1929, repr. 1970), J. Cleugh (1970), and P. M. Kendall (1971).

Louis XI the Prudent
Louis XI wearing his Order of Saint Michael
King of France
Reign	22 July 1461 − 30 August 1483
Coronation	15 August 1461, Reims
Predecessor	Charles VII
Successor	Charles VIII
Spouse	Margaret of Scotland Charlotte of Savoy
Issue
Anne, Duchess of Bourbon Joan, Duchess of Berry Charles VIII
Father	Charles VII
Mother	Marie of Anjou
Born	3 July 1423(1423-07-03) Bourges, Cher, France
Died	30 August 1483(1483-08-30) (aged 60) Château de Plessis-lez-Tours, France
Burial	Notre-Dame de Cléry Basilica, Cléry-Saint-André, near Orléans

Louis XI (3 July 1423 – 30 August 1483), called the Prudent (French: le Prudent), was the King of France from 1461 to 1483. He was the son of Charles VII of France and Mary of Anjou, a member of the House of Valois.

During his 22-year reign, Louis successfully expanded royal power at the expense of the dukes. Shrewd and often vicious, he spun webs of plot and conspiracy which earned him the nicknames the Cunning (Middle French: le rusé) and the Universal Spider (Middle French: l'universelle aragne ). His love for scheming and intrigue made him many enemies, including his father, his brother Charles de Valois, Duc de Berry, as well as his cousins Charles the Bold, Duke of Burgundy and Edward IV of England. Louis preferred men of humble origin, and among his advisers were Olivier Le Daim, Louis Tristan L'Hermite, and Cardinal Balue.

Contents 1 Biography 1.1 Early life 1.2 Succession as King 1.3 Feud with Charles the Bold 1.4 Dealings with England 1.5 Settling with Charles the Bold 1.6 Legacy 2 In popular culture 3 Children with Charlotte of Savoy 4 Ancestors 5 References

Biography

Early life

Louis was born at Bourges, Cher in 1423, when the English held northern France and his father Charles VII was restricted to the centre and south. Louis was the grandson of the strong-willed Yolande of Aragon, the princess who was the driving force in driving the English out of France. Louis despised his father, regarding him as a weakling.

On 24 June 1436 he met Margaret of Scotland, daughter of James I of Scotland, the bride his father had chosen for diplomatic reasons.^[1] There are no direct accounts from Louis or his young bride of their first impressions of each other, and it is mere speculation to say whether or not they actually had negative feelings for each other. Several historians think that Louis had a predetermined attitude to hate his wife. But it is universally agreed upon that Louis entered the ceremony and the marriage itself dutifully, as evidenced by his formal embrace of Margaret upon their first meeting.

In this painting by Jean Fouquet, Louis' father Charles VII is depicted as one of the three magi and it is assumed that Louis, then Dauphin, is one of the other two.

Louis' marriage shows both the nature of medieval royal diplomacy and the precarious position of the French monarchy at the time. The wedding — by the standards of the time, it was a very plain ceremony — took place 25 June 1436 in the afternoon in the chapel of the castle of Tours and was presided over by the Archbishop of Reims.^[2] The 13-year-old Louis looked clearly more mature than his eleven-year old bride, who looked like a beautiful “doll”, and was treated as such by her in-laws.^[2] Charles wore “grey riding pants” and “did not even bother to remove his spurs.”^[2] The Scottish guests were quickly hustled out after the wedding reception, as the Valois court was quite impoverished at this time. They simply could not afford an extravagant ceremony or to host their Scottish guests for any longer than they did. The Scots however saw this behaviour as an insult to their small but proud country.^[3]

Following the ceremony, “doctors advised against consummation” because of the relative immaturity of the bride and bridegroom. Margaret continued her studies and Louis went on tour with Charles to loyal areas of the kingdom. Even at this time, Charles was taken aback by the intelligence and temper of his son. During this tour, Louis was named Dauphin by Charles, as is traditional for the eldest son of the king.^[3]

In 1440, Louis, aged 17, was part of the uprising known as the Praguerie, which sought to control Charles and install Louis as Regent. The uprising failed and Louis was forced to submit to the King, who however forgave him. In this revolt, Louis was greatly influenced by Charles de Bourbon, whose troops were “badly out of condition” with “poor logistics.” Louis was forced to retreat to Paris but was “by no means trounced.”^[4] In fact, before his final defeat, “[Louis's]...military strength, combined with antipathy of the masses for great lords, won him the support of the citizens of Paris.”^[4] This was a great learning experience for Louis. James Cleugh notes:

“Like other strong minded boys, he had found at last he could not carry all before him by mere bluster. Neither as prince nor as king did he ever forget his lesson. He never acted on pure impulse, without reflection, though to his life’s end he was constantly tempted to take such a risk.”^[2]

Louis continued soldiering. In 1444 he led an army of "écorcheurs" against the Swiss at the Battle of St. Jakob an der Birs and was impressed by the latter's military might. He still loathed his father, however, and on 27 September 1446 he was ordered out of court and sent to his own province of Dauphiné, where he was to establish order. He lived mainly in Grenoble, in the tour de la Trésorerie.^[5] Despite frequent summons by the King, the two would never meet again. In Dauphiné, Louis ruled as King in all but name, continuing his intrigues against his father. On 14 February 1451, Louis, 27, who had been widowed for six years, made a strategic marriage to the eight-year-old Charlotte of Savoy, without Charles' consent.

Finally, in August 1456, Charles sent an army to Dauphiné. Louis fled to Burgundy where he was granted refuge by Duke Philip the Good and his son Charles the Bold and settled in the castle of Genappe. King Charles was furious when Philip refused to hand over Louis and warned the Duke that he was "giving shelter to a fox who will eat his chickens".

French Monarchy
Capetian Dynasty
(House of Valois)

Philip VI Children    John II John II Children    Charles V    Louis I of Anjou    John, Duke of Berry    Philip the Bold Charles V Children    Charles VI    Louis, Duke of Orléans Charles VI Children    Isabella of Valois    Michelle of Valois    Catherine of Valois    Charles VII Charles VII Children    Louis XI    Charles, Duke of Berry Louis XI Children    Charles VIII Charles VIII

The Entry of Louis XI into Paris. – Facsimile of a Miniature in the "Chroniques" of Monstrelet, Manuscript of the Fifteenth Century (Imperial Library of Paris).

Succession as King

In 1461 Louis learned that his father was dying. He thus hurried to Reims to be crowned in case his brother, Charles, Duke of Berry, beat him to it.

Louis pursued many of the same interests as his father had pursued less successfully, such as limiting the powers of the Dukes and Barons of France. He suppressed many of his former co-conspirators, who had thought him their friend. He became extremely fiscally prudent, whereas he had previously been lavish and extravagant. He wore rough and simple clothes and mixed with ordinary people and merchants. A candid account of some of Louis's activities is given by the courtier, Philippe de Commines, in his memoirs of the period.

Feud with Charles the Bold

Philip the Good was keen to start a Crusade and Louis gave him money in exchange for a number of territories including Picardy and Amiens. But Philip's son, Charles, was angry, feeling that he was being deprived of his inheritance. He joined a rebellion called the League of the Public Weal, led by Louis's brother Charles. Although the rebels were largely unsuccessful in battle, Louis was forced to grant an unfavourable peace as a matter of political expediency.

Upon becoming Duke in 1467, Charles seriously considered having an independent Kingdom of his own, but he had many problems with his territories, especially with the people of Liège who were constantly rising against him. Louis was their ally.

In 1468 Louis and Charles met in Peronne but in the course of the negotiations they learned that the Liegois had again risen up and killed the Burgundian governor. Charles was furious. Philippe de Commynes and the Duke's other advisors had to calm him down for fear that he might hit the King. Louis was forced into a humiliating treaty, giving up many of the lands he had acquired and witnessing the siege of Liege in which hundreds were massacred.

But once out of Charles's reach, Louis declared the treaty invalid and set about building up his forces. His aim was to destroy Burgundy once and for all and end a feud which had lasted over three generations since the murder of Louis, Duke of Orléans in 1407. War broke out in 1472, but Charles's siege of Beauvais and other towns were unsuccessful and he finally sued for peace. Commines rallied to the King's side and was made welcome.

In 1469 Louis founded the Order of St. Michael, probably in imitation of and as a French rival to the prestigious Burgundian Order of the Golden Fleece, founded by Charles' father, Philip the Good, just as previously John II has founded the now defunct Order of the Star in imitation of and as a French rival to Edward III's Order of the Garter. In both cases, a French king appears to have been motivated to found an order of chivalry to increase the prestige of the French royal court by the example of his chief political adversary.

Dealings with England

Coin of Louis XI, struck ca. 1470
Obverse: Medieval image of Louis XI	Reverse: Fleurs-de-lis

Meanwhile England was going through its own civil conflict known as the Wars of the Roses. Louis had an interest in this war since Charles the Bold was allied with the Yorkists who opposed King Henry VI. When the Earl of Warwick fell out with Edward IV, whom he had helped to the throne, Louis granted him refuge in France. Through Louis' diplomacy, Warwick then formed an alliance with his bitter enemy, Margaret of Anjou, in order to restore her husband Henry VI to the throne. The plan worked and Edward was forced into exile, but he later returned and Warwick the Kingmaker was killed at the Battle of Barnet in 1471. King Henry was murdered soon afterwards.

Now the undisputed master of England, Edward invaded France in 1475, but Louis was able to negotiate the Treaty of Picquigny by which the English army left France in return for a large sum of money. The English renounced their claim to French lands such as Normandy and the Hundred Years War could be said to be finally over. Louis bragged that although his father had driven the English out by force of arms, he'd driven them out by force of pâté, venison and good wine.

Settling with Charles the Bold

Louis XI

Louis still had to take care of the Duke of Burgundy and for this he employed the Swiss, whose military might was renowned and which he had admired at Birs.

War broke out between Charles and the Swiss, but it was a disastrous campaign for the Duke and he was finally killed at the Battle of Nancy on 5 January 1477, ending the Burgundian Wars.

Louis had destroyed his sworn enemy. Other lords who still favoured the feudal system gave in to his authority. Others like Jacques d'Armagnac, Duke of Nemours were executed.

Legacy

Louis then started developing the Kingdom. He encouraged trade fairs and the building and maintenance of roads. He is seen as one of the first modern Kings of France, taking it out of the Middle Ages.

Louis XI was very superstitious. He surrounded himself with astrologers. Interested in science, he once pardoned a man sentenced to death on condition that he serve as a guinea pig in a gallstone operation.

By war, by cunning and with sheer guile, Louis XI overcame France's feudal lords, and at the time of his death in the Château de Plessis-lez-Tours, he had united France and laid the foundations of a strong monarchy. He was however a secretive, isolated and reclusive man and few mourned his passing.

Despite his cunning and overall policy of Realpolitik, Niccolò Machiavelli actually criticized Louis harshly in The Prince, calling him shortsighted for degrading France's ability and prestige by abolishing his own infantry in favor of Swiss mercenaries.

Louis XI died in August 1483 and was interred in the Notre-Dame de Cléry Basilica [1] in Cléry-Saint-André in the Arrondissement of Orléans. His wife Charlotte died a few months later and is interred with him. Louis XI was succeeded by his son, Charles VIII, who was thirteen, and his eldest daughter Anne of France became Regent.

In popular culture

• Louis XI is a central character in Sir Walter Scott's 1823 novel Quentin Durward, where he is presented as an utter villain, who fatally undermined "the knightly code of chivalry", "ridiculed and abandoned the self-denying principles in which the young knight was instructed" and "did his utmost to corrupt our ideas of honour at the very source".
• In the opinion of Scott, inspired by the 19th century Romanticism, Louis XI's being "purely selfish" and concerned solely with "his ambition, covetousness and desire of selfish enjoyment" merited his being considered "almost an incarnation of the devil himself", comparable to Goethe's Mephistopheles.
• Conversely, Balzac gives a plausible and somewhat favourable picture of the king in his story "Master Cornelius".
• Louis XI appears as a character in several film versions of the stage melodrama If I Were King, a fictitious play about real-life poet François Villon.
• He is also an important character in Victor Hugo's classic novel The Hunchback of Notre Dame as well as its film adaptations.
• He also appears in the operetta The Vagabond King, which is based on If I Were King.
• Among the actors who have played him onscreen are Robert Morley, Basil Rathbone, Conrad Veidt, Harry Davenport, Walter Hampden, and O. P. Heggie.
• In addition, Louis XI is also a minor character in Henry VI, Part III by William Shakespeare, where he is stylised as Lewis; he is depicted as, after choosing to support the Yorkist faction, switching allegiance to the Lancastrians, led by Margaret, following Edward IV's refusal to marry a French noblewoman.

Louis XI

Children with Charlotte of Savoy

Louis's marriage with Charlotte of Savoy was not consummated until she was fourteen. Their children included:

• Louis (18 October 1458 – 1460)
• Joachim (15 July – 29 November 1459)
• Louise (born and died 1460)
• Anne (3 April 1461 − 14 November 1522), who became Duchess of Bourbon.
• Joan (23 April 1464 – 4 February 1505), who became Queen of France
• Louis (born and died 4 December 1466)
• Charles VIII of France (30 June 1470 – 8 April 1498)
• Francis, Duke of Berry (3 September 1472 – July^[6] or November^[7] 1473)

Ancestors

Ancestors of Louis XI of France

16. John II of France               8. Charles V of France                       17. Bonne of Bohemia               4. Charles VI of France                             18. Peter I, Duke of Bourbon               9. Joanna of Bourbon                       19. Isabella of Valois               2. Charles VII of France                                   20. Stephen II, Duke of Bavaria               10. Stephen III, Duke of Bavaria                       21. Elizabeth of Sicily               5. Isabeau of Bavaria                             22. Bernabò Visconti               11. Taddea Visconti                       23. Beatrice Regina della Scala               1. Louis XI of France                                         24. John II of France (= 16)               12. Louis I of Naples                       25. Bonne of Bohemia (= 17)               6. Louis II of Naples                             26. Charles of Châtillon, Count of Blois               13. Marie of Châtillon                       27. Jeanne of Penthièvre               3. Marie of Anjou                                   28. Peter IV of Aragon               14. John I of Aragon                       29. Eleanor of Sicily               7. Yolande of Aragon                             30. Robert I, Duke of Bar               15. Violante de Bar                       31. Marie of Valois

References

Kingdom of France portal

1. ^ Kendall,Paul Murray. Louis XI "...the universal spider...". New York: W. W. Norton & Company Inc., 1971.^{[page needed]}
2. ^ ^{a b c d} Cleugh,James. Chant Royal The Life of King Louis XI of France (1423–1483). Garden City, New York: Doubleday & Company, Inc., 1970.^{[page needed]}
3. ^ ^{a b} Tyrell, Joseph M. Louis XI. Boston: Twayne Publishers, 1980.^{[page needed]}
4. ^ ^{a b} Le Roy Ladurie,Emmanuel. The Royal French State 1460–1610. Cambridge: Blackwell Publishers, 1987.^{[page needed]}
5. ^ Moreau, Gilles-Marie. Le Saint-Denis des Dauphins : histoire de la collégiale Saint-André de Grenoble. L'Harmattan, Paris, 2010.
6. ^ France Capetian Kings
7. ^ Roglo.eu

Louis XI of France House of Valois Cadet branch of the Capetian dynasty Born: 3 July 1423 Died: 30 August 1483
Regnal titles
Preceded by Charles VII	King of France 22 July 1461 – 30 August 1483	Succeeded by Charles VIII
	Dauphin of Viennois 3 July 1423–1461	Annexation by France

v t e List of French monarchs Detailed Family Tree Simplified Family Tree Merovingians (428–751) Chlodio (428–445/448) Merovech (445/448–457) Childeric I (457–481/482) Clovis I (481/482–511) Childebert I (511–558) Chlothar I (511–561) Charibert I (561–567) Guntram (561–593) Chilperic I (561–584) Sigebert I (561–575) Childebert II (575–595) Chlothar II (584–629) Dagobert I (623–639) Sigebert II (639–656) Clovis II (639–657) Chlothar III (657–673) Childeric II (673–675) Theuderic III (675–691) Clovis IV (691–695) Childebert III (695–711) Dagobert III (711–715) Chilperic II (715–721) Chlothar IV (717–719) Theuderic IV (721–737) Childeric III (737–751) Carolingians (751–888, 898–922, 936–987) Pepin the Short (751–768) Carloman I (768–771) Charles I (768–814) Louis I (814–840) Charles II (843–877) Louis II (877–879) Louis III (879–882) Carloman II (879–884) Charles the Fat (885–888) Charles III (898–922) Louis IV (936–954) Lothair (954–986) Louis V (986–987) Robertians (888–898, 922–923) Odo (888–898) Robert I (922–923) Bosonids (923–936) Rudolph (923–936) House of Capet (987–1328) Hugh Capet (987–996) Robert II (996–1031) Henry I (1031–1060) Philip I (1060–1108) Louis VI (1108–1137) Louis VII (1137–1180) Philip II (1180–1223) Louis VIII (1223–1226) Louis IX (1226–1270) Philip III (1270–1285) Philip IV (1285–1314) Louis X (1314–1316) John I (1316) Philip V (1316–1322) Charles IV (1322–1328) House of Valois (1328–1498) Philip VI (1328–1350) John II (1350–1364) Charles V (1364–1380) Charles VI (1380–1422) Charles VII (1422–1461) Louis XI (1461–1483) Charles VIII (1483–1498) House of Valois-Orléans (1498–1515) Louis XII (1498–1515) House of Valois-Angoulême (1515–1589) Francis I (1515–1547) Henry II (1547–1559) Francis II (1559–1560) Charles IX (1560–1574) Henry III (1574–1589) House of Bourbon (1589–1792) Henry IV (1589–1610) Louis XIII (1610–1643) Louis XIV (1643–1715) Louis XV (1715–1774) Louis XVI (1774–1792) Louis XVII (claimant, 1792–1795) House of Bonaparte First Empire (1804–1814, 1815) Napoleon I (1804–1814, 1815) Napoleon II (1815) House of Bourbon Bourbon Restoration (1814, 1815–1830) Louis XVIII (1814–1815, 1815–1824) Charles X (1824–1830) Louis XIX (1830) Henry V (1830) House of Orléans July Monarchy (1830–1848) Louis Philippe I (1830–1848) House of Bonaparte Second Empire (1852–1870) Napoleon III (1852–1870)

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Persondata
Name	Louis 11 Of France
Alternative names
Short description	King of France
Date of birth	3 July 1423
Place of birth	Bourges, Cher, France
Date of death	30 August 1483
Place of death	Château de Plessis-lez-Tours, France

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