manticoreimaginary: WOMEN OF HISTORY | DUCHESS ANNE OF BRITTANY (25 January 1476 – 9 January 1

manticoreimaginary:WOMEN OF HISTORY | DUCHESS ANNE OF BRITTANY (25 January 1476 – 9 January 1514) (Amy Manson)An only child, upon her father Francis II’s death Anne would become the sovereign Duchess of Brittany, Countess of Nantes, Montfort and Richmont and Viscountess of Limoges, as well as being the richest woman in Europe. This made her an attractive prize and from an early age she had kings, emperors and dukes vying for her hand. When her father’s armies were defeated in battle by the French, part of the peace settlement decreed that Anne would not marry without the approval of the king of France. But Francis died soon after and fresh war threatened. Anne’s first move was to secure a husband who could protect Brittany from France and she settled on Maximilian I of Austria, something which France regarded as provocation as it violated the settlement and Austria was an enemy of France. The marriage also proved to be of little help to Anne, as Maximilian was too busy with other problems to worry very much about the fate of Brittany. Charles VIII of France laid siege to the Breton capital of Rennes and took the teenage duchess forcibly as his wife. The marriage contract stated that whichever spouse outlived the other would retain power of Brittany, but it also said that if Charles died without an heir then Anne would be forced to marry his successor. Their marriage was an unhappy one in which the two often lived apart, and Anne spent most of the time pregnant and was forbidden to use the title ‘Duchess of Brittany’. Even when her husband was away fighting, regency powers didn’t go to her but to the king’s sister instead. Of their four children only one survived infancy, and he lived only a few months before dying of measles, leaving Anne devastated. After Charles’ death she was to marry Louis XII, for which the new king had to annual his own wife. Anne wore a white wedding gown - the first recorded instance of it being done - and was given both more power and more respect in this, her third marriage. But Anne would die from kidney stones without producing an heir for them. Her funeral lasted for forty days. Anne was a highly intelligent woman, shrewd and proud, and spent much of her time and energy focused on the running and safeguarding of her nation. A patron of the arts, Anne collected tapestries and books, and the famous Unicorn Tapestries were most likely commissioned by her. When she married Charles VIII she was only fourteen and described as a beautiful and rosy-cheeked girl, but by the time of her death at just thirty-six, Anne had been pregnant fourteen times with seven of those children being stillborn. Of those that lived, only two survived childhood. -- source link

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