| Anne | |
|---|---|
.jpg) | |
| Duchess of Brittany | |
| Reign | 9 September 1488 – 9 January 1514 |
| Enthronement | 10 February 1489 |
| Predecessor | Francis II |
| Successor | Claude |
| Queen consort of the Romans | |
| Tenure | 19 December 1490 – 15 February 1492 |
| Queen consort of France | |
| Tenure | 6 December 1491 – 7 April 1498 |
| Coronation | 8 February 1492 |
| Tenure | 8 January 1499 – 9 January 1514 |
| Coronation | 18 November 1504 |
| Queen consort of Naples | |
| Tenure | 2 August 1501 – 31 January 1504 |
| Born | 25/26 January 1477 Nantes, Brittany |
| Died | 9 January 1514 (aged 36) Blois, France |
| Burial | 15 February 1514 |
| Spouses | |
| Issue more... | |
| House | Montfort-Brittany |
| Father | Francis II, Duke of Brittany |
| Mother | Margaret of Foix |
| Signature | .jpg){kind=small} |
Anne of Brittany (Breton: Anna; 25/26 January 1477[1] – 9 January 1514[2]) was reigning Duchess of Brittany from 1488 until her death, and Queen of France from 1491 to 1498 and from 1499 to her death. She was the only woman to have been queen consort of France twice. During the Italian Wars, Anne also became Queen of Naples, from 1501 to 1504, and Duchess of Milan, in 1499–1500 and from 1500 to 1512.
Anne was raised in Nantes during a series of conflicts which the King of France sought to assert his suzerainty over Brittany. Her father, Francis II, Duke of Brittany, was the last male of the House of Montfort. Upon his death in 1488, Anne became duchess regnant of Brittany, countess of Nantes, Montfort, and Richmond, and viscountess of Limoges. She was only 11 at that time, but she was already a coveted heiress because of Brittany's strategic position. The next year, she married Maximilian I of Austria by proxy, but Charles VIII of France saw this as a threat since his realm was located between Brittany and Austria. He started a military campaign which eventually forced the duchess to renounce her marriage.
Anne eventually married Charles VIII in 1491. None of their children survived early childhood, and when the king died in 1498, the throne went to his cousin, Louis XII. Following an agreement made to secure the annexation of Brittany, Anne had to marry the new king. Louis XII was deeply in love with his wife and Anne had many opportunities to reassert the independence of her duchy. They had two daughters, although neither could succeed to the French throne due to the Salic Law, the elder was proclaimed the heiress of Brittany. Anne managed to have her elder daughter engaged to Charles of Austria, grandchild of Maximilian I, but after Anne's death in 1514, her daughter married her cousin Francis I of France. This marriage later led to the formal union between France and Brittany.
Anne was highly regarded in Brittany as a conscientious ruler who defended the duchy against France. In the Romantic period, she became a figure of Breton patriotism and she was honoured with many memorials and statues. Her artistic legacy is important in the Loire Valley, where she spent most of her life. She was notably responsible, with her husbands, for architectural projects in the châteaux of Blois and Amboise.
- ^ Alain Bouchart, in his work Grandes Chroniques de Bretagne emphasizes 25 January as Anne's day of birth, other contemporary authors such as Jean de Penguern dit Dizarvoez in his Généalogie de très haulte, très puissante, très excellente et très chrétienne royne de France et duchesse de Bretagne (1510), proposed on 26 January for her birth day. Anne de Bretagne. Une histoire, un mythe, Somogy, 2007, p. 21. The 25 January 1477 corresponded to 15 January 1477 in the Old Style (where the year began at Easter).
- ^ Robin, Larsen & Levin 2007, p. 20.