Editing Louis XII (section)

{{Short description|King of France from 1498 to 1515}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2020}}
{{Infobox royalty
| image        = Ludwig XII. von Frankreich.jpg
| caption      = Louis XII in 1514
| alt          = Portrait of Louis XII aged 52
| succession   = [[King of France]]
| moretext     = ([[Style of the French sovereign|more...]])
| reign        = 7 April 1498 – 1 January 1515
| predecessor  = [[Charles VIII of France|Charles VIII]]
| successor    = [[Francis I of France|Francis I]]
| coronation   = 27 May 1498
| cor-type     = france
| succession1  = [[Duke of Milan]]
| reign1       = 6 September 1499 – {{nowrap|16 June 1512}}
| predecessor1 = [[Ludovico Sforza]]
| successor1   = [[Massimiliano Sforza]]
| succession2  = [[King of Naples]]
| reign2       = 2 August 1501 – {{nowrap|31 January 1504}}
| predecessor2 = [[Frederick of Naples|Frederick]]
| successor2   = [[Ferdinand II of Aragon|Ferdinand III]]
| birth_date   = 27 June 1462
| birth_place  = [[Château de Blois]]
| death_date   = {{death date and age|1515|1|1|1462|6|27|df=y}}
| death_place  = [[Hôtel des Tournelles]]
| burial_date  = 4 January 1515
| burial_place = [[Saint Denis Basilica]]
| spouses      = {{plainlist|
* {{marriage|[[Joan of France, Duchess of Berry|Joan of France]]|1476|1498|end={{abbr|ann.|annulled}}}}
* {{marriage|[[Anne, Duchess of Brittany]]|1499|1514|end=died}}
* {{marriage|[[Mary Tudor, Queen of France|Mary Tudor]]|1514}}}}
| issue        = {{plainlist|
* [[Claude, Queen of France]]
* [[Renée, Duchess of Ferrara]]
* {{nowrap|[[Michel Bucy|Michel, Archbishop of Bourges]] (ill.)}}}}
| issue-link   = #Issue
| issue-pipe   = more...
| house        = [[Valois-Orléans]]
| father       = [[Charles, Duke of Orléans]]
| mother       = [[Marie of Cleves]]
| signature    = Signature of Louis XII of France.svg
}}

'''Louis XII''' (27 June 1462{{spnd}}1 January 1515), also known as '''Louis of Orléans''' was [[King of France]] from 1498 to 1515 and [[King of Naples]] (as '''Louis''' '''III''') from 1501 to 1504. The son of [[Charles, Duke of Orléans]], and [[Marie of Cleves]], he succeeded his second cousin once removed and brother-in-law, [[Charles VIII of France|Charles VIII]], who died childless in 1498.

Louis was the second cousin of King [[Louis XI]], who compelled him to marry the latter's disabled and supposedly [[Sterility (physiology)|sterile]] daughter [[Joan of France, Duchess of Berry|Joan]]. By doing so, Louis XI hoped to extinguish the [[House of Valois-Orléans|Orléans]] cadet branch of the [[House of Valois]].<ref>André Vauchez, Michael Lapidge, "Encyclopedia of the Middle Ages: A-J", pp. 776, 2000: "Infirm from birth, she was obliged by her father, Louis XI, to marry her cousin, Louis of Orleans. The king wished, by a union considered sterile, to extinguish this rival collateral dynasty."</ref><ref>"The Eclectic Magazine of Foreign Literature, Science, and Art, Volume 33", pp. 42, 1854: "Louis XI compelled him to marry his deformed and sterile daughter Joan, threatening him with death by drowning, if he refused."</ref> When Louis XII became king in 1498, he had his marriage with Joan annulled by [[Pope Alexander VI]] and instead married [[Anne, Duchess of Brittany]], the widow of Charles VIII. This marriage allowed Louis to reinforce the personal [[Union of Brittany and France]].

Louis of Orléans was one of the great feudal lords who opposed the French monarchy in the conflict known as the [[Mad War]]. At the royal victory in the [[Battle of Saint-Aubin-du-Cormier (1488)|Battle of Saint-Aubin-du-Cormier]] in 1488, Louis was captured, but Charles VIII pardoned him and released him. He subsequently took part in the [[Italian Wars]], initiating a [[Italian War of 1499–1504|second Italian campaign]] for the control of the [[Kingdom of Naples]]. Louis conquered the [[Duchy of Milan]] in 1500 and pushed forward to the Kingdom of Naples, which fell to him in 1501. Proclaimed King of Naples, Louis faced a new coalition gathered by [[Ferdinand II of Aragon]] and was forced to cede Naples to [[Habsburg Spain|Spain]] in 1504. Louis, who remained [[Duke of Milan]] after the second Italian War, was interested in further expansion in the [[Italian Peninsula]] and launched a [[War of the League of Cambrai|third Italian War]] (1508–1516), which was marked by the military prowess of the [[Pierre Terrail, seigneur de Bayard|Chevalier de Bayard]].

Louis XII did not encroach on the power of local governments or the privileges of the nobility, in opposition with the long tradition of the French kings to attempt to impose [[absolute monarchy in France]]. A popular king, Louis was proclaimed "'''Father of the People'''" ({{langx|fr|Le Père du Peuple}}) for his reduction of the tax known as [[taille]], legal reforms, and civil peace within France. Louis XII died in 1515 without a male heir. He was succeeded by his cousin and son-in-law [[Francis I of France|Francis I]] from the [[House of Valois-Angoulême|Angoulême]] cadet branch of the House of Valois.