Editing Louis XII (section)

==Reign==
===Governance===
[[File:Louis XII 1514.jpg|thumb|upright|Louis XII on a coin of 1514]]
Although he came late{{sfn|Baumgartner|1996|p=56}} (and unexpectedly) to power, Louis acted with vigour, reforming the French legal system,{{sfn|Baumgartner|1996|pages=88–90}} [[tax cut|reducing taxes]],{{sfn|Baumgartner|1996|pp=100–101}} and improving the government{{sfn|Baumgartner|1996|pp=84–87}} much like his contemporary [[Henry VII of England|Henry VII]] did in the [[Kingdom of England]]. To meet his [[budget]] after having reduced taxes, Louis XII reduced the pensions for the nobility and for foreign princes.{{sfn|Baumgartner|1996|p=102}} In religious policy, Louis XII reinstituted the Pragmatic Sanction, which established the Roman Catholic Church in France as a "Gallic Church" with most of the power of appointment in the hands of the king or other French officials. As noted above, these reforms had been proposed at the meeting of the Estates General in 1484.

Louis was also skilled in managing his nobility, including the powerful [[House of Bourbon|Bourbon]] faction, greatly contributing to the stability of French government. In the Ordinance of Blois of 1499{{sfn|Baumgartner|1996|p=95}} and the Ordinance of Lyon issued in June 1510{{sfn|Baumgartner|1996|pp=202–204}} he extended the powers of royal judges and made efforts to curb [[corruption]] in the law. Highly complex French [[customary law]] was codified and ratified by the royal proclamation of the Ordinance of Blois of 1499.{{sfn|Baumgartner|1996|pp=95–97}} The Ordinance of Lyon tightened up the tax collection system requiring, for instance, that [[tax collectors]] forward all money to the government within eight days after they collected it from the people.{{sfn|Baumgartner|1996|p=203}} Fines and loss of office were prescribed for violations of this ordinance.

===Early wars===
The French Kingdom under Charles VIII [[First Italian War|invaded Italy in 1494]] to protect the [[Duchy of Milan]] from the threats of the [[Republic of Venice]]. At the time, the Duchy of Milan was one of the most prosperous regions of Europe.{{sfn|Baumgartner|1996|p=40}} Louis, the current Duke of Orleans and future King Louis XII, joined Charles VIII on this campaign. The French Kingdom was responding to an appeal for assistance from [[Ludovico Sforza]], Duke of Milan. The invasion set off a series of wars that would last from 1494 until 1559 and would become known as the "[[Italian Wars]]".

[[File:Bronze cannon of Louis XII with emblem 172mm&nbsp;305cm 1870kg Algiers recovered in 1830.jpg|thumb|Bronze cannon of Louis XII, with [[porcupine]] emblem. Caliber: 172mm, length: 305&nbsp;cm, weight: 1870kg. Recovered in [[Algiers]] in 1830. [[Musée de l'Armée]].]]
[[File:Voyage Gênes Marot Louis XII 2.jpg|thumb|Louis XII leaving [[Alessandria]] to attack [[Genoa]], by [[Jean Bourdichon]]]]

In 1495, Ludovico Sforza betrayed the French by changing sides in the war and joining the anti-French [[League of Venice]] (sometimes called the "Holy League").{{sfn|Baumgartner|1996|p=46}} This left Louis, the Duke of Orleans, in an awkward and inferior military position at the [[Battle of Fornovo]] on 6 July 1495. As a result, Louis had come to hate Ludovico Sforza.{{sfn|Baumgartner|1996|p=105}} Accordingly, even before he became King of France, Louis began to claim the Duchy of Milan as his own inheritance, which should have come to his by right of his paternal grandmother [[Valentina Visconti, Duchess of Orléans|Valentina Visconti]].

On this occasion he tried to conquer the Duchy of Milan, weakened by an [[economic crisis]], and on 11 June 1495 he occupied with his troops the city of [[Novara]], which was given to him by [[treason]]. He was on the verge of subjugating "il Moro", who proved unable to cope with the situation, but clashed with the fierce opposition of Sforza's wife [[Beatrice d'Este]], who forced him to a long and exhausting siege from which he finally came out defeated.<ref>Marin Sanudo, ''La spedizione di Carlo VIII in Italia'', Mancia del Commercio di M. Visentini, 1883, pp. 438, 441.</ref><ref>Bernardino Corio, L'Historia di Milano, Giorgio de' Cavalli, 1565, pp. 1095–1099.</ref>

After becoming king in 1499, Louis XII pursued his ambition to claim Milan in what is known as the "[[Italian War of 1499-1504|Great Italian War]]" (1499–1504) or "King Louis XII's War". However, before initiating any war Louis XII needed to deal with the international threats that he faced. In August 1498, he signed a peace treaty with the Emperor [[Maximilian I, Holy Roman Emperor|Maximillian I]] of the [[Holy Roman Empire]].{{sfn|Baumgartner|1996|p=106}}

With Maximillian I neutralized, Louis wanted to turn his attention to King Henry VII of England. However, Henry was then pursuing a marriage between his eldest son, [[Arthur, Prince of Wales]], and [[Catherine of Aragon]], the Infanta of Spain.{{sfn|Baumgartner|1996|p=106}} Thus Louis needed to detach Spain from its close relations with England before he could deal with Henry VII. Furthermore, Spain was then a member of the anti-French League of Venice. [[Ferdinand II of Aragon|Ferdinand of Aragon]], king of the newly unified Spain, directed all relations between Spain and the French on behalf of himself and his queen, [[Isabella I of Castile]].{{sfn|Baumgartner|1996|p=106}} Ferdinand was so hostile to France that he had founded the anti-French League of Venice in 1495.<ref>Rhea Marsh Smith, ''Spain: A Modern History'', (Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press, 1965), p. 113.</ref> In August 1498, Louis XII succeeded in signing a treaty with Spain that ignored all the territorial disputes between France and Spain and merely pledged mutual friendship and non-aggression.{{sfn|Baumgartner|1996|p=107}}

This allowed enough freedom for Louis XII to start negotiating with [[Scotland]] for an alliance. Actually, Louis was merely seeking to revive the [[Auld Alliance]] between France and Scotland that had been in existence since King [[Philip IV of France]] first recognised [[Robert the Bruce]] (reigned 1306–1329) as [[King of Scotland]] in 1309. In early 1499, the old alliance between Scotland and France was renewed{{sfn|Baumgartner|1996|p=106}} and the attentions of England were drawn northwards towards Scotland rather than southwards towards [[continental Europe]].

With the major powers preoccupied or pledged to peace with France, Louis XII could attend to two other neighbours on his border: the [[Swiss Confederation]] and the [[Duchy of Savoy]]. In March 1499, Louis signed an agreement with the Swiss Confederation that promised 20,000 [[franc]]s as an annual subsidy for simply allowing the French to recruit an unspecified number of troops in the Confederation.{{sfn|Baumgartner|1996|p=107}} In exchange, Louis promised to protect the Confederation from any aggression from Maximillian and the Holy Roman Empire. Louis opened negotiations with the Duchy of Savoy and by May 1499 had hammered out an agreement that allowed French troops to cross Savoy to reach the Duchy of Milan. The agreement with Savoy also allowed France to purchase supplies and to recruit troops in Savoy.{{sfn|Baumgartner|1996|p=108}} Finally, Louis was ready to march into Italy.

The French army had been a potent force in 1494 when Charles VIII had first invaded Italy.  However, during the remainder of Charles VIII's reign, the army had been allowed to deteriorate through neglect. Ever since becoming king, Louis XII had been rebuilding the French army.{{sfn|Baumgartner|1996|p=109}} Now he could put it to use.

On 10 August 1499, after marching across Savoy and through the town of [[Asti]], the French army crossed the border into the Duchy of Milan. Contrary to the wishes of the Second Estate (the nobles and royalty of France), expressed at the Estates General in 1484, this French army was being led by a foreigner, [[Gian Giacomo Trivulzio]].{{sfn|Baumgartner|1996|p=113}} Marshal Trivulzio had been in the service of the French throne since the reign of Louis XI, but he had been born and raised in Milan.{{sfn|Baumgartner|1996|p=113}} The French army that Marshal Trivulzio now commanded consisted of 27,000 men of which 10,000 were mounted. The French army was also supplied with 5,000 Swiss mercenaries.{{sfn|Baumgartner|1996|p=113}} In the campaign of 1499, the French army surrounded the fortified town of [[Rocca di Arazzo]] in the western part of the Duchy of Milan. After five hours of bombardment by the French artillery batteries, the walls of Rocca di Arazzo were breached and the town was taken by the French. Louis XII had ordered his army to massacre the garrison and many civilians as a message to the other towns in the Duchy against resistance to the French army.{{sfn|Baumgartner|1996|p=113}} The legal rationale for the massacre at Rocca di Arazzo was that defenders of the town were traitors because they had risen up in arms against their rightful lord, Louis XII. The French repeated the episode at [[Castello di Annone|Annone]], the next fortified town on the road to the city of Milan. This time the massacre had the desired effect, as three more fortified towns surrendered without a fight.{{sfn|Baumgartner|1996|p=114}} Marshal Trivulzio then brought the French Army up to the gates of the town of Alessandro, and his batteries began battering the walls of the town on 25 August 1499. At first, a vigorous defense was mounted by the garrison, but on 29 August 1499, the city gave up and the garrison and the governor of the city slipped out of town before dawn.{{sfn|Baumgartner|1996|p=114}}

Marshal Trivulzio now became aware that the [[Venice|Venetian]] army, allies of the Duchy of Milan, were crossing into the Duchy from the east in an attempt to aid the Milanese army before it was too late. Accordingly, Marshal Trivulzio marched his army to [[Pavia]], the last fortified town in the Duchy of Milan.{{sfn|Baumgartner|1996|p=114}} With French troops already near Pavia, a short distance west of the city of Milan, [[Lodovico Sforza]] determined that it was useless to continue resisting the French. Accordingly, on the night of 2 September 1499, Sforza and a band of cavalry fled Milan, heading northward to the Holy Roman Empire.{{sfn|Baumgartner|1996|p=114}} Louis XII, staying in [[Lyon]], heard about the surrender of Milan on 17 September 1499. He immediately left Lyon and on 6 October 1499, Louis XII made his triumphant entry into Milan. Marshal Trevulzio presented the key to the city to Louis, who in turn appointed Marshal Trivulzio as the temporary French governor of Milan. Later, Louis appointed [[Georges d' Amboise]] as the permanent governor of Milan.{{sfn|Baumgartner|1996|p=117}} In an attempt to win popularity with the public in Milan, Louis lowered the old Sforza taxes by as much as one-third.{{sfn|Baumgartner|1996|p=115}}

Meanwhile, Ludovico Sforza had been gathering an army, mainly among the Swiss, to take Milan back. In mid-January 1500, his army crossed the border into the Duchy of Milan and marched toward the city of Milan.{{sfn|Baumgartner|1996|pp=115–116}} Upon hearing the news of Sforza's return, some of his partisans in the city rose up. On 1 February 1500, Marshal Trivulzio decided that he could not hold the city, and the French retreated to the fortresses west of the city. Sforza was welcomed back into the city by a joyous crowd of his supporters on 5 February 1500.{{sfn|Baumgartner|1996|p=116}} Louis XII raised another army under [[Louis de La Trémoille]] and sent him to recapture Milan. By the time Trémoille reached the forts west of Milan where Marshal Trivulzio and his force were holding out, the French army had swollen to 30,000 men by recruitment along the way.{{sfn|Baumgartner|1996|p=116}} Many of these new recruits in the French army were Swiss mercenaries. The government of the Swiss Confederation heard about the coming battle and forbade any Swiss soldier from fighting against a fellow Swiss, which effectively subtracted all the Swiss from both sides for this particular battle. These troops then started to march back home to Switzerland. This had a much more damaging effect on Sforza's army, because his army was composed of a larger proportion of Swiss than the French army under La Trémoille.

Faced with the return of the French and his own greatly reduced force, Sforza decided to slip out of Milan as he had done previously. This time, however, Sforza was captured{{sfn|Baumgartner|1996|pp=116–117}} and spent the rest of his life in a French prison. Despite Milan's openly warm welcome of Sforza (which Louis XII regarded as "treasonous"), Louis XII was very generous to the city in victory. While Sforza had been in charge of Milan, the export of grain had been forbidden. Now the French reopened the trade in grain, setting off a decade of prosperity in Milan.{{sfn|Baumgartner|1996|p=118}} Milan was to remain a French stronghold in Italy for twelve years.

Using Milan as his firmly established base, Louis XII began to turn his attention to other parts of Italy. The city of [[Genoa]] agreed to the appointment of [[Philip of Cleves, Lord of Ravenstein|Philip of Cleves]], a cousin of Louis XII, as its new governor.{{sfn|Baumgartner|1996|p=114}} Additionally, the French king now began to espouse his claim to the [[Kingdom of Naples]], though the legal rationale for this claim was weaker than for his claim to Milan, stemming only from his position as the successor to Charles VIII.{{sfn|Baumgartner|1996|p=119}} Nonetheless, Louis XII pursued the claim with vigor.

The presence of several French garrisons in southern Italy, the remnants of Charles VIII's first invasion of Italy, provided Louis XII with a toehold in southern Italy from which he hoped to enforce his claim to the Kingdom of Naples.{{sfn|Baumgartner|1996|p=119}} However, Louis first had to deal with a recurring problem in northern Italy. In 1406, the city of [[Pisa]] was conquered by [[Florence]] but had been in constant revolt almost ever since. In 1494, the Pisans successfully overthrew the Florentine governors of the city.{{sfn|Baumgartner|1996|p=119}} The Florentines requested aid from the French to recapture Pisa, as the city of Florence had long been an ally of France in Italian affairs. However, Louis and his advisers were miffed at Florence because in the recent fight against Sforza, Florence had chosen to abandon France and remain strictly neutral.{{sfn|Baumgartner|1996|p=119}} The French knew that they would need Florence in the coming campaign in the Kingdom of Naples – French troops would need to cross Florentine territory on their way to Naples and they would need Florentine agreement to do so. Accordingly, a French army including 600 knights and 6,000 Swiss infantrymen under the command of [[Sire de Beaumont]] was sent to Pisa. On 29 June 1500, a combined French and Florentine force laid siege to Pisa and set up batteries around the town.{{sfn|Baumgartner|1996|p=120}} Within a day of opening fire, the French batteries had knocked down 100 feet of the old medieval walls surrounding the city. Even with the breach in their walls, the Pisans put up such a determined resistance that Beaumont despaired of ever taking Pisa. On 11 July 1500, the French broke camp and retreated north.{{sfn|Baumgartner|1996|p=120}} The diversion to Pisa and the failure there emboldened opponents of the French in Italy. Pursuing the claim to the Kingdom of Naples had become politically impossible until some of the opponents were neutralized. One opponent in particular was Spain. It was at this point, in 1500, that Louis XII pursued the claim of his immediate predecessor to the Kingdom of Naples with Ferdinand II, the [[King of Aragon]] and with Queen Isabel of Castile, ruler of Spain.

On 11 November 1500, Ferdinand II and Louis XII signed the [[Treaty of Granada (1500)|Treaty of Granada]],{{sfn|Baumgartner|1996|p=122}} which brought Spain into Italian politics in a big way for the first time. Louis XII was severely criticized by contemporary historians including [[Niccolò Machiavelli]];{{sfn|Baumgartner|1996|p=122}} Machiavelli's criticism of Louis XII is contained in his work ''[[The Prince]]''.

===As portrayed in Machiavelli's ''The Prince''===

Louis's failure to hold on to Naples prompted a commentary by Niccolò Machiavelli in his book, ''The Prince'':
{{Quote box
| quote = King Louis was brought into Italy by the ambition of the Venetians, who expected by his coming to get control of half the state of [[Lombardy]]. I don't mean to blame the king for his part in the scheme; he wanted a foothold in Italy, and not only had no friends in the province, but found all doors barred against him because of King Charles's behavior. Hence he had to take what friendships he could get; and if he had made no further mistakes in his other arrangements, he might have carried things off very successfully. By taking Lombardy, the king quickly regained the reputation lost by Charles. Genoa yielded, and the Florentines turned friendly, the [[Marquis of Mantua]], the [[Duke of Ferrara]], the [[Bentivogli]] (of Bologna), the countess of [[Forlì]] ([[Caterina Sforza]]), the lords of [[Faenza]], [[Pesaro]], [[Rimini]], [[Camerino]], [[Piombino]], and the people of [[Lucca]], Pisa, and [[Siena]] all sought him out with professions of friendship. At this point the Venetians began to see the folly of what they had done, since in order to gain for themselves a couple of districts in Lombardy, they had now made the king master of a third of Italy.

Consider how easy it would have been for the king to maintain his position in Italy if he had observed the rules [of not worrying about weaker powers, decreasing the strength of a major power, not introducing a very powerful foreigner in the midst of his new subjects and taking up residence among his new subjects and/or setting up colonies], and become the protector and defender of his new friends. They were many, they were weak, some of them were afraid of the Venetians, others of the Church, hence they were bound to stick by him; and with their help, he could easily have protected himself against the remaining great powers. But no sooner was he established in Milan than he took exactly the wrong tack, helping [[Pope Alexander VI|Pope Alexander]] to occupy the [[Romagna]]. And he never realized that by this decision he was weakening himself, driving away his friends and those who had flocked to him, while strengthening the Church by adding vast temporal power to the spiritual power which gives it so much authority. Having made this first mistake, he was forced into others. To limit the ambition of Alexander and keep him from becoming master of [[Tuscany]], he was forced to come to Italy himself [in 1502]. Not satisfied with having made the Church powerful and deprived himself of his friends, he went after the kingdom of Naples and divided it with the king of Spain (Ferdinand II). And where before he alone had been the arbiter of Italy, he brought in a rival to whom everyone in the kingdom who was ambitious on his own account or dissatisfied with Louis could have recourse. He could have left in Naples a caretaker king of his own, but he threw him out, and substituted a man capable of driving out Louis himself.

If France could have taken Naples with her own power, she should have done so; if she could not, she should not have split the kingdom with the Spaniards. The division of Lombardy that she made with the Venetians was excusable, since it gave Louis a foothold in Italy; the division of Naples with Spain was an error, since there was no such necessity for it. [When Louis made the final mistake of] depriving the Venetians of their power (who never would have let anyone else into Lombardy unless they were in control), he thus lost Lombardy.
| source = [[Niccolò Machiavelli]], ''[[The Prince]]'',<ref>''The Prince'' by Niccolò Machiavelli. Translated and edited by [[Robert M. Adams (literary scholar)|Robert M. Adams]]. A Norton Critical Edition. New York: 1977. pp. 9–11.</ref> Chapter III
| width = 80%
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}}

===Military campaigns against the Kingdom of Naples (1501–1508)===
To assert his claim to his half of the Kingdom of Naples, Louis XII sent an army under the command of [[Bernard Stewart, 4th Lord of Aubigny|Bernard Stuart of Aubigny]] composed of 1,000 lances, 10,000 infantrymen including 5,000 Swiss troops to Naples in early June 1501.{{sfn|Baumgartner|1996|p=123}} In May 1501, Louis had obtained free passage for his troops to march through Bologne on the way to Naples.{{sfn|Baumgartner|1996|p=123}} As the army approached Rome, Spanish and French ambassadors notified Pope Alexander VI of the thus far secret Treaty of Grenada, signed 11 November 1500, which divided the Kingdom of Naples between France and Spain. The Pope was pleased and enthusiastically issued a bull naming the two kings – Louis XII of France and Ferdinand II of Spain – as the Pope's vassals in Naples.{{sfn|Baumgartner|1996|p=123}} Indeed, the public announcement of the treaty in the Vatican was the first news that King [[Frederick of Naples]] had received about his fate and his betrayal by his own cousin, Ferdinand.

Being a stern disciplinarian, Lord Stuart held the troops of his army to strict decorum during most of the march to Naples. However, discipline fell apart when the army passed through [[Capua]]. The French army plundered and raped Capua mercilessly.{{sfn|Baumgartner|1996|p=123}}  However, when news of the rape of Capua spread throughout southern Italy, resistance to the French vanished. Frederick fled and the French Army entered Naples unopposed. Louis XII claimed the throne of Naples and pursuant to the sharing agreement with Ferdinand II shared half the income of Naples with Spain. However, as Machiavelli had predicted, the agreement could not last and in early 1502 relations between France and Spain had gone sour.{{sfn|Baumgartner|1996|p=125}} Negotiations were started between France and Spain over their disagreements about Naples. However, in April 1502, without waiting for the conclusion of these negotiations, Louis sent an army under the command of [[Charles IV, Duke of Alençon|Louis d' Armagnac, Duke of Nemours]] against the Spanish in [[Apulia]].{{sfn|Baumgartner|1996|pp=125–126}}

===War of the League of Cambrai===
[[File:Louis - Litterae super abrogatione pragmatice sanctionis in quarta sessione sacro sancti Lateranensis concilii publice lecte et recitate, 1512 - 4592398.tif|thumb|''Litterae super abrogatione pragmatice sanctionis'', 1512]]

Louis's greatest success came in the [[War of the League of Cambrai]] (1508–1516), his final war, fought against the Venetians, who had again become his enemy. The French army won the [[Battle of Agnadello]] on 14 May 1509. However, things became much more difficult in 1510, when the army of [[Pope Julius II]] intervened.<ref>{{cite book |author-link=John Julius Norwich |last=Norwich |first=John Julius |title=A History of Venice |url=https://archive.org/details/historyofvenice00norw |url-access=limited |location=New York |publisher=[[Vintage Books]] |year=1989 |isbn=0679721975 |page=[https://archive.org/details/historyofvenice00norw/page/415 415]}}</ref> Julius II founded the [[League of Cambrai#Holy League|Holy League]] of the League of Cambrai specifically to thwart the ambitions of France. The French were eventually driven from Milan in 1513 by the [[Old Swiss Confederation|Swiss]].

=== Propaganda ===
Under Louis XII, there was an unprecedented explosion of [[propaganda]] and publicity for the French crown.{{sfn|Baumgartner|1996|p=249}} Louis XII had numerous large ceremonies for the various marriages, funerals, and other events that occurred under his reign. These occasions provided Louis with opportunities to project royal power and elevate Louis, which was largely done through [[iconography]]. Furthermore, while these royal images flooded the kingdom, popular writers – encouraged by Louis's lack of censorship – disseminated praise of their king.

Louis adopted the [[porcupine]] as his personal badge and as a royal beast. As a result, the popularity of the now royal creature exploded, resulting in the placement of porcupines in [[illuminated manuscript]]s, on edifices, and on cannons.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Scheller|first=Robert|date=1983|title=Ensigns of Authority: French Royal Symbolism in the Age of Louis XII|journal=Simiolus: Netherlands Quarterly for the History of Art|volume=13|issue=2 |pages=79|doi=10.2307/3780504 |jstor=3780504 }}</ref> As it was common belief at the time that the porcupine could shoot its quills, the porcupine symbolized the offensive and defensive capabilities of the king.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Hochner|first=Nicole|date=2001|title=Louis XII and the porcupine: Transformations of a royal emblem|journal=Renaissance Studies|volume=15|issue=1 |pages=19|doi=10.1111/1477-4658.00354 |s2cid=159885190 }}</ref> During his years of conquest, Louis portrayed his kingdom to the public as a porcupine – a supposedly invincible creature feared by all. However, by the second half of his reign, Louis began to relegate the aggressive porcupine into a simple heraldic symbol for identification. Seeking to paint himself as a pious and chivalrous king to the public, Louis adopted titles such as ''Father of the People'' and compared himself to figures like [[Louis IX of France|St. Louis]] to highlight his commitment to justice and reform rather than simply military dominance.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Hochner|date=|title=Louis XII and the porcupine: Transformations of a royal emblem|journal=|pages=36}}</ref>

Louis's initial of L was often decorated with an open royal crown and laced with [[Fleur-de-lis|fleurs-de-lys]]. In addition, Louis's personal colors were red and yellow (or gold). Thus, guard regiment uniforms, manuscript color schemes, flags, often adorned Louis's royal colors and his initial.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Scheller|title=Ensigns of Authority: French Royal Symbolism in the Age of Louis XII.|journal=|pages=80}}</ref>

Moreover, Louis popularized the state portrait as a propaganda tool.<ref name=":0" /> He employed numerous artists to capture him and produce individualized, miniature portraits that can be found in manuscripts today.<ref name=":0">{{Cite journal|last=Scheller|title=Ensigns of Authority: French Royal Symbolism in the Age of Louis XII.|journal=|pages=82}}</ref> Furthermore, Louis's propaganda arsenal was greatly expanded with the addition of portrait coins – first minted in France in 1514.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Scheller|title=Ensigns of Authority: French Royal Symbolism in the Age of Louis XII.|journal=|pages=88}}</ref>
[[File:Chateau de Blois 02.jpg|thumb|Chateau de Blois, Louis's Porcupine]]

As the Duke of Milan, Louis XII, he is portrayed in the painting of Alvise De Donati, Maria Maddalena, Marta, Lazarro and Maximino adored by the Prince and Princess of Provence, Museu Nacional d'Art de Catalunya Barcelona, originally in the church of San Bartolomeo in [[Civo|Caspano]]. The King and Queen of France, identified as princes of Provence, are kneeling, the King has in his hands the crown that appears on the coins minted by the Mint of Milan. This is the only known full-length portrait of a king of France by a painter of the Italian Renaissance.

===Legacy===
Under Louis's reign, the province of Brittany finally became a de facto permanent province of France – although this was not legally completed until 1547.{{sfn|Baumgartner|1996|p=246}} At the end of his reign, the [[budget deficit]] of the crown was no greater than it had been when he succeeded Charles VIII in 1498, despite several expensive military campaigns in Italy. His fiscal reforms of 1504 and 1508 tightened and improved procedures for the collection of taxes.

In spite of his military and diplomatic failures, Louis proved to be a popular king. Historians often attribute Louis's popularity to his tax reduction policies.{{sfn|Baumgartner|1996|p=246}} While Francis I eventually raised taxes, Louis's [[redaction]] of law codes and the creation of new [[parlement]]s were longer-lasting. He duly earned the title of ''Father of the People'' ("''Le Père du Peuple''") conferred upon him by the Estates in 1506. This was the first and only time that a French king was bestowed the specific [[honorific]] of ''Father of the People''.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Scheller|first=Robert|date=1983|title=Ensigns of Authority: French Royal Symbolism in the Age of Louis XII|journal=Simiolus: Netherlands Quarterly for the History of Art|volume=13|issue=2 |pages=95|doi=10.2307/3780504 |jstor=3780504 }}</ref>