biography
| sex:
| male
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| lived:
| (1462–1515)
|
| biography:
| King of France (1498–1515), born in Blois, C France, the son of Charles, duc d'Orléans, to whose title he succeeded in 1465. He commanded the French troops at Asti during Charles VIII's invasion of Italy (1494–5), before succeeding him to the French throne (1498), and marrying his widow, Anne of Brittany. He proved a popular ruler, concerned to provide justice and avoid oppressive taxation. Through the League of Cambrai (1508), his Italian ambitions brought him into diplomatic and military involvement with Ferdinand II of Aragón who finally outmanoeuvred Louis with the formation of the Holy League (1511). Meanwhile, Louis had foiled the Emperor Maximilian's dynastic designs on Brittany, but paid the price when his forces were driven from Italy (1512), and was then defeated by an Anglo–Imperial alliance at the Battle of Guinegate (1513). To guarantee peace, Louis married Mary Tudor, the sister of Henry VIII (1515), but died in Paris shortly afterwards. |
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