Anne of Brittany – got an “offer” she couldn’t resist

It’s ages ago I wrote about young Anne of Brittany. Her dad died in 1488 and Anne of Brittany fled Nantes to Rennes where she was crowned duchess of Brittany on 10 February 1489.

Anne enters the city of Dinan cheered on by the Bretons that love her.

She married Maximilian I of Austria by proxy in December 1490 when she was 14 years old. The french king was very angry at this because it violated the treaty of Sablé that her father had signed early that stated that the French king had to give his consent to her marriage and because it reintroduced an old enemy to France.

Unfortunately for Anne her new husband was busy fighting in Granada and he left her stranded in Rennes and did (too) little to fight the French that decided to siege the city. After 2 months without aid Rennes fell and Anne agreed to meet with Charles VIII. Anne refused to be married with one of the French princes and so it was decided that she would marry Charles VIII despite her already being married to Maximilian I of Austria and despite Charles VIII betrothal to Maximilian’s daughter Margaret of Austria.

Enter a captionAnne of Brittany by Jean Boucher.

Portray by Anca Visdei 2013.

 

Lady, presumed to be Anne of Brittany, c. 1520 by Jan Mostaert

All in all it was quite impressive that Anne of Brittany put up a fight for 2 years against the much stronger French king, but unfortunately this marriage could mean the end of Brittany’s independence in the future. Anne of Brittany would fight all her life to keep Brittany independent from France despite the marriage.

The meeting between Charles VIII and Anne of Brittany. gravure issue de l’ouvrage Histoire de France, par François GUIZOT, France, 1875.

charles VIII convinces Anne of Brittany to marry him despite her recent marriage to Maximilian I.

Bonsoir mes amis! Hilde