Anne de Bretagne – Duchess of Brittany

Brittany is a region of north-west France which has always regarded its culture remote from that of the rest of the country; and in support of this ideology there is an historical story of a seemingly vulnerable Duchess. 

 

Her story revolves around her three marriages; which came about in her endeavours to secure the continuing independence of the Duchy. For Anne it all began in 1488 when a French army invaded Brittany defeating Anne’s Father; Frances II Duke of Brittany, and effectively ending what was referred to as La Guerre Folle between France and the Duchy. France coveted Brittany, and fearing it would fall into foreign hands imposed on the Duke the restriction that his daughter’s hand in marriage would not be given without the consent of the French crown. Shortly afterwards the Duke died leaving Anne; at the tender age of twelve, Duchess of Brittany  and facing what was to be, the last Franco- Breton war.

 

The responsibility of guarding the autonomy of this region was now lay on the shoulders of a young girl. In 1490 there seemed an obvious solution; marriage to a non French King. There was no shortage of suitors as Brittany was regarded as a worthy prize, from Edward Prince of Wales; the son of Edward IV of England, to the already married Louis, Duke of Orleans.  But it was the recently widowed Maximilian of Austria of the Habsburg family who was regarded as the most suitable and through this marriage the prestigious title of Queen of the Romans would be bestowed on Anne.  A marriage by proxy was arranged at Rennes but this proved a step too far for the French and their King.

 

The Brittany Duchess had broken the treaty agreed between her Father and the King of France; a direct insult to Charles VIII, and to rub salt in the wound, the alliance would place the region under the rule of his enemy.

 

In 1491 Rennes was put under siege by CharlesVIII army and although Maximilian was too occupied in Hungry to come to Anne’s aid, help was tentatively provided by Castile and England. Unfortunately for Anne, both countries wanted to avoid war with France and their limited provision of soldiers was ineffective in preventing Charles winning the battle. Although the people of Rennes gallantly defended their city, Anne conceded defeat and was compelled to marry the King; thus securing Brittany as part of France. 

 

Despite protests from Maximilian the marriage was annulled and Anne was crowned Queen of France on the 8^th February 1492. It was not a happy marriage and they often lived separately and sadly none of their four children survived infancy. However, during the marriage some agreements were made between the two sovereigns that would ensure privileges for Brittany. Among them was the right to pay only taxes consented to by the assembly of estates and the other bequeathed the sovereignty of Brittany to the surviving monarch. 

 

Another agreement however obliged Anne to marry Charles’s successor. Unexpectedly in 1498 Anne was widowed, when after a game of ‘jeu de paume’ (court tennis) Charles hit his head on the lintel of a door and died a few hours later. Anne was only 21 years old and the new king, Louis XII, was already married, to the sister of her deceased husband. The solution was provided by the Pope who dissolved Louis’s first alliance leaving the way clear for Anne’s third wedding celebration. On the 8^th January 1499 Anne set a precedent by walking down the aisle in white gown.

 

Louis, was a much more obliging husband and respecting his wife’s devotion to her beloved Bretagne he recognised her entitlement to be Duchess of Brittany; accepting gracefully, the title of duke consort.

 

Until her death in 1514 Duchess Anne, jealously guarded the autonomy of Brittany. She died from a kidney stone at Chateau Blois and there followed a funeral that lasted forty days.  Anne was buried in the Necropolis of Saint Denis but she had requested her heart be placed in an enamel gold reliquary and deposited in the vault of the Carmelites at Nantes; the tomb of her parents.

 

It is because of Anne; Duchess of Brittany and her devotion to safeguarding the independence of Brittany, that today there are privileges accorded to this region; and to no other. One of which you have probably benefited from if you drive a car in this region; for you will have discovered you are not required to pay a toll on any road. Another reminder that this little corner of France is different to the rest of the country is the place names displayed in Breton (or is it Welsh?)  Either way, it’s all due to ‘Anne de Bretagne’.