A Cyclopaedia of Female Biography/Anne of Bretagne
ANNE OF BRETAGNE,
Or Brittany, only daughter and heiress of Francis the Second, duke of Bretagne, was born at Nantz, January 26th., 1477. She was carefully educated, and gave early indications of great beauty and intelligence. When only five years old, she was betrothed to Edward, prince of Wales, son of Edward the Fourth, of England. But his tragical death, two years after, dissolved the contract. She was next demanded in marriage by Louis, duke of Orleans, presumptive heir to the throne of France, who had taken refuge in Bretague, to avoid the displeasure of Anne of Beaujeu, governess of France; and Anne of Bretagne, though but fourteen, was supposed to favour his pretensions.
The death of her father, in 1490, which left her an unprotected orphan, and heiress of a spacious domain, at the time when the duke of Orleans was detained a prisoner by Anne of Beaujeu, forced her to seek some other protector; and she was married by proxy to Maximilian, emperor of Austria. But Anne of Beaujeu, determined to obtain possession of Bretagne, and despairing of conquering it by her arms, resolved to accomplish her purpose by effecting a marriage between her young brother, Charles the Eighth of France, and Anne of Bretagne. Charles the Eighth had been affianced to Margaret, daughter of Maximilian, by a former marriage; the princess had been educated in France, and had assumed the title of queen, although, on account of her youth, the marriage had been delayed. But the lady of Beaujeu scrupled not to violate her engagements, and, sending back Margaret to her father, she surrounded Bretagne with the armies of France.
Anne of Bretague resisted for a time this rough courtship; but, vanquished by the persuasion of the duke of Orleans, who had been released from captivity on condition of pleading the suit of Charles, she yielded a reluctant consent, and the marriage was celebrated December 16th., 1491.
Anne soon became attached to her husband, who was an amiable though a weak prince, and on his death, in 1498, she abandoned herself to the deepest grief. She retired to her hereditary domains, where she affected the rights of an independent sovereign.
Louis, duke of Orleans, succeeded Charles the Eighth, under the title of Louis the Twelfth, and soon renewed his former suit to Anne, who had never entirely lost the preference she had once felt for him. The first use Louis made of his regal power was to procure a divorce from the unfortunate Jeanne, daughter to Louis the Eleventh, who was personally deformed, and whom he had been forced to marry. Jeanne, with the sweetness and resignation that marked her whole life, submitted to the sentence, and retired to a convent. Soon after, Louis married Anne, at Nantes.
Anne retained great influence over her husband throughout her whole life, by her beauty, amiability, and the purity of her manners. She was a liberal rewarder of merit, and patroness of learning and literary men. Her piety was fervent and sincere, though rather superstitious; but she was proud, her determination sometimes amounted to obstinacy, and, when she thought herself justly offended, she knew not how to forgive. She retained her attachment to Bretagne while queen of France, and sometimes exercised her influence over the king in a manner detrimental to the interests of her adopted country. Louis the Twelfth was sensible that he frequently yielded too much to her, hut her many noble and lovely qualities endeared her to him.
Anne died January 9th., 1514, at the age of thirty-seven and Louis mourned her loss with the most sincere sorrow.