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A photo of Charles VIII of France by After Jean Perréal –

Top 10 Outstanding Facts about Charles VIII of France

Charles VIII was called the Affable. He was born on 30 June 1470 and died on 7 April 1498. He was King of France from 1483 to his death in 1498. He succeeded his father Louis XI at the age of 13. His sister helped him to reign the kingdom he was too vulnerable to rule.

During Anne’s regency, the great lords rebelled against royal centralisation efforts in a conflict known as the Mad War (1485–1488), which resulted in a victory for the royal government. In the article are the top ten outstanding facts about Charles VIII of France.

1. Charles married Anne of Brittany in 1491

A portrait photo of Anne of Brittany by
Jean Bourdichon –

Anne of Brittany was the reigning Duchess of Brittany from 1488 until her death, and Queen of France from 1491 to 1498 and from 1499 to her death. She is the only woman to have been queen consort of France twice.

During the Italian Wars, Anne also became Queen of Naples, from 1501 to 1504, and Duchess of Milan, from 1499 to 1500 and from 1500 to 1512. Charles VIII dared to marry the already once-married Queen by Habsburg Holy Roman Emperor Maximilian I.

It is said that the two married in a ceremony of questionable validity. This was after the preoccupation with the problematic succession in the Kingdom of Hungary, as Maximilian failed to press his claim about his wife Anne of Brittany.

2. Charles was the only surviving son of King Louis XI 

King Louis XI portrait photo by Jacob de Littemont –

Louis XI called Louis the Prudent was King of France from 1461 to 1483. He succeeded his father, Charles VII. He had 8 children and Charles VIII of France was the second last born. Chares also was the only survivor of King Louis XI.

3. Charles succeeded to the throne at the age of 13 on 30 August 1483

Louis XI, having suffered from bouts of apoplexy and years of illness, died on 30 August 1483. His widow, Charlotte, died a few months later and is interred with him.

Louis XI was succeeded by his son Charles VIII, who was thirteen years of age.
His health was poor. He was regarded by his contemporaries as possessing a pleasant disposition, but also as foolish and unsuited for the business of the state.

By the wishes of Louis XI, the regency of the kingdom was granted to Charles’ elder sister Anne, a formidably intelligent and shrewd woman described by her father as “the least foolish woman in France.” She ruled as regent, together with her husband Peter of Bourbon, until 1491.

4. Why did Charles not marry Margaret of Austria?

Margaret Of Austria portrait photo by Joseph Heintz the Elder –  

Charles was betrothed on 22 July 1483 to the 3-year-old Margaret of Austria, daughter of the Archduke Maximilian of Austria and Mary, Duchess of Burgundy. The marriage was arranged by Louis XI, Maximilian, and the Estates of the Low Countries as part of the 1482 Peace of Arras between France and the Duchy of Burgundy.

Margaret brought the counties of Artois and Burgundy to France as her dowry, and she was raised in the French court as a prospective queen. Where did things go wrong to the extent that he did not marry her?

Anne of Brittany was forced to renounce Maximilian as her arranged marriage and agreed to be married to Charles VIII instead. This was after Francis II, Duke of Brittany, died in a riding accident, leaving his 11-year-old daughter Anne as his heir.

5. How did Charles get crowned King of Naples?

On 25 January 1494, Ferdinand I, King of Naples, died unexpectedly. His death made Alfonso II, king of Naples. Alfonso II laid claim to the Milanese duchy. Alfonso II now urged Charles to take Milan militarily.

Charles was also urged on in this adventure by his favourite courtier, Étienne de Vesc. Thus, Charles came to imagine himself capable of actually taking Naples, and invading Italy.

In the event that was to prove a watershed in Italian history, Charles invaded Italy in September 1494 with 25,000 men and including 8,000 Swiss mercenaries. The troop marched across the peninsula virtually unopposed.

He arrived in Pavia on 21 October 1494 and entered Pisa on 8 November 1494. The French army subdued Florence in passing on their way south. Reaching Naples on 22 February 1495, the French Army took Naples without a pitched battle or siege. Alfonso was expelled, and Charles was crowned King of Naples.

6. Savonarola believed that King Charles VIII was God’s tool to purify Florence

Girolamo Savonarolaor Jerome Savonarola was an Italian Dominican friar from Ferrara and preacher active in Renaissance Florence. He was known for his prophecies of civic glory, the destruction of secular art and culture, and his calls for Christian renewal. He denounced clerical corruption, despotic rule, and the exploitation of the poor.

The famous friar Savonarola believed that King Charles VIII was God’s tool to purify the corruption of Florence. He believed that once Charles had ousted the evil sinners of Florence, the city would become a centre of morality.

In September 1494, when Charles VIII of France invaded Italy and threatened Florence, such prophecies seemed on the verge of fulfilment. He declared that Florence would be the New Jerusalem, the world centre of Christianity and “richer, more powerful, more glorious than ever.

7. Charles VIII’s army defeated the League of Venice’s army

The speed and power of the French advance frightened the other Italian rulers, including the Pope and even Ludovico of Milan. They formed an anti-French coalition, the League of Venice on 31 March 1495.

The formation of the League of Venice, which included the northern Italian states of Duchy of Milan, the Republic of Venice, the Duchy of Mantua, and the Republic of Florence in addition to the Kingdom of Spain, the Holy Roman Empire and the Kingdom of Naples, appeared to have trapped Charles in southern Italy and blocked his return to France.

Charles would have to cross the territory of at least some of the League members to return home to France. At the Fornovo in July 1495, the League was unable to stop Charles from marching his army out of Italy.

The League lost 2,000 men to his 1,000 and, although Charles lost nearly all the booty of the campaign, the League was unable to stop him from crossing their territory on his way back to France.

8. Why was Charles VIII unable to rebuild his army after the 1945 incident?

Ferdinand also called Ferdinand the Catholic, was King of Aragon and Sardinia from 1479, King of Sicily from 1468, King of Naples as Ferdinand III from 1504 and King of Navarre as Ferdinand I from 1512 until he died in 1516. He was an ally of Alfonso II, king of Naples whom Charles VIII deprived of the throne as the king of Naples.

So, on 6 and 7 July 1495 Charles’ remaining garrisons in Naples were quickly subdued by Aragonese forces sent by Ferdinand II of Aragon. In the end, Charles VIII lost all the gains that he had made in Italy.

Over the next few years, Charles VIII tried to rebuild his army and resume the campaign, but he was hampered by the large debts incurred in 1494–95. He never succeeded in gaining anything substantive.

9. Charles died in 1498 from an accident

In 1498, two and a half years after he retreats from Italy, as the result of an accident. At around 2:00 p.m., while returning from the game, of jeu de paume which is real tennis in English, he struck his head on the lintel of a door. He fell into a sudden coma and died nine hours later.

10. All his children died young and so he was a childless king

The marriage with Anne resulted in the birth of six recorded children, who all died young: Charles Orland, Dauphin of France born on 11 October 1492 died of measles when three years old on 16 December 1495. Buried at Tours Cathedral. Francis who was born on August 1493, was premature and stillborn. Also, they had a stillborn daughter who died in March 1495.

Charles, Dauphin of France was 8 September 1496 and died 2 October 1496. Another Dauphin of France was born on July 1497 but he died several hours after his birth. Anne of France was born on 20 March 1498 however, she died on the day of her birth at Château de Plessis-lez-Tours.