Louis XII

Louis XII, born at the Château de Blois on 27 June 1462, became King of France in 1498 after the death of Charles VIII. Initially Duke of Orléans from 1465, Louis was involved in noble resistance against royal power during the Mad War and was captured at the Battle of Saint-Aubin-du-Cormier in 1488. Upon becoming king, he annulled his marriage to Joan of France and married Anne of Brittany, reinforcing the union of Brittany and France. Louis led multiple campaigns in Italy, capturing Milan in 1499 and Naples in 1501, though he later lost Naples to Spain in 1504.

Domestically, Louis XII reformed the legal system, reduced the taille tax, codified customary law, and reinstated the Pragmatic Sanction to strengthen royal authority over the Church. He gained popularity for maintaining internal peace and was declared "Father of the People" in 1506. He expanded royal propaganda through portraits and emblems like the porcupine. Louis died on 1 January 1515 without a male heir and was succeeded by his cousin and son-in-law, Francis I, thereby continuing the Valois line through the Angoulême branch.