Chapter 20: Orleanist Fervour 1496 - 1504
The sudden death of Charles VIII would spark a chain of events that would end in Burgundy's detriment. The treaty of Dijon which signalled peace between France and Burgundy was further extended after the Italian wars and the peace of Vercelli which only lengthened the truce between France and Burgundy until 1501. Philip the Rich at the time was more focused on German and imperial affairs such as the diet of Worms and the Hanseatic Dilemma. Philip the Rich's position in Italy would slowly deteriorate throughout the length of the Italian wars, as it went from a carefully woven Burgundian-aligned balance of power to a French and later Spanish-Imperial dominated peninsula. The focal point was Louis de Orleans now Louis XII due to Salic Law since Charles was without any male heirs would begin the process to divorce his wife in order to marry Charles' widow. Anne widowed Queen of France and Duchess of Brittany was now eager to keep her duchies independence but her treaties with France would force them to approve any marriage. Louis would not have Anne marry anyone else other than her. The only one who could try to stop this from happening was the pope, and Burgundy.
Anne of Champagne would not need much convincing of herself nor her husband to forbid the ending of her sister's marriage to Louis XII, as Philip wished to weaken France with an independent Brittany, while Anne had a bit more of a personal reason, her sister asked her to and the siblings were always quite close. The following trial would be one which would display the influence of France on the Papal States. Pope Alexander VI was once again keen on bringing France into Italy. The reasons were fairly simple, Alexander VI wanted to expand his papal domains for his family, and the new tentative restored balance of power could be easily ruined by reinviting France. The trial would argued primarily with Burgundian lawyers and funds while the details of the trial were incredibly damming towards Louis XII the result did not change and the annulment was granted thereby allowing Louis to remarry Anne of Brittany and tying the duchy permanently to the crown of France. This loss in the trial would only slightly benefit Burgundy and Joan was granted the duchy of Berry as an appanage and the alignment of Joan with Burgundy would bring back a bit of the pro-Burgundian faction within France. This trial while humiliating to France, would not stop the inevitable for France's rapid conquest of both Brittany and Italy.
The remarriage of Anne of Brittany to Louis XII would further strengthen the bonds forged by Charles VIII practically turning Brittany into an inseparable piece of the French crown although this would be achieved by his cousin Francis I of France legally later on. The treaty of Blois would see a former Burgundian ally move to the French side, Venice. This treaty would divide Milan between the two countries with Louis XII being recognized due to his grandmother being a Visconti, Duke of Milan. However, Louis would employ both his predecessors' tactics and the signature Burgundian diplomacy to ensure neutrality during his conquest of Naples. The peace of Etaples was negotiated which ensured peace between France and England. A further peace was sent out to both the emperor and Aragon now led by the fearsome catholic monarchs, would resigned the peace of Barcelona, which ensured imperial and Spanish neutrality for only cash and agreements to weaken Burgundy for the emperor while for Spain, it would be the recognition of the resale of the counties given to Aragon under Charles VIII. Louis XII would now have the strength and diplomacy to dive into Italy and conquer the lands that he believed were taken from him. The inheritance of Milan and Naples into the French Crown was now at hand.
France had spent the last two years under Charles VIII to refine the army and improve the naval capacity of France, with the dockyards of Arles, and Marseille at hand. Charles VIII and Louis XII would reconstruct the French fleet after the disaster at Rapollo. His brother in law, Peter II of Bourbon would begin to assist in greater administrative capabilities as they began to fully implement the French Estates diet of 1484 which Louis and Peter which to implement but was blocked by Anne, Countess of Champagne and wife of Philip the Rich. Louis XII, now armed to the teeth with his state of the art army and navy would march to Milan immediately. Burgundy who practically controlled Savoy was quite easily bribed and threatened to allow Louis' forces to pass through much to Philip's anger as he focused in Landshut during the war of Landshut Succession. He would also gain the support of the vengeful Swiss who were eager to conquer lands in Milan in order to secure their southern border and an alliance with the French King against the Burgundian dukes and Austrian archdukes would be a much needed relief for the Swiss. The appointment of Philip of Cleves, an anti-Burgundian who believed his inheritance of Cleves was taken away from him as Cleves was conquered by the Burgundians in 1491 to the governor of Genoa would further secure his southern flank and by late 1499, all of Milan had fallen under Louis XII's control with Ludovico escaping once again to imperial court in Innsbruck under the Habsburgs.
This rapid conquest of practically all of northwestern Italy would frighten the Venetians who now realized that the treaty of Blois favoured the French to an unreasonable degree began to formulate plans to detach themselves from France and form an anti-French alliance just like the league of Venice of 1495. These plans would accelerate with the fall of Pisa from the French in 1500 would further strengthen the French position by gaining the now practically vassalized Florence as another ally. The reemergence of Ludovico under the lead of a Swiss-Imperial army in 1500 would only slightly strain Louis' position who decisively defeated Ludovico and had him imprisoned for the remainder of his life. The entirety of northern Italy was now firmly in his grasp and he would march south to Naples to seize what Charles had failed, the Kingdom of Naples. This conquest would be as easy as the conquest of Milan, with reluctant papal support, due to promises of fiefs granted to Alexander VI's children Louis would seize Capua force Frederick to abdicate and hand over the throne to him and would be crowned as King of Naples in 1501. This decisive lightning fast victory would now trigger a grand coalition of Burgundy, Spain and the Holy Roman Empire against France.
Burgundy would play a limited role in the league of Cambrai, an anti French league formed between the three powers, limited sporadic fighting would occur all over Burgundy and Savoy, no victories of substantial note would be achieved by the Burgundians as the reforms of both Charles VIII and Louis XII ensured that the French army was not the army that Charles the Absolute or Philip the Rich would defeat in the war of Lotharingia, or the Burgundian war of 1472. It would be Joan of Berry, sister of Anne of Champagne that would ensure peace between Burgundy and France, paying a large indemnity to Burgundy and minor territorial concessions in Nemours. In Spain, Louis XII, at the helm of his army and navy would launch an invasion of Sicily while Peter II would lead raids in Catalonia finally driving out the Spanish with the treaty of Syracuse, agreeing to Ferdinand recognizing Louis' ascension as King of Naples. The empire would fare no better in this as Venice refused to abandon their French ally out of fear of the return of imperial control of Venetian territories would lead Maximilian into a fruitless campaign against Venice. The losses against the Swiss in 1499 would not do Maximilian any better as Philip of Cleves would lead a reinforcing army that would drive out Maximilian in the battle of Padua decisively crushing the imperials in a two-pronged attack. The Treaty of Blois in 1502 would confirm Louis XII's status as Duke of Milan per his inheritance from his grandmother Valentina Visconti. The second Italian war would see the complete dismantling and co-opt of the grand Burgundian alliance of Italy into a French sphere of influence. Burgundy would only gain small lands east of the Seine ruled by the Duke of Nemours who was also now viceroy of Naples. The annexation of Milan and Naples, two of Burgundy's wealthiest allies by their main rival of France would horrify Philip who would seek any opportunity to drive out France from Italy while the solidification of Florence and Venice as practical French vassals would not help the situation and finally the death of Alexander VI and the election of Pope Julius II who was a French partisan would now complete the gauntlet of French dominance over Italy. The only states that was major enough to oppose French dominance over Italy was the Duchy of Savoy, a Burgundian vassal and enabler of French dominance and the ravaged kingdom of Sicily ruled by the Spanish.
Anne of Champagne would not need much convincing of herself nor her husband to forbid the ending of her sister's marriage to Louis XII, as Philip wished to weaken France with an independent Brittany, while Anne had a bit more of a personal reason, her sister asked her to and the siblings were always quite close. The following trial would be one which would display the influence of France on the Papal States. Pope Alexander VI was once again keen on bringing France into Italy. The reasons were fairly simple, Alexander VI wanted to expand his papal domains for his family, and the new tentative restored balance of power could be easily ruined by reinviting France. The trial would argued primarily with Burgundian lawyers and funds while the details of the trial were incredibly damming towards Louis XII the result did not change and the annulment was granted thereby allowing Louis to remarry Anne of Brittany and tying the duchy permanently to the crown of France. This loss in the trial would only slightly benefit Burgundy and Joan was granted the duchy of Berry as an appanage and the alignment of Joan with Burgundy would bring back a bit of the pro-Burgundian faction within France. This trial while humiliating to France, would not stop the inevitable for France's rapid conquest of both Brittany and Italy.
The remarriage of Anne of Brittany to Louis XII would further strengthen the bonds forged by Charles VIII practically turning Brittany into an inseparable piece of the French crown although this would be achieved by his cousin Francis I of France legally later on. The treaty of Blois would see a former Burgundian ally move to the French side, Venice. This treaty would divide Milan between the two countries with Louis XII being recognized due to his grandmother being a Visconti, Duke of Milan. However, Louis would employ both his predecessors' tactics and the signature Burgundian diplomacy to ensure neutrality during his conquest of Naples. The peace of Etaples was negotiated which ensured peace between France and England. A further peace was sent out to both the emperor and Aragon now led by the fearsome catholic monarchs, would resigned the peace of Barcelona, which ensured imperial and Spanish neutrality for only cash and agreements to weaken Burgundy for the emperor while for Spain, it would be the recognition of the resale of the counties given to Aragon under Charles VIII. Louis XII would now have the strength and diplomacy to dive into Italy and conquer the lands that he believed were taken from him. The inheritance of Milan and Naples into the French Crown was now at hand.
France had spent the last two years under Charles VIII to refine the army and improve the naval capacity of France, with the dockyards of Arles, and Marseille at hand. Charles VIII and Louis XII would reconstruct the French fleet after the disaster at Rapollo. His brother in law, Peter II of Bourbon would begin to assist in greater administrative capabilities as they began to fully implement the French Estates diet of 1484 which Louis and Peter which to implement but was blocked by Anne, Countess of Champagne and wife of Philip the Rich. Louis XII, now armed to the teeth with his state of the art army and navy would march to Milan immediately. Burgundy who practically controlled Savoy was quite easily bribed and threatened to allow Louis' forces to pass through much to Philip's anger as he focused in Landshut during the war of Landshut Succession. He would also gain the support of the vengeful Swiss who were eager to conquer lands in Milan in order to secure their southern border and an alliance with the French King against the Burgundian dukes and Austrian archdukes would be a much needed relief for the Swiss. The appointment of Philip of Cleves, an anti-Burgundian who believed his inheritance of Cleves was taken away from him as Cleves was conquered by the Burgundians in 1491 to the governor of Genoa would further secure his southern flank and by late 1499, all of Milan had fallen under Louis XII's control with Ludovico escaping once again to imperial court in Innsbruck under the Habsburgs.
This rapid conquest of practically all of northwestern Italy would frighten the Venetians who now realized that the treaty of Blois favoured the French to an unreasonable degree began to formulate plans to detach themselves from France and form an anti-French alliance just like the league of Venice of 1495. These plans would accelerate with the fall of Pisa from the French in 1500 would further strengthen the French position by gaining the now practically vassalized Florence as another ally. The reemergence of Ludovico under the lead of a Swiss-Imperial army in 1500 would only slightly strain Louis' position who decisively defeated Ludovico and had him imprisoned for the remainder of his life. The entirety of northern Italy was now firmly in his grasp and he would march south to Naples to seize what Charles had failed, the Kingdom of Naples. This conquest would be as easy as the conquest of Milan, with reluctant papal support, due to promises of fiefs granted to Alexander VI's children Louis would seize Capua force Frederick to abdicate and hand over the throne to him and would be crowned as King of Naples in 1501. This decisive lightning fast victory would now trigger a grand coalition of Burgundy, Spain and the Holy Roman Empire against France.
Burgundy would play a limited role in the league of Cambrai, an anti French league formed between the three powers, limited sporadic fighting would occur all over Burgundy and Savoy, no victories of substantial note would be achieved by the Burgundians as the reforms of both Charles VIII and Louis XII ensured that the French army was not the army that Charles the Absolute or Philip the Rich would defeat in the war of Lotharingia, or the Burgundian war of 1472. It would be Joan of Berry, sister of Anne of Champagne that would ensure peace between Burgundy and France, paying a large indemnity to Burgundy and minor territorial concessions in Nemours. In Spain, Louis XII, at the helm of his army and navy would launch an invasion of Sicily while Peter II would lead raids in Catalonia finally driving out the Spanish with the treaty of Syracuse, agreeing to Ferdinand recognizing Louis' ascension as King of Naples. The empire would fare no better in this as Venice refused to abandon their French ally out of fear of the return of imperial control of Venetian territories would lead Maximilian into a fruitless campaign against Venice. The losses against the Swiss in 1499 would not do Maximilian any better as Philip of Cleves would lead a reinforcing army that would drive out Maximilian in the battle of Padua decisively crushing the imperials in a two-pronged attack. The Treaty of Blois in 1502 would confirm Louis XII's status as Duke of Milan per his inheritance from his grandmother Valentina Visconti. The second Italian war would see the complete dismantling and co-opt of the grand Burgundian alliance of Italy into a French sphere of influence. Burgundy would only gain small lands east of the Seine ruled by the Duke of Nemours who was also now viceroy of Naples. The annexation of Milan and Naples, two of Burgundy's wealthiest allies by their main rival of France would horrify Philip who would seek any opportunity to drive out France from Italy while the solidification of Florence and Venice as practical French vassals would not help the situation and finally the death of Alexander VI and the election of Pope Julius II who was a French partisan would now complete the gauntlet of French dominance over Italy. The only states that was major enough to oppose French dominance over Italy was the Duchy of Savoy, a Burgundian vassal and enabler of French dominance and the ravaged kingdom of Sicily ruled by the Spanish.
