Cat's Historical Doodles

Anne (Breton: Anna) was born on 25 or 26 January 1477, in Nantes; she was the eldest daughter of Francis II, Duke of Brittany, and his second wife, Margaret of Foix. She had a younger sister, Isabelle. Margaret died when Anne was little, and Francis died when Anne was 11 years old. It is likely that Anne learned to read and write in French, and perhaps a little Latin. She was also taught music, dance, and singing. In this period, the law of succession was unclear, but prior to the Breton War of Succession (1341-1365) mainly operated according to semi-Salic Law: women could inherit but only if the male line had died out. The Treaty of Guérande (1365), however, stated that in the absence of a male heir from the House of Monfort, the heirs of Joanna of Penthièvre would succeed. By the time Anne was born, her father was the only male from the House of Monfort, and the Penthièvre heir was a female who had sold her rights over Brittany to King Louis XI of France. The lack of a...

Claude was born on 13 October 1499, in Romorantin-Lanthenay, France. She was the eldest daughter of King Louis XII of France and his wife, Anne of Brittany. Claude was named after Claudius of Besançon, a saint her mother had invoked so she could give birth to a living child. During her two marriages, Anne had at least fourteen pregnancies, but only two children survived to adulthood: Claude and her younger sister, Renée. On 9 January 1514, when her mother died, Claude became Duchess of Brittany in her own right. Four months later, she married her cousin Francis, Duke of Valois. With this union, it was secured that Brittany would remain united to the French crown, if the third marriage of Louis XII with Mary Tudor would not produce an heir. However, this union was short-lived and childless: Louis died less than three months later, on 1 January 1515. Francis succeeded him and they were now King Francis I and Queen Claude of France. As Queen, Claude was eclipsed at court by her ...