H-France List Archives

• Message-Id: <199611260112.BAA02166@listserv.rl.ac.uk>
• Date: Mon, 25 Nov 1996 13:43:28 -0500
• From: Jim Farr <jrfarr@purdue.edu>
• Subject: BOOK REVIEW: Konnert on Baumgartner, _Louis XII_

>From: mcarley@ccs.carleton.ca (Michael Carley)
>Subject: BOOK REVIEW: Konnert on Baumgartner, _Louis XII_
>Date: Sun, 24 Nov 96 20:46:47 EST
>
>
>Frederic J. Baumgartner. _Louis XII_.  New York: St.
>Martin's Press, 1996.  xiii + 319 pp.  Tables, maps,
>appendix, notes, bibliography, and index.  $17.95 US.
>ISBN 0-312-16173-5.
>
>Review by Mark Konnert, University of Calgary, for
>H-France, November 1996.
>
>                The Unknown Louis XII
>
>Frederic J. Baumgartner's new biography of Louis XII,
>King of France from 1498 to 1515, is a political
>biography in the classic style.  One is tempted to say
>"old style", but that would have a pejorative connotation
>which is not intended.  As Professor Baumgartner himself
>states, he intended to write a history of
>sixteenth-century France, beginning with the reign of
>Louis XII, but "found that there was no English-language
>biography for him from any era nor a scholarly study of
>his reign in French since the nineteenth-century... " (p.
>vii).  It is a curious lacuna given Louis' contemporary
>prestige: he was given the title "Father of the People"
>by the Estates-General in 1506, and his reign remained
>for over a century the paradigm of the "good old days".
>
>               This lack of attention by historians may
>be attributed to several factors.  First, his reign falls
>in a historiographical no man's land in French (and
>European) history: histories of medieval France tend to
>stop with Louis XI (1461-1483), while the major events
>and movements of the sixteenth century, such as the
>Renaissance and Reformation, have their greatest impact
>in France after Louis XII's death.  Secondly, Louis XII's
>reign is overshadowed by that of his flamboyant
>successor, Francis I (1515-1547).  Even during his
>lifetime, historians have devoted more attention to the
>women in his life--Jeanne of France, Anne of Brittany,
>and Mary Tudor--than to the king himself.  The author's
>goal, therefore, is to fill a gap in the literature on
>early modern France, rather than to develop new
>interpretations.
>
>                  Baumgartner's overall assessment of
>Louis XII as king is sympathetic but modest: "Certainly,
>I will not argue that Louis XII stands in the first rank
>of French kings" (p. vii).  Indeed, Louis was a better
>king than those who knew him as a young man would have
>had reason to imagine.  Born in 1462, he was the son of
>Charles, Duke of Orleans, a grandson of King Charles V
>(1364-1380).  Young Louis became Duke of Orleans at the
>age of two, when his father died in 1465.  As the first
>Prince of Blood, Louis of Orleans was an important
>person, but the possibility of him becoming king was
>still remote, since Louis XI (d. 1483) was succeeded by
>his young son Charles VIII (1483-1498), who would have to
>die without male issue in order for young Orleans to
>accede to the throne.
>
>               Louis' early life was not especially
>distinguished.  He gained a reputation as a jouster and
>womanizer, and spent most of his time hunting (a
>life-long passion) and in ineffective political
>manoeuvring against the real powers in the early reign of
>Charles VIII--his older sister Anne and her husband
>Pierre de Beaujeu.  This plotting, and an ineffective
>rebellion, landed him in prison for a time, but he seems
>to have eventually accepted his position as first Prince
>of the Blood, and in fact was godfather for Charles
>VIII's son, born in 1492, who immediately displaced him
>in the line of succession.  The event of his early life
>which has attracted the most attention was his forced
>marriage in 1476 to Jeanne of France, the saintly but
>deformed daughter of Louis XI.  Baumgartner has some hard
>things to say about Louis' conduct towards his wife, but
>not as hard as some have said.  Certainly he ignored her,
>and rebuffed all attempts at intimacy, repelled as he was
>by her appearance.  But he does seem to have recognized
>her strength of character and saintliness, and for a
>while, at least corresponded with her in friendly terms.
>Nevertheless, an annulment remained his ultimate goal,
>one achieved only in 1498 after his accession to the
>throne.  Having made his peace with Charles VIII, Louis
>became one of his most trusted intimates, and was given
>important military commands in the French invasions of
>Italy beginning in 1494.
>
>                  Louis of Orleans became King of France
>upon the death of Charles VIII in 1498, his son having
>predeceased him in 1495.  Although there was no real
>alternative to Louis, many were apprehensive about the
>new king, fearing the settlement of old scores.  The new
>king acted at once to mollify their concerns, stating
>that "It is not honorable for the king of France to
>avenge the quarrels of a duke of Orleans" (p. 57).  Louis
>became king at the age of 35, with a wealth of experience
>unusual in a new monarch, having learned a great deal
>from his earlier plotting and rebellions.
>
>                  According to Baumgartner, preoccupation
>with Italian affairs was the central feature of Louis'
>reign (p. 229).  This was especially because of his
>dynastic claim to the Duchy of Milan, inherited from his
>grandmother, Valentina Visconti.  Even before becoming
>king, Louis ruled the town of Asti, on the Duchy's
>western boundary.  Upon becoming king, Louis pressed not
>only his claim to Milan, but the claim to Naples which
>had prompted Charles VIII's invasion in 1494.
>Baumgartner sees this preoccupation as unfortunate, but
>understandable, given the dynastic nature of political
>power.  The treatment of the complex and torturous
>Italian politics is one of the strengths of the book.
>Baumgartner consistently makes sense of the twists and
>turns of diplomacy and the reversals of alliances.
>
>                  If Italian affairs predominated in
>Louis' mind, they nevertheless did not prevent
>substantial domestic achievements.  Principal among these
>were the Ordinance of Blois (1499) regulating the
>Gallican church, judicial and financial affairs, and the
>redaction and codification of various customary laws
>throughout the kingdom.  As is evident, and as
>Baumgartner makes clear, these were not bold new
>innovations in government, but rather careful reforms
>building on and preserving past practices.  These
>developments were entirely consistent, both with the man
>and the times.  Among other achievements, and the one
>which earned him the title "Father of the People," was
>the lowering of taxes (particularly the _taille_, the
>major direct tax) despite virtually continuous war in
>Italy.  Reductions were achieved largely through
>economies such as cutting back on noble pensions and
>careful overseeing of the fiscal system.
>
>                  In religious affairs, Louis was a
>conventional medieval Catholic, not terribly interested
>in issues of church reform.  However, Georges Cardinal
>d'Amboise, the chief minister for much of the reign, did
>make some limited efforts at cleaning up the church in
>France.  The major impact of the reign in church affairs
>was on level of administration and Franco-Papal
>relations.  Louis' bitter feud with Pope Julius II and
>his sponsorship of the schismatic Council of Pisa, and
>the subsequent reconciliation with Leo X paved the way
>for the Concordat of Bologna of 1516 and the replacement
>of ecclesiastical Gallicanism with the royalist variety,
>that is, assertion of royal predominance over a church
>which previously had been largely self-governed by its
>clergy.
>
>               As regards the other major intellectual
>and cultural movement of the day, the Renaissance, Louis
>was more of an interested bystander than an active patron
>and participant, as his successor would be.  Another
>major achievement was the continuation of the process of
>incorporating the Duchy of Brittany into the kingdom.
>This was accomplished through Louis' marriage (after the
>annulment of his marriage to Jeanne of France) to Anne of
>Brittany, widow of Charles VIII.  By all accounts, Louis
>and Anne genuinely cared for each other; however, to
>their great disappointment, the marriage produced only
>two girls, leaving the young Francis of Angouleme as heir
>presumptive.
>
>               Because Louis' reign has been largely
>ignored by historians, there is little historiography for
>Baumgartner to call into question, and few
>interpretations to revise or question.  Nevertheless, the
>last chapter, "Legacy", does put Louis XII and his reign
>into context regarding several themes in early modern
>historiography.  The most important is the debate
>surrounding the concept of "New Monarchy" and the nature
>of "Renaissance Monarchy", whether absolutist or
>consultative.  According to Baumgartner, Louis XII
>typified the consultative monarchy as outlined by J.
>Russell Major (in his _Representative Institutions in
>Renaissance France_ [1960] and _Representative Government
>in Early Modern France_ [1980]).  Even if (as some
>historians have claimed) the assembly of 1506 cannot be
>considered a "true" Estates-General, "[t]here can be
>little argument that Louis practiced a highly
>consultative form of government" (p. 248).  Louis was
>also concerned with moulding public opinion in ways
>unlike any other king until Louis XIV.  Yet, according to
>Baumgartner, this is largely a function of personality
>and preference, rather than the inherent nature of
>Renaissance monarchy.
>
>               In a time of flux and rapid change such as
>the sixteenth century, kings were largely able to put
>their own stamp on their reigns: "The 'Renaissance
>monarchy' thus is a distinctive period in French history,
>so difficult to define, because each reign was
>essentially _sui generis_.  To look at the problem in
>that way helps to explain why France was able to go from
>the consultative, limited monarchy of Louis XII to the
>more absolutist government of Francis I without pause or
>rebellion.  Both forms had a basis in French law and
>tradition" (p. 251).  Indeed, Louis' successor was to
>break fundamentally with his domestic policy.  Francis
>reversed the downward trend of taxation, and encouraged
>and capitalized on the sale of offices, severely
>condemned by the Ordinance of Blois.  Louis indeed seems
>to have recognized that Francis would break with the
>policies of his reign: "The big boy is going to spoil
>everything," Louis is reported to have uttered on many
>occasions (p. 238).   In foreign affairs, however, there
>was continuity, as Francis pressed his claims to both
>Naples and Milan.
>
>               Baumgartner's clear and comprehensible
>treatment of Italian affairs is one of the strengths of
>the book.  Another are the several snapshots of French
>government and administration, particularly in chapters
>7 and 14 on judicial and financial affairs, and in
>chapter 12 on the church.  These chapters make the book
>a suitable candidate as a textbook in a course on early
>modern France.  Although one hesitates to use the words
>"weaknesses" or "shortcomings", there are several areas
>which the author could have treated more thoroughly.
>Although it is no doubt precluded by the nature of the
>sources, a more thorough treatment would have been
>desirable of Louis the man, rather than Louis the king.
>Baumgartner's portrait is largely sympathetic, but the
>personal glimpses are few, and based largely on rumour
>and/or conjecture.  The other is that there is little
>sense of the kingdom which Louis ruled, or the times in
>which he ruled it.  Apart from a few brief references (pp.
>66-69, 207-208) little attention is given to the
>demographic and economic circumstances of Louis's reign.
>Surely, the fact that the early sixteenth century was a
>prosperous and vibrant era, when recovery from the
>disasters of the fourteenth and early fifteenth centuries
>was in full swing, but before rising population would
>once again depress standards of living, is an important
>consideration and could have been given more prominence.
>Louis' ability to carry out an expensive foreign policy
>and reduce taxes was largely due to this happy
>coincidence of circumstances.
>
>               Professor Baumgartner's book is based upon
>the relevant primary and secondary sources.  In
>particular, he has ably exploited the various collections
>of letters and diplomatic relations, and the various
>memoirs relating both to diplomatic affairs and the
>Italian campaigns, and to domestic affairs.  The book is
>meticulously researched and well-documented, and is
>confirmation of the continued viability and importance of
>a classic genre of historical writing.  _Louis XII_ is a
>worthy companion to several other biographies of
>sixteenth-century French monarchs, including
>Baumgartner's own _Henry II, King of France_ (1988) and
>Robert J. Knecht's _Francis I_ (1982), just reissued in
>a second edition as _Renaissance Warrior and Patron: The
>Reign of Francis I_ (1994).  Once again, historians of
>early modern France are indebted to Professor Baumgartner
>for an eminently readable and thoroughly researched book
>on a neglected aspect of French history.
>
>Mark Konnert
>University of Calgary
>mkonnert@acs.ucalgary.ca
>
>                  Copyright (c) 1996 by H-net, all rights
>reserved.  This work may be copied for non-profit
>educational use if proper credit is given to the author
>and the list.  For other permission, please contact
>H-NET@H-NET.MSU.EDU.
>