Charles VIII, king of France

Charles VIII, 1470–98, king of France (1483–98), son and successor of Louis XI. He first reigned under the regency of his sister Anne de Beaujeu Anne de Beaujeu (də bōzhö`), c.1460–1522, regent of France, daughter of the French King Louis XI.
..... Click the link for more information. . After his marriage (1491) to Anne of Brittany Anne of Brittany, 1477–1514, queen of France as consort of Charles VIII from 1491 to 1498 and consort of Louis XII from 1499 until her death. The daughter of Duke Francis II of Brittany, she was heiress to his duchy.
..... Click the link for more information. , he freed himself from the influence of the regency and prepared to conquer the kingdom of Naples Naples, kingdom of, former state, occupying the Italian peninsula south of the former Papal States. It comprised roughly the present regions of Campania , Abruzzi , Molise , Basilicata , Apulia , and Calabria . Naples was the capital.
..... Click the link for more information. , to which his father had acquired a claim through Charles, duke of Maine, from René René (rənā`), 1409–80, king of Naples (1435–80; rival claimant to Alfonso V of Aragón and Ferdinand I of
..... Click the link for more information. of Naples. Urged by Ludovico Sforza Sforza, Ludovico or Lodovico (l
..... Click the link for more information. , he invaded (1494) Italy; after a triumphal march through Pavia, Florence, and Rome, he took (Feb., 1495) Naples. A league against him, formed by Milan, Venice, Spain, Holy Roman Emperor Maximilian I, and Pope Alexander VI, forced his hasty retreat, in which he distinguished himself against odds at the battle of Fornovo (July, 1495). His remaining troops in Naples were defeated, and at the time of his death he was forming new plans of conquest. He left no male heir and was succeeded by his cousin Louis XII. The conflict of France and Spain in Italy marked the beginning of the Italian Wars Italian Wars, 1494–1559, series of regional wars brought on by the efforts of the great European powers to control the small independent states of Italy.
..... Click the link for more information. . Charles's expedition fostered the introduction of the Italian Renaissance in France. The history of his reign was recorded by his contemporary, Philippe de Comines Comines, Philippe de (fēlēp` də kōmēn`), c.1447–c.1511, French historian, courtier, and diplomat.
..... Click the link for more information. .

Bibliography

See J. S. C. Bridge, A History of France from the Death of Louis XI, Vol. I-II (1922–24).

Charles VIII

(born June 30, 1470, Amboise, France—died April 7, 1498, Amboise) King of France (1483–98). He abandoned claims to parts of present-day France and Spain, and he consolidated French ownership of Brittany, in preparation for his grand enterprise, an expedition to Italy to assert his inherited right to the kingdom of Naples. This inaugurated wars with Italy that lasted more than 50 years and gained little in return for vast outlays. Charles was crowned in Naples in 1495, but his opponents rallied against him and he lost his conquests. He died while preparing another expedition.