Francis II, Duke of Brittany

Francis II of Brittany (in Breton Frañsez II, in French François II) (23 June 1433 – 9 September 1488) was Duke of Brittany from 1458 to his death. He was the son of Richard of Brittany and the grandson of the late Duke John V. Francis' life was characterised by conflicts with King Louis XI of France (War of the Public Weal) and with his son King Charles VIII.

Life
A recurring theme in Francis II's life was his quest to assure the independence of Brittany from France.

Protector of the House of Lancaster
Francis II was protector of the House of Lancaster in exile.

During the 15th century, civil war raged across England as the Houses of York and Lancaster fought each other for the English throne. In 1471, the Yorkists defeated their rivals in the battles of Barnet and Tewkesbury. The Lancastrian King Henry VI and his only son, Edward of Lancaster, died in the aftermath of the Battle of Tewkesbury. Their deaths left the House of Lancaster with no direct claimants to the throne. The Yorkist king, Edward IV, was in complete control of England. He attainted those who refused to submit to his rule, such as Jasper Tudor and his nephew Henry, naming them traitors and confiscating their lands.

The Tudors tried to flee to France but strong winds forced them to land in Brittany, then a semi-independent duchy, where they were taken into the custody of Francis II. Henry's mother, Lady Margaret Beaufort, was a great-granddaughter of John of Gaunt, uncle of King Richard II and father of King Henry IV. The Beauforts were originally bastards, but Henry IV legitimised them on the condition that their descendants were not eligible to inherit the throne. Henry Tudor, the only remaining Lancastrian noble with a trace of the royal bloodline, had a weak claim to the throne, and Edward regarded him as "a nobody". Francis II, however, viewed Henry as a valuable tool to bargain for England's aid in conflicts with France and kept the Tudors under his protection.

From Brittany, Henry launched a failed invasion of England. He had attempted a landing on 10 October (or 19 October), but his fleet was scattered by a storm. He reached the coast of England (at either Plymouth or Poole), and a group of soldiers hailed him to come ashore. They were, in truth, Richard III's men, prepared to capture Henry once he set foot on English soil. Henry was not deceived and returned to Brittany, abandoning the invasion. Henry's conspiracy against Richard III unravelled, and the Duke of Buckingham was executed. Without Buckingham or Henry, the rebellion was easily crushed by Richard.

The survivors of the failed uprisings fled to Brittany, where they openly supported Henry's claim to the throne. On Christmas Day in 1483 at Rennes Cathedral, Henry Tudor swore an oath to marry Edward IV's daughter, Elizabeth of York, to unite the warring houses of York and Lancaster. Henry's rising prominence made him a great threat to Richard, and the Yorkist king made several overtures to Francis II to surrender the young Lancastrian. Francis II refused, holding out for the possibility of better terms from Richard. In mid-1484, Francis was incapacitated by illness and while recuperating, his treasurer, Pierre Landais, took over the reins of government. Landais reached an agreement with Richard III to send Henry and his uncle back to England in exchange for military and financial aid. John Morton, a bishop of Flanders, learned of the scheme and warned the Tudors; the Tudors then who fled to France. The French court allowed them to stay and provided resources. For the French, the Tudors were useful pawns to ensure that Richard's England did not interfere with French plans to annex Brittany. This unwittingly played against the interests of Francis II.

Titular Earl of Richmond
Since John IV and John V, the English kings had begun to bestow the title Earl of Richmond and its possessions (the Honour of Richmond) on others than the Dukes of Brittany, including Edmund Tudor, Henry Tudor's father. Francis II's immediate predecessors, however, used the titulary Earl of Richmond. It is possible that Francis willed whatever remained of his claims to the Earldom and the Honour of Richmond to Henry Tudor. On successfully gaining the English crown after the Battle of Bosworth Field, Henry merged the Earldom and its possessions into the crown.

Brittany's traditional allies, the English, were embroiled in the Wars of the Roses. They provided little assistance as Francis saw his duchy ravaged in what is known as the Mad War (La Guerre Folle).

Louis XI
Louis XI was renowned as a cunning adversary and a master at diplomacy, if not the military arts.

League of the Public Weal

Francis II became a member of the League of the Public Weal. This was an alliance of feudal nobles organized in 1465 in defiance of the centralized authority of King Louis XI of France. It was masterminded by Charles the Bold, Count of Charolais, son of the Duke of Burgundy, with the king's brother Charles, Duke of Berry, as a figurehead.

Charles the Bold, was heir to the duke of Burgundy, held fiefs in France which included Flanders, and held the Imperial lands of Holland and Brabant. As Duke of Burgundy Charles aspired to forge a kingdom of his own between France and Germany, approximating the former domains of the Frankish Emperor Lothair I. Charles himself was killed in the Battle of Nancy against the Swiss, and Louis was saved from his greatest adversary. He had already taken his revenge on Charles's allies within France. The great duchy of Burgundy was then absorbed into the Kingdom of France. The League of the Public Weal was routed in its every objective.

The fortunes of Francis II and Brittany would continue to suffer after Louis XI's death at the hands of Louis' daughter Anne of France. Anne would serve as regent to Louis XI's successor, Charles VIII.

Anne of France

Charles VIII
During the minority of Charles VIII of France, Francis II was anxious to maintain his duchy's independence. He aligned himself with the Duke of Orléans, the future Louis XII and the count of Angoulême against the regency of Anne of France. Anne of France had been pursuing the same underhand politics as her father, Louis XI, towards Brittany. In intervening in the politics of his neighbour France, however, Francis II neglected his own realm. His corrupt and oppressive prime minister, Guillaume Chauvin, was overthrown by treasurer general Pierre Landais. A large part of the nobility had been bribed by Anne and Charles and supported them in their eagerness to subjugate Brittany. These nobles performed a coup d'état against Landais, who was eventually hanged.

In 1486, the Estates of Brittany confirmed the succession of Brittany on Francis' daughter Anne, Duchess of Brittany, to further assure the Duchy's independence from France. The Treaty of Chateaubriant was signed in 1487 with France and reaffirmed Brittany's independence.

Francis then allied with Maximilian I, Holy Roman Emperor, against France; however, Brittany was defeated 28 July in the Battle of Saint-Aubin-du-Cormier. A few days later, on 10 August, Francis was forced to sign the Treaty of Verger. Under the terms of the treaty, the duke was compelled to submit himself and his duchy as a vassal of the king of France.

La Guerre Folle (The Mad War)
Despite the Treaty of Chateaubriant, the French continued to harass the Duchy. Under the leadership of Louis II de la Trémoille, the French royal army had struck against Vannes and Fougères, controlling access to Brittany.

Alain d'Albret, a rebel lord, believing he would marry Francis II's daughter Anne, had reinforced the Breton army with 5000 troops supplied by the king of Spain. Maximilian I of Austria also sent 1500 men, and Edward Woodville, Lord Scales, brought over a force of archers from Britain.

The defeat of Francis II forced him to accept a treaty which deprived him of power by requiring him to expel foreign princes and troops from Brittany. It also restricted his ability to marry his children to suitors of his choosing and required that he cede territory in Saint-Malo, Ferns, Dinan and Saint-Aubin to the king as a guarantee that in the absence of a male successor the king would determine the succession. Francis died a few months later leaving only a daughter, Anne of Brittany, so the treaty was used to force her, as his successor, to marry King Charles VIII, and then Louis XII.

The Battle of Saint-Aubin-du-Cormier also destroyed the power-base of the warring noble leaders. Edward Woodville was killed. Louis of Orleans (the future Louis XII), and Jean, Prince of Orange were captured. Alain d'Albret and the Maréchal de Rieux succeeded in escaping, and played an important part in continuing the conflict. Despite the French victory, La Guerre Folle dragged on beyond Francis II's death for three more years until December 1491, when Charles VIII married Anne.

Family
Francis II was married twice.

His first wife was his cousin Margaret of Brittany, the first daughter of Duke Francis I. They had one son who died shortly after his birth:
 * John (29 June- 25 August 1463), Count of Montfort

His second wife was Margaret of Foix, Princess of Navarre. They had two children:
 * Anne of Brittany (1477-1514) - his only legitimate heir to reach adulthood,
 * Isabeau of Brittany (1478–1490), betrothed to Jean d'Albret in 1481, died young and buried in the Rennes Cathedral.

Francis II also had several illegitimate children with Antoinette de Maignelais, the former mistress of Charles VII of France.



Succession
Francis II died in 1488 shortly after signing the Treaty of Verger. His death was caused by a fall from his horse during a leisurely ride. His daughter Anne was his sole heir and became Duchess of Brittany.

Legacy
Breton nobles acted to safeguard Anne as their Duchess and protect the Duchy's independence as Francis II had fought for it. In 1489 these nobles signed the Treaty of Redon with Henry Vii; that treaty between Brittany and England was meant to prevent the annexation of Brittany by France. However in a short time, in 1491, Henry VII signed the Treaty of Etaples with France, effectively neutralizing England's defence of Breton independence. Charles VIII of France invaded Brittany and forced Anne to marry him, thereby gaining control of the duchy. The Duchy's independence was all but lost as the process of merging it into the French crown began. Anne, however, would become a formidable Queen Consort and fight to preserve Brittany's independence and Francis II's legacy for herself, the Breton people, and her descendants.

Francis' tomb, an important early example of Renaissance sculpture in France, was commissioned by his daughter Anne. It is located in Nantes Cathedral.