Louis XI of France
Louis XI destroyed Burgundy by patience and money and was called the universal spider. Born at Bourges in 1423, the son of Charles VII, he rebelled against his father twice, was exiled to the Dauphiné, governed it as an independent state, and finally fled to the court of Philip the Good of Burgundy, where he waited for his father to die. He succeeded in 1461 and dismissed his father's ministers. His problem was that the great princes — Burgundy above all — held territory and armies that rivalled the crown's. Charles the Bold of Burgundy ruled a wealthy state from the Netherlands to the Jura and intended to make it a kingdom. Louis's method was not battle. He was humiliated at Péronne in 1468, held prisoner by Charles and forced to watch him suppress a revolt Louis had incited. He learned from it and thereafter worked by other means: subsidies to the Swiss, alliances with Charles's enemies, bribes to his advisers, and an intelligence network of unusual quality. The Swiss destroyed Charles at Grandson and Morat in 1476, and he was killed at Nancy in January 1477. Louis took Burgundy, Picardy and Artois, and much of the rest went to the Habsburgs by marriage. He also acquired Anjou, Maine and Provence by inheritance. He established the royal postal service, promoted silk manufacture at Lyon and Tours, and encouraged fairs and printing. He was suspicious, superstitious, dressed shabbily, and kept enemies in iron cages. He died in 1483, having enlarged the royal domain more than anyone since Philip Augustus.
- Lived: 1423 CE – 1483 CE
- Nationality: French
- Roles: king, head_of_state
