Louis XI 1423 - 1438.

Son of Charles VII and Marie of Anjou, he was exiled from France for plotting against his own father, Charles VII. He succeeded his father to the throne in 1461 and started a new regime, rooting out his fathers’ old ministers, imposing new taxes and trying to curtail the power threshold of the nobility.

They began to retaliate and formed a coalition which waged ‘The War of Common Weal’ against him. Charles the Bold of Burgundy led a group, which included the Dukes of Brittany and Bourbon, and Charles of France, Louis XI’s brother. They had the support of the clergy, many lesser mortals and some small towns. The battle of Montlhery in July 1465 ended in stalemate but Louis was able to gain the upper hand when one of his protagonists, Charles the Bold of Burgundy, was defeated by the Swiss and killed in battle. The French absorbed some of his realm the rest going to Maximilian I.

Charles the Bold was considered by many to be the greatest Duke of Burgundy and came very close to creating a kingdom independent of France. Failing to persuade the Holy Roman Emperor to grant him the title of King in 1473, he was successful in expanding into the Rhineland and Alsace.