Anne, Duchess and Queen - an Anne of Brittany TL

[isabella]

Anne, Duchess of Brittany could not believe to be finally free from French control as her husband, Louis XII, had died and she had proven to not be pregnant with a posthumous child, making the ten years old Duke of Valois King, under the regency of his unbearable mother: still while Louise of Savoy was Regent of France now, and Louis on his deathbed had betrayed her, breaking the engagement of their daughter Claude to the young Charles of Burgundy, promising her instead to Francis of Valois (something for which she would never forgive the Marechal of Rohan), but Anne was still the ruling Duchess of Brittany and now had no obligation to France.
Claude, her only living child was six years old and now was lost for her as the harpy Louise of Savoy had immediately taken custody of her future daughter-in-law, depriving Anne of any right and custody over her child, but that do not meant who Claude‘s inheritance of Brittany was secure as Anne herself was still only 28 years old and free to remarry to an husband of her choice and if she had a son by her new husband that son would inherit Brittany ahead of Claude and Anne had a very good idea of who could be that fourth husband (fourth as she would always count the annulled match with Maximilian of Austria, the only match of her own choice until this moment, among her marriages and would never stop top curse the Fate who had forced her to marry instead the Kings of France). When she had just become Duchess, the King of the Romans had been her choice, but now he was already married and she had, luckily, a better option available: a widower, with already one heir and lands much closer to her Brittany…

 

[isabella]

Anne just hoped who Henry VII, King of England, would share her opinion about the opportunity of a wedding between them and won his reluctance to remarry as she knew who the English King had loved much his late wife Elizabeth and was still mourning her.
Now she needed to return to Nantes, with all her possession (at least Louise had not made any complain about Anne’s baggages, stopping her pretension to the French Crown Jewels, who Anne had promptly given her as she had already ordered to prepare them for being passed to Louise once was proven who she was not pregnant, meaning who Louise would have them without asking if she had the courtesy of waiting some days or at least hours instead of running to make her request as soon Anne had been freed from seclusion), then find a way to make clear her intentions to the King of England and wait for an answer to her proposal.
Still Anne in the end had not much to plan as shortly after her return to Nantes she received a request of a private audience from the newly appointed English ambassador, Thomas Boleyn, son-in-law of the Earl of Surrey and grandson of the Earl of Ormond, who brought to her an offer of marriage from his King as Henry VII had made her same kind of consideration about the opportunity of a marriage between them, so all who Anne had to do was answering with her interest in the proposal and start the negotiations as she needed to secure the future of her lands.

 

[isabella]

Anne could feel only relief once the consummation of her fourth wedding, just after its celebration, secured its validity and gave her the security who France could not do anything for annulling this wedding, unlike they had done with her first one, to Maximilian of Austria, condemning her to the continue cycle of pregnancies, stillbirths and early deaths who had been her two French marriages. She had not yet the time to make a clear idea of her new husband, but theirs was a political marriage for both of them, as she knew who Henry VII, who had been once a protege of her own father, was still mourning his beloved first wife and she would not begrudge him that: what mattered most now was the fact who they had married, everything else, including building over the foundations of their marriage could wait and would require time and work. Her beloved Brittany was free from French control, as all the French troops had left her Duchy after Louis’ death, and Henry had already a legitimate son, who was the heir of England, meaning who their future children would inherit only her lands and she had still almost a decade for trying to birth the Count of Montfort who Brittany needed for securing its independence.
The negotiations with the English envoys had been quick and easy and her new marriage contract guaranteed who Brittany would always remain independent from England and Anne had been surprised when the English King had arrived with few companions, just days after the end of the negotiations, like he had been ready to depart for Brittany and marry her as soon was possible. Anne knew who most likely Henry, like her, simply wanted put the French regent in front of the fait accompli before the hated Louise had any idea about their intentions, and who her new husband’s interest was more for her lands than for herself but that do not meant who she was not flattered by his premure and that gave her hopes for the future.
Anne knew who the French regent would not be the only one to be angry at the news of her remarriage, as Henry VII had not been her only suitor as Ferdinand II of Aragon’s envoy had make clear his master’s interest in a match to her, something who was not a surprise as the Aragonese King was clearly searching a second wife since shortly after the death of Isabella of Castile and before Louis‘ death had been in quite advanced negotiations for a marriage with Louis’ niece, the seventeen years old Germaine of Foix, and she suspected who Louise would soon offer to Ferdinand her own daughter, Marguerite, barely fourteen years old, once she understood who Henry VII was not interested in a match between her daughter and the Prince of Wales.

 

[isabella]

Anne, Duchess of Brittany and Queen of England was definitely in a good mood: the journey to England had been good, the kingdom of her new husband had given her a great welcome, the fifteen years old Prince of Wales had not looked to displeased in meeting her, likely relived to have a stepmother who had no ambition to see her children on the throne of England and her new mother-in-law, lady Margaret, in a couple of days had made her valuations of Anne and left her the first place, offering suggestions, information and explanations any time she needed. Anne appreciated the efforts made by her mother-in-law, who had been used to take preeminence over Elizabeth of York, Henry’s first wife, but Margaret had quickly recognised the stronger will of Anne and understood who her new daughter-in-law had no intention to submit herself to anyone now. Everything was good, if not for the fact who Henry’s young daughter, Mary, ten years old, was unwilling to accept Anne as stepmother, but Anne could understand the little girl reluctance, specially as she had noted who the little girl was extremely spoiled. The open hostility of the Dowager Princess of Wales, Catherine of Aragon, was more troublesome as the girl had a lot of influence over her brother-in-law (to which she had been engaged for some time) but Anne had not expected anything different from the daughter of Ferdinand of Aragon.
Still Catherine was in the household of Lady Margaret now, far away from prince Henry, and Anne was free to concentrate on the things who mattered most, starting with her own pregnancy and her hope to have a strong boy who would inherit Brittany instead of Claude.
Anne doubted who her old rival, Louise of Savoy, would care too much about that, as she had other things about which worry at the moment as Louis XII’s death had been followed by a lot of other complications for France and her wedding to the English King was far from being the worst event happened for them in the last year: the Duke of Milan had escaped from his French prison shortly after the death of Louis, finding refuge in the lands of the King of the Romans, husband of his niece, before his escape was discovered and had started a successful campaign for reconquering his lands. And Anne was sure who Louise would count also the news just arrived from Castile, of the death of King Philip, among the ones worst than her remarriage and pregnancy as Philip head been a loyal ally and vassal of Louis. Sure he would not show the same respect to Louise, specially not after his wife had inherit Castile at the death of her mother, making him a King, but still Philip’s death ended any conflict in the Spanish peninsula (and with them any interest of Ferdinand of Aragon in remarrying, confirming the fact who she had made the right choice in choosing Henry over him), specially as he had been able to be universally hated by the Castilians in only few months.

 

[isabella]

Anne, Duchess of Brittany and Queen of England was cradling her newborn daughter, a little girl much healthier than Claude or Charles had ever been. She was a little deluded by the birth of another daughter, who would be behind Claude in the Breton succession, but still little Anne was born ten months after her marriage to Henry and she had still time for birthing an heir for Brittany as her husband, delighted by the little girl who had named after her, had reminded her, trying to comfort her. Anne would never blame her daughter for her sex, and she knew who her daughter would have a glittering future as the Burgundian envoy had told Henry who if the child was a girl his masters wanted her instead of Princess Mary for his grandson and heir as a girl six years younger was better than one four years older. Anne knew who her husband agreed with the sentiment as he was strongly set against the marriage of his current heir with Catherine of Aragon, five years older than him, independently from the question of the unpaid dowry who had caused the failure of the match, and was instead keen to pair the younger Henry with Eleanor of Austria, seven years younger than him. Well, Anne hoped who Henry would be able to find another King for his spoiled daughter as she was sure who Mary would declare eternal hate to her new sister for the switch of betrothal, unless she was presented with another prestigious match soon.
Anne just hoped who, once the engagement between Henry and Eleanor was signed, the King of Aragon would accept the course of the events and send a ship to take back at home his youngest daughter as Catherine was starting to become a trouble between her security who she would marry the young Henry, her tentatives to poison Henry against her and her barely concealed tentatives to seduce him… Luckily Anne had been able to unmask Catherine’s lies, persuading Henry who the last thing she wanted was seeing something bad happen to him as her greatest wish and objective, since the death of her father when she was younger than him, was preserve the independence of her native Brittany.
Still Ferdinand of Aragon recently had demonstrated again his total absence of scruples in reaching his objectives, considering who he had pushed his grieving daughter to remarry to his ward, Ferdinand of Calabria, former heir of Naples, barely four months after the death of Philip of Burgundy, and had pushed the Cortes of both Castile and Aragon to settle the succession of both kingdoms on the future children of Joanna‘s second marriage, excluding the issue of her first marriage. Anne suspected who the arrogance of Philip and the fact who he had angered everyone there, starting with Queen Joanna, when he had taken his second son, Ferdinand, who he had never meet before as the boy was born in Castile and had been raised there until the arrival of his parents and shipped him in Burgundy for being properly raised with his other siblings. After that he had tried to exclude his father-in-law from the government and at the same time to have his wife declared mad for taking all the power for himself, something who Isabella’s will (who left any kind of regency for Joanna exclusively in the hands of Ferdinand) had firmly excluded, causing an huge break in his wedding as Joanna, while still madly in love with him, had been so scared to search her father‘s protection against him.

 

[isabella]

Anne of Brittany, Queen of England was glad to have been able to return in her native land and hoped who her ladies would not feel too uncomfortable in being there for at least the next seven months, but leaving the English court had become a necessity for her own good and for the sake of the baby who she was carrying as her mother-in-law had told her. She was just sorry for having left behind her little daughter, but her Annie was only eight month old and would be safer in England as she knew who Henry had no intention to take any risk and would keep their daughter far away from her elder half-sister as Mary had taken worse than expected the news who her newborn sister would replace her as future Duchess of Burgundy. Anne was sure who the eleven years old Mary would soon recover from the delusion and who the menaces against the “usurper who had stolen her future” as she called Annie and the wish to see her die, were just empty words in the middle of her tantrums but she had already agreed to leave all the responsibilities for both Mary and Catherine in Margaret’s hands and thus she would not interfere with her mother-in-law’s dispositions. Still Anne had suggested to her husband to try to find another Crown for his second daughter and she hoped who Henry‘s envoys would have success in securing a match with the heir of Portugal or Denmark for her stepdaughter.
The situation with France continued to be tense but as Anne already knew, Regent Louise had bigger troubles elsewhere, considering who she had to renounce to any claim on Milan as she had signed the engagement of her daughter Marguerite with the elder son of Duke Ludovico: they would be married in few months and Marguerite would bring the claim on Milan of the heirs of Valentina Visconti as part of her dowry. Anne had no doubt about the fact who her late husband was cursing Louise from his grave for that, specially as their daughter Claude was Valentina’s senior heiress, and King Francis was neither the general nor the male heir as Gaston of Foix, Louis’ nephew, was more senior than him (and the young Viscount of Narbonne had been incensed by that deal and openly criticized the Regent, with the surprise of nobody as the relationship between them had been quite strained since Louise’s half-brother, the Duke of Savoy, had rejected a match with his sister, marrying instead King Ferdinand’s niece, Joanna, Dowager Queen of Naples, ten years older than Germaine).
Anne doubted who the recent engagement of Germaine to the new Elector Palatine had satisfied her brother, specially when Louis had always tried to secure a Crown for his beloved niece and Louise had never liked much either sibling.
If the situation in Milan was looking good (Ludovico had also reconciled with his niece Isabella and solved the question about the possession of Bari with an engagement between his younger son and Isabella’s daughter and only surviving child), Anne was worried for the tension between Austria-Burgundy and the Spanish realms as the recent birth of John, Prince of Asturias, the first child of Queen Joanna by her second husband, had forced Maximilian of Austria to accept who his grandsons would not inherit their mother’s kingdoms as should have been their right.