1492 judicial body) furthered ducal sovereignty. The Breton church was similarly inde
pendent: Breton clergy did not attend French ecclesiastical assemblies, and the Pragmatic
Sanction of Bourges was not applicable in Brittany; the papacy negotialed directly with
Brittany and appointed only Bretons to Breton benefices. The establishment of the
University of Nantes in 1460 symbolized this independence.
Regalian claims culminated during the reign of the incompetent and untrustworthy
Duke François II (r. 1458–88), who came into direct conflict with the revived royal
power of Louis XI and Charles VIII. After participating in several of the princely revolts
against Louis XI, the duke tried to create alliances with Maximilian of Austria and
Edward IV of England, but in 1480 Louis XI bought out the Penthièvre claim to the
duchy and attracted discontented Breton nobles into his service. When Charles VIII
finally attacked Brittany in 1488, François II had an empty treasury and was left without
effective support from either his allies or his subjects. Forced to conclude peace, he died
shortly thereafter, leaving as heir his daughter Anne (r. 1488–1514), who continued the
fighting until 1491. The treaties that accompanied her marriages first to Charles VIII
(1491) and then to Louis XII (1499) stipulated terms for the incorporation of the Breton
duchy into the kingdom of France.
When the Breton Estates voted for perpetual union with France in 1532, the judicial,
fiscal, and ecclesiastical liberties of the duchy were safeguarded. The status of Brittany
under the ancien régime was thus established; with its foundations in the Middle Ages,
Brittany’s cultural identity has long outlived the loss of political independence.
Julia M.H.Smith
[See also: ANNE OF BRITTANY; AURAY; CHARLES DE BLOIS; CLISSON;
FRANÇOIS II; JEAN IV; JEAN V; NANTES; RENNES; RICHEMONT, ARTHUR DE]
The Encyclopedia 283