All Hail Germania
Defining Event - The War of Breton Betrothal
In 1488, Francis II of Brittany, the last male scion of the House of Montfort died, having fallen from his horse while riding at the age of 29. He was succeeded by his eleven year old daughter Anne, who became Duchess of Brittany. A year early, Francis had been forced to capitulate to the French King, recognizing France’s dominance over Brittany and forcing Francis to give the French King his daughter’s hand in marriage. However upon his death, the marriage had yet to happen. Anne and the Breton estates had little desire to have Brittany come formally under the thumb of France, and began to search for another spouse.
In December of 1491, Anne wed by proxy, Maximilian of Habsburg, King of the Romans. She was 14, he was 32, and it was no secret the marriage was purely politically motivated. By marrying Maximilian, Anne had directly violated the terms of the Treaty of Vergers signed by her father in 1488 which promised her hand to the French King. This marriage drew the full rage of France as Charles VIII set out with an army to siege Rennes. Charles hoped that with Imperial Forces distracted in Hungary, and Castilian troops in Granada, Brittany would not be able to find support. However Charles wagered wrong. Maximilian left the lines in Hungary for the Burgundian Netherlands. Charles drew Maximilian’s ire not only for his attempt to undo the marriage with Anne, but also for his treatment of Maximilian’s daughter.
Margaret of Austria had been betrothed to Charles in 1482, as part of the Peace of Arras, bringing with her, Franche-Comté and Artois as a dowry. However following the Treaty of Vergers, Charles decided not to marry Margaret, but refused to allow her to return home. As result Maximilian saw this not only as his duty to defend his new wife, but also as an opportunity to save his daughter, and to retake the lands of his first wife Mary the Rich, which were now rightfully his son Philip’s inheritance.
Maximilian however needed time, he needed to muster forces in the Netherlands to march into Artois and Burgundy and then on to Brittany. His envoys in London and Valladolid succeeded in gaining support from the English King and the Castilian Queen. However this commitment by Isabella I of Castile tied up the very last of her assets, with much for her military power already in use in Granada. Similarly Henry VII agreed to hold off the French for as long as Maximilian needed to raise an army. Henry recognized that a fully independent Brittany would be an asset to England should he or his descendents ever retake up English claims on the French crown and on France itself.
The first English troops began to land near Dol in northern Brittany in February of 1492. The English Army began to march for Rennes hoping to be able to reinforce the city before the arrival of the French King. Three days after they arrived in the city, the French Army under Louis II de la Trémoille arrived near by. Anglo-Breton and French forces first clashed at the Battle of Acigné. Both sides took heavily causalities, however the French were repelled. As the French clashed with the English in Brittany, Maximilian began to lead his army through Artois, meeting little resistance, as Charles VIII had failed to solidify his hold on the area. He left a large garrison in Arras, before marching the rest of his forcing into Champagne on the way to Burgundy.
By May of the same year Castilian forced had finally begun to arrive to help reveal the English and Bretons. Charles VII had left Brittany to personally take command of his the French Army sent to oppose Maximilian. However his decision proved to be disastrous. Charles VIII’s forces met with the Burgundians under Maximilian near Reims. Through the course of the battle Charles fell from his horse and was captured. Three days later Maximilian forced him to sign the Capitulation of Reims. In it Charles agreed to the nullification of the Treaty of Vergers, to recognize Anne and Maximilian’s marriage, to return Margaret of Austria and her dowry to her father, and the restoration of the Duchy of Burgundy. Castilian Troops began to withdraw as soon as the treaty was confirmed. However English troops did not, as part of a secret agreement between Maximilian and Henry VII with Anne’s consent. Instead English troops took up the defensive positions the French had be authorized to occupy under the Treaty of Vergers.
Thus in August, Maximilian arrived in Rennes, and met his young wife for the first time. However not long after that did they have to depart for Austria, as Maximilian was the co-ruler of his aged father, Friedrich III.