By 1423, the year that Louis XI, King of France (1461-83) was born, much of France was ruled by the English. To unify France after the Hundred Years War under his rule (I am France he would proclaim to his rebellious vassals) became the idee fixe of Louis' life. The manner in which he largely succeeded accomplishing this is the subject of this book

"The 'Memoirs' of Philippe de Commynes have been celebrated for more than four hundred years both as a remarkable literary work and as a priceless controbution to the history of the fifteenth century. They fall into two quite different parts. The first (comprising Books I-VI) narrates the intense, violent struggle for the dominance of western Europe between Louis XI of France and his greatest vassal, Charles the Rash, Duke of Burgundy, which was resolved by the triumph of the king; it begins with the appearance of Commynes on the political scene in 1464 as a young squire in the service of the House of Burgundy and ends in 1483 with the death of Louis XI, at which Commynes was himself present. In the second part (Books VII-VIII) he recounts the first French invation of Italy in 1494 under Louis XI's feeble son, Charles VIII. He took part in that ill-fated expedition, s a royal councillor and diplomat, and fought at Charles VIII's side in the desperate battle of Fornovo; but the chief adviser and confidant of Louis XI enjoyed little influence in King Charles' frivolous household. The 'Memoirs' conclude in 1498, following the death of Charles VIII, with Commynes' entering the service of that monarch's successor, Louis XII. It is the earlier, and much richer, part of the 'Memoirs' that is here translated." -- introduction, page 7.

Louis XI, known as "The Spider King" because he wove many intricate plots, lives on in popular imagination primarily as a villain and a cruel, cunning, rather unscrupulous character. Absolutists fled to his banner whilst constitutionalists reviled him as a rapacious totalitarian murderer. In Images of Kingship in Early Modern France, Adrianna Bakos uses the changing nature of Louis XI's historical reputation to explore the intellectual and political climate of early modern France. Using Louis XI's historical reputation as a prism for fresh investigation, Adrianna Bakos offers new, more complex interpretations of the ideological landscape of early modern France. Images of Kingship in Early Modern France is an important contribution to European historiography and to debates on historical versus political interpretations of Kingship.

M. Cecilia Gaposchkin reconstructs and analyzes the process that led to King Louis IX of France's canonization in 1297 and the consolidation and spread of his cult.

Anne of France (1461-1522), daughter of Louis XI and sister of Charles VIII, was one of the most powerful women of the fifteenth century. She was referred to by her contemporaries as Madame la Grande, and remained an activeand influential figure in France throughout her life. As the fifteenth century drew to a close, Anne composed a series of enseignements, "lessons", for her daughter Suzanne of Bourbon. These instructions represent a distillation of a lifetime's experience, and are presented through the portrait of an ideal princess, thus preparing her daughter to act both circumspectly and politically. Having steered her own course successfully, Anne offers her daughter advice intended to help her negotiate the difficult passage of a woman in the world of politics. This is the first translation into English of Anne of France's Lessons.

On a June night in 1791, King Louis XVI and Marie-Antoinette fled Paris in disguise, hoping to escape the mounting turmoil of the French Revolution. They were arrested by a small group of citizens a few miles from the Belgian border and forced to return to Paris. Two years later they would both die at the guillotine. It is this extraordinary story, and the events leading up to and away from it, that Tackett recounts in gripping novelistic style. The king's flight opens a window to the whole of French society during the Revolution. Each dramatic chapter spotlights a different segment of the population, from the king and queen as they plotted and executed their flight, to the people of Varennes who apprehended the royal family, to the radicals of Paris who urged an end to monarchy, to the leaders of the National Assembly struggling to control a spiraling crisis, to the ordinary citizens stunned by their king's desertion. Tackett shows how Louis's flight reshaped popular attitudes toward kingship, intensified fears of invasion and conspiracy, and helped pave the way for the Reign of Terror. Tackett brings to life an array of unique characters as they struggle to confront the monumental transformations set in motion in 1789. In so doing, he offers an important new interpretation of the Revolution. By emphasizing the unpredictable and contingent character of this story, he underscores the power of a single event to change irrevocably the course of the French Revolution, and consequently the history of the world.

The house of Valois ruled France for 250 years, playing a crucial role in its establishment as a major European power. This extremely well-written and structured book will appeal to the general reader.