Louis XI, King of France

Oh, yes! The Spider King! I kept meaning to read Kendall's biography on him back when I was having another one of my Richard III kicks --- and then I didn't. I've always admired him, though. Anyone who tries to keep their nation out of unnecessary wars with diplomacy gets an A+ stamp from me.

But re: his contemporaneous stature with Richard III, it's always troubled me how the Ricardians as a whole have tended to castigate him. I've mentioned before that defending Antoinette from slander by slandering other people is hypocritical at best and the same principle holds true here. Worth's Richard trilogy contains an almost demonic Spider King, who is unhygienic and sadistic to boot. Poor guy; that doesn't seem quite accurate, to me...

My dear Bunnies:

I agree with you about the slanders of King Louis XI.  The nobles were confounded by Louis' behavior.  He just didn't act like a king should!  This might be where the rumors got started.

As for Kendall's book, I highly recommend it!  I bought a used copy of the book a long time ago and it sat on my shelf.  When I started doing some research on Isabel of Portugal and needed info on Charles the Bold, I pulled the book off my shelf and started reading it.  I couldn't put it down!  There are mounds of chronicles from Louis' reign.  He made sure of that.  So Kendall uses direct information from the time.  It is so well written and I enjoyed it very much.  He makes me wish I could have met Louis.  He talks about his wonderful sense of humor.  He seemed like he was very energetic and smart.

Anyway, so glad you read the post and liked it.  I'm going to write another post about the battle of Montl'hery.  Kendall quotes a chronicler about the battle and it's riveting.

Regards,  Susan