Newp French Hammered Gold
Hussulo
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1498-1515 Louis XII French Ecu Au Soleil
Crowned shield sun above. Cross Fleury.
"Although he came late (and unexpectedly) to power, Louis acted with vigour, reforming the French legal system, reducing taxes and improving government, much like his contemporary Henry VII did in England. He was also skilled in managing his nobility, including the powerful Bourbon faction, by which he greatly contributed to the stability of French government. In the Ordinance of Blois of 1499 and the Ordinance of Lyon of 1510, he extended the powers of royal judges and made efforts to curb corruption in the law. Highly complex French customary law was to be codified and ratified by royal proclamation.
In an attempt to take control of the Duchy of Milan, to which he had a claim in right of his paternal grandmother Valentina Visconti,[1] Louis embarked on several campaigns in Italy. In the Italian War of 1499–1504, he successfully secured Milan itself in the year 1499 from his enemy, Ludovico Sforza, and it remained a French stronghold for twelve years. His greatest success came in his war with Venice, with the victory at the Battle of Agnadello in 1509. Things became much more difficult for him from 1510 onwards, especially after Julius II, the great warrior Pope, took control of the Vatican and formed the "Holy League" to oppose the ambitions of the French in Italy. The French were eventually driven from Milan by the Swiss in the year 1513.
Louis XII entering Genoa in 1507. Miniature by Jean Bourdichon
Louis also pursued the claim of his immediate predecessor to the Kingdom of Naples with Ferdinand II, the King of Aragon from the House of Trastámara. They agreed to partition the Neapolitan realm in the Treaty of Granada (1500), but were eventually at war over the terms of partition, and by the year 1504 France had lost its share of Naples.
Louis's failure to hold on to Naples prompted a commentary by Niccolò Machiavelli in his famous opus The Prince.
Louis proved to be a popular king. At the end of his reign the crown deficit was no greater than it had been when he succeeded Charles VIII in 1498, despite several expensive military campaigns in Italy. His fiscal reforms of 1504 and 1508 tightened and improved procedures for the collection of taxes. He had duly earned the title of Father of the People ("Le Père du Peuple"), conferred upon him by the Estates in 1506."
Taken From Wikipedia:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Louis_XII_of_France
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Thanks for posting along with the background.
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"By the 13th century, the city was an important port, with a mixed Basque and Gascon population. As part of Aquitaine, it was ruled by England between 1151 to 1452 and was a key commercial center at the southern end of the English kingdom.
Its importance waned somewhat when the French king, Charles VII, took the city at the end of the Hundred Years' War and the Adour changed course shortly afterwards, leaving Bayonne without its access to the sea. The French, however, realised Bayonne's strategic site near the Spanish border and in 1578 dug a canal to again redirect the river through the city."
Tken from Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bayonne