He is one of the kings of France with the worst reputation. Tyrannical, vile, cruel, bigot, loose and uneducatedappalling qualifiers rain on Louis XI, still today described in textbooks as an emblem of Medieval obscurantism. Endowed, if we believe his most famous portrait, with a large thick nose, with a drooping mouth and small eyes pushed, Louis XI is not honor to “French elegance”. However, behind this unflattering image, hides a visionary king, nicknamed “the universal Aragne” for his ability to build complex strategies.
All historians agree that “The prudent” was a great king, with his gray areas and puzzles, but a strategist who succeeded in the unthinkable: bringing together a exploded kingdom of France and accelerating the passage from the Middle Ages to modernity.
He buys the departure of the English
When he climbed the throne in 1461, 38 years oldFrance is just out of the Hundred Years War. The kingdom is fragmented, weakened by internal conflicts and the English presence. Louis XI is ready. For years, he dreams of succeeding his father, Charles VII, with whom he has a conflictual relationship. Barely crowned, it sets itself a clear objective: to rebuild the unity of the kingdom and strengthen royal power.
Rather than prolonging expensive wars, he prefers to buy the departure of the English in 1475. To weaken the great feudal lordshe organizes trials for crime of lese majesty and manipulates alliances with skill.
Louis XI, King Stratège: Rather than fighting, he pays the English to release France.
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A modern state builder
Armed with a great sense of state, it helps to develop the commons of the nation, transport infrastructure, justice, security and even tries to establish a single currency. Aware of the power of information – and disinformation – it establishes the first post relays, real precursors of modern intelligence services, which allow it to remain informed in real time of major events, as The death of Charles the Bold in 1477.
Louis XI is also a pioneer in the centralization of power. Its expansionist policy makes it possible to attach strategic territories such as Anjou, Burgundy and Roussillon, widening considerably The borders of the kingdom. But reunification has a cost. Over this period, taxes have almost tripled, leaving the exesing people.
Louis XI, builder of the modern state: between centralization, infrastructure and intelligence, he shapes a powerful France … at the price of overwhelming taxes.
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A king with multiple faces
Louis XI remains a complex figure, in turn admired and criticized. The romantic authors of the 19th century will transform it into a precursor hero, symbol of a unified and modern France. But his political skill and its enlightened vision remain undeniable. By weaving his “canvas”, this spider king managed to bring France out of the Middle Ages and to lay the foundations of the centralized state that we know today.
Between black legend and historical reality, Louis XI embodies the transition between two eras. Strategish, builder and visionary, he managed to transform a kingdom into a crisis into a nation underway towards modernity.