History Essay Sample about Madame la Grande

A century and a half before Elizabeth I was the “Virgin Queen,” Anne of France created her own image in the form of “Madame la Grande.” Born in 1461 to Louis XI and Charlotte of Savoy in the Chateau of Genappe, Anne seemed destined to be a great lady. Just twenty-two years old in 1483, Anne of France became the guardian and de facto regent for her younger brother, King Charles VIII. Previous scholars examined Anne and found her to be either power hungry, cold, calculating, or politically savvy, competent, and fair, depending on the century in which the assessment was written. Male scholars of the twentieth century account for the majority of disparaging remarks on Anne’s image, while female scholars of the twenty-first century focused on Anne as a role model for future female regents. This article focuses on Anne of France as an image maker, examining in particular the way she used her cultivation of the image of a virtuous noblewoman as described by Christine de Pizan and Louis IX to debunk questions of legitimacy regarding her guardianship over the young king. In addition to the conduct manuals written by Pizan and Louis IX, paintings, odes, and letters are also explored. The primary sources surveyed in this article act to highlight the different ways that Anne adapted the models of virtue to create for herself an image as the embodiment of the ideal female noble. Ultimately, this article shows that Anne of France cultivated the image of herself as Madame la Grande that allowed her to hold a position of authority through secular power and as a model nobleman, resulting in her creating a lasting legacy.

A century and a half before Elizabeth I was the “Virgin Queen,” Anne of France created her own self-image in the form of “Madame la Grande.” Just twenty-two years old in 1483, Anne and her husband, Pierre de Beaujeu, became the guardian and de facto regent for her younger brother, King Charles VIII upon the death of her father, King Louis XI. While a handful of historians have engaged with Anne’s unusual circumstances, the depth of Anne’s active involvement in her image-building remains unclear. Anne came from a long line of female regents who also created images of themselves, a fact that makes the lack of investigation into Anne’s own cultivation of a new persona all the more puzzling. 

In 1461, King Louis IX and his wife, Charlotte of Savoy gave birth to their first child, a daughter named Anne, frequently referred to as Anne of France. Historians know very little about Anne's childhood, except that she was primarily raised in Amboise, France with her mother, sister Jeanne, and brother Charles. As the daughter of a king, Anne received a formal education, though not one as thorough as she would later give her own students, gaining most of her knowledge from the books she read and the interactions she observed. Still, Anne proved herself to be intelligent and shrewd. In 1473, at the age of twelve, Anne married Pierre de Beaujeu, a man more than twenty years her senior, and the pair subsequently moved into her father’s royal court. It was at her father's court where, as the "least foolish woman in France," Anne learned how to navigate the perilous politics of court life, and how to rule as master over the quarreling nobles.  

In 1481, Anne received the county of Gien, along with all the profits, as a gift from her father. She and Pierre had only lived there for two years when they received news of Louis' illness. Louis XI intended that Charles would inherit the throne upon his death in 1483, but as Charles was only thirteen at the time, Louis felt his son needed the guidance of another. To this end, according to historian Pauline Maud Matarasso, "he took the course of committing Charles...to the care of his son-in-law, Pierre, Sire de Beaujeu, knowing this was the surest way of placing the boy in the capable hands of his daughter Anne, in whom he saw his own likeness looking back at him." Many of Anne’s near contemporaries likewise commented on the similarity between father and daughter, with one Pierre de Bourdeille Brantôme remarking that she was “the true image of King Louis.” Upon her ascension to the guardianship and regency, Anne faced a slew of troubles, from angry nobles to questions of the legitimacy of her power. Through these obstacles, Anne managed to forge herself a fearsome feminine public identity: Madame la Grande.