WI: Anne of Brittany doesn't marry Louis XII

What if Pope Alexander VI refused to annul Louis XII's marriage with Joan of France in 1498?

That means that Anne would not marry Louis, and Brittany would remain independent. What would happen then?
 
What if Pope Alexander VI refused to annul Louis XII's marriage with Joan of France in 1498?

That means that Anne would not marry Louis, and Brittany would remain independent. What would happen then?

Well, who does Anne marry instead? Sooner or later, presumably, France is going to try and absorb Brittany, and to hold out it will need the protection of England or Spain.
 
Well, who does Anne marry instead? Sooner or later, presumably, France is going to try and absorb Brittany, and to hold out it will need the protection of England or Spain.

Possibly John III of Navarre, I remember reading that that was a marriage planned before she married Charles VIII.... maybe if Catherine of Navarre dies earlier it could happen.
 
There's a problem here:
After her marriage to Charles VIII in 1492, Pope Innocent VIII issued a bull in which he both validated her marriage (given some earlier impediments, including past precontracts on the part of both spouses) and granted Brittany to whichever spouse outlived the other.
While this mattered little, as Anne did outlive Charles, the bull also contained a clause in which Anne promised to wed Charles' successor if their union was childless.

Now, this had two basic effects:
1) it essentially bound Alexander VI by the precedent set by his predecessor, to do all he could in the situation (though conceivably he could have ignored this earlier decree)
2) more importantly, it would cast into doubt questions as to the validity of any other marriage which Anne made, as it could be argued that she was under a de facto precontract, regardless of Louis' marital status. And while she could ignore this, the French would not be apt to do so, given the desire on Louis' part to gain Brittany.

So, you'd have to move back the POD. Either Pope Innocent will have to refrain from including that particular clause in his bull recognizing Anne's marriage to Charles, or, you'd have to have her wed someone else entirely than Charles VIII
Just a suggestion: Anne was married by proxy to Emperor Maximilian (newly widowed after the death of Mary of Burgundy) in 1491, in an attempt to secure an anti-French alliance and protect the interests and independence of her duchy. The marriage was later dissolved before it could be celebrated in person (thanks to some cooperation on the Pope's part), though, and the duchess married to Charles instead. That could present a very useful POD. Just an idea.
 
I would recommend a POD somewhere earlier, perhaps having Edward IV, King of England live longer?

Edward IV's son, the Prince of Wales (also named Edward) was contracted to marry Anne of Brittany. Edward IV appeared to have won the War of the Roses when he died rather suddenly, leaving his sons in the tender care of their uncle, Richard (future Richard III).

If you have Edward IV live a rather longer life, then the English will be well positioned to participate in France's internal disorders. The War of the Roses is over, and England is not significantly threatened by anyone. The Prince of Wales' marriage to Anne means that Brittany will become part of England. So England is free to start doing what English royalty does best, that is, start destructive, expensive, probably pointless wars in France. This willingness will be aided by the "Mad War" that French nobles were fighting among themselves for control of the young French King's regency.

As I see it, England is the only country that you will be able to find that has easy access to Brittany and the willingness to expend military force in pursuit of vague yet compelling political goals in France. Maximilian is too far away, and has too many other things on his plate. Spain has just united and is focused on destroying as much of its Jewish and Muslim population as possible and waging war in Italy and North Africa.
 
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The problem is that, at the time of Anne's wedding, Britanny was under french occupation and de facto rule, as a results of her father's rebellions ( plural ° against the crown. If she doesn't marry Louis ( and sign a VERY unequal marriage contract - unlike her second one - ), the french king will annex Britanny to his personnal domains by right of conquests and as punishment for the rebellion of his vassal and Anne will likely die childless in prison or a convent.
 
The problem is that, at the time of Anne's wedding, Britanny was under french occupation and de facto rule, as a results of her father's rebellions ( plural ° against the crown. If she doesn't marry Louis ( and sign a VERY unequal marriage contract - unlike her second one - ), the french king will annex Britanny to his personnal domains by right of conquests and as punishment for the rebellion of his vassal and Anne will likely die childless in prison or a convent.

If you use the POD of Edward IV not dying, then you've given stability to the English regime. With a stable England and an unstable France (added into this the marriage alliance with Prince Edward and Anne- an OTL marriage contract) I think that you've created a wonderful opportunity for English meddling in the French nobility's war (the Mad War) over the regency of Louis XII.

If you have the English as an active participant in the Mad War, then I think that you will probably have butterflied away the various happenings of OTL. What I am thinking of specifically is that if Anne of Brittany is contracted to marry Prince Edward it may become prudent at some point during the wars against the French crown to move Anne to England. If you bring Anne to England, and the marriage comes off with children, then both Edward V and his heirs will have an amazingly good claim to Brittany.
 
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