Charles VIII of France

Charles VIII, called the Affable, French: l'Affable (30 June 1470 – 7 April 1498), was a monarch of the House of Valois who ruled as King of France, from 1483 to his death in 1498. He succeeded his father Louis XI at the age of 13. His elder sister Anne of France acted as regent jointly with her husband Peter II, Duke of Bourbon until 1491 when the young king turned 21 years of age. During Anne's regency, the great lords rebelled against royal centralisation efforts in a conflict known as the Mad War (1485-1488), which resulted in a victory for the royal government.

In a remarkable stroke of audacity, Charles married Anne of Brittany in 1491 after she had already been married by proxy to the Habsburg Holy Roman Emperor Maximilian I in a ceremony of questionable validity. Preoccupied by the problematic succession in the Kingdom of Hungary, Maximilian failed to press his claim. Upon his marriage, Charles became administrator of Brittany and established a personal union that enabled France to avoid total encirclement by Habsburg territories.

Charles VIII

Charles VIII may refer to:

Charles VIII of Sweden

Charles VIII of Sweden (in reality Charles II ), Charles I of Norway, also Carl, Swedish: Karl Knutsson (Bonde), was king of Sweden (1448–1457, 1464–1465 and from 1467 to his death in 1470) and king of Norway (1449–1450).

Early life

Karl Knutsson was born in October 1408 or 1409, at Ekholmen Castle, the son of Knut Tordsson (Bonde), knight and member of the privy council (riksråd), and Margareta Karlsdotter (Sparre av Tofta), the only daughter and heiress of Charles Ulvsson, Lord of Tofta. His father Knut was first cousin of Erik Johansson Vasa's father. King Charles died 14 May 1470. His first marriage, in 1428, to Birgitta Turesdotter (Bielke) (died 1436) gave him his daughter Kristina. His second marriage, in 1438, to Katarina Karlsdotter (Gumsehuvud) (died in 1450) produced his second daughter Magdalena, who married Ivar Axelsson (Tott). He also had two children by his third wife (and former mistress) Kristina Abrahamsdotter, Anna and Karl. His father was said by contemporary legends to descend from a younger brother of King Eric IX (Saint Eric). His mother, an important heiress, descended from Jarl Charles the Deaf and consequently from some ancient Folkunge earls of Sweden, as well as from Ingegerd Knutsdotter, a daughter of Canute IV of Denmark and Adela of Flanders.