Being in love to get married is a quite "new" consideration...in the past, in France, love was not really a matter when it came to get married...

On December 6th 1491, the château of Langeais (our home-town…we actually live in the street called Anne de Bretagne) was the scene of the dawn wedding between Charles VIII and Duchess Anne of Brittany. The 14-year-old Duchess Anne, not happy with the arranged marriage, arrived for her wedding with her entourage carrying two beds!

This union put an end to the war between France and Anne’s Brittany independent duchy and started to incorporate formally Brittany into the French kingdom (which happened in 1532).

 

                                

This is a reconstruction of the wedding in the castle of Langeais - ©FJFY





Only a small amount of people attended the wedding ceremony, held in one of the château’s great halls. The marriage contract stipulated that the couple gave each other mutually their rights over the duchy.

Moreover, Anne promised that, if the King were to die without a male descendant, she would marry the new sovereign. That is what actually happened. The children born to the royal couple were either born dead or died at a very young age. After Charles VIII died in 1498, at the Château d’Amboise, Anne of Brittany married his cousin, Louis d’Orléans, who reigned as Louis XII.

Love, Love, Love….

 

If you would like to read more about Anne de Bretagne

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On my second trip with France Just For You (FJFY) this October I drove through Normandy and Brittaney. It was a wonderful trip and FJFY is an amazing travel agency. Their customized and detailed guidebook covers everything you need to know about visiting France from practical information about traffic signs to insights about the French people and …
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We just got back from a 2-week fairytale trip to the Southwest of France, perfectly planned for us by Emilie and Guillaume. We spent 3 days in Carcassonne, 4 days in the Dordogne, and 4 days in the Medoc. Each B&B was charming and the hosts were wonderfully welcoming. The special activities that were planned (truffle-hunting, wine-tasting and …
Sheldon
We began planning this trip over a year before our departure date. We have done a lot of traveling but this trip was for our 25th wedding anniversary! Once we decided upon France as our destination all that was left was to get all the details taken care of. Based on previous adventures, we knew that we wanted to drive ourselves on a self- directed …
Naomi
My boyfriend and I spent a week in Paris last month and we decided that we would do a couple of day-tours outside of the city during our trip. We really wanted to avoid the typical tour-bus day-tour and the crowds that come along with these kinds of tours – we wanted something more personalized that would allow us to go at our own pace. I found the …
Judy
This was one of the best trips we have taken to Europe. We have often done our own planning. It was so nice to have Laura help. We were very delighted with accommodations and friendliness of all our hosts and tour guides. As Americans that don't speak much French, we would never have been able to arrange a trip like this ourselves - and we've done …
Elizabeth from the US
An amazing trip through Southern France! This is the second trip we have booked with Émilie and her talented team at France Just for You and we couldn’t be happier. Based on our inputs, they designed an excellent trip for my husband, myself, my sister and sister-in-law using the Southern France from West to East as a template. We added several days …