The Mad War () was a late medieval conflict between a coalition of feudal lords and the French monarchy. It occurred during the regency of Anne of Beaujeu in the period after the death of Louis XI and before the majority of Charles VIII. The war began in 1485 and ended in 1488.
The principal lords involved were Louis II of Orléans, the cousin of the King (and future Louis XII of France); Francis II of Brittany; René II, Duke of Lorraine; Alain d'Albret; Jean de Châlon, Prince of Orange; and Charles, Count of Angoulême. Other leading lords supported the revolt, including Philippe de Commines and Odet d’Aydie, Count of Commines and Governor of Guyenne.
As a revolt against French royal authority, it was supported by the foreign enemies of the King of France: England, Spain, and Austria. Its principal outcome was the absorption of Brittany into the French kingdom.
Name and Extent
The derogatory expression "Mad War" to designate this struggle of major feudal lords against central royal power was coined by Paul Emile in his Histoire des faicts, gestes et conquestes des roys de France, published in 1581.
There is some dispute about the extent to which the events can be defined as a single war. It followed a long succession of conflicts between royalty and the great lords of the kingdom in the second half of the 15th century, subsequent to the formation of the League of the Public Weal. As part of these power struggles, in 1484-1485, Louis II of Orléans, supported by Francis II of Brittany and a certain number of lords, attempted to depose the regent, Anne de Beaujeu. Mostly by a mixture of diplomacy and shows of force, Anne succeeded in breaking the revolt without a major battle. On 2 November 1485, the Peace of Bourges suspended the hostilities.
According to some historians, this ended the first phase of the Mad War. The second phase of the conflict, from June 1486 to November 1488, is sometimes called the "War of Brittany". Other commentators, mainly Breton nationalists, distinguish this second phase from the first, making it into a Franco-Breton war, or even a Breton war of independence, sometimes by connecting it to the earlier Breton War of Succession.
Development
At the beginning of the reign of Charles VIII, Louis II of Orléans tried to seize the regency but was rejected by the States General of Tours (15 January to 11 March 1484). In April, Louis left for Brittany to join Duke Francis II; he also sent a request to the pope to annul his marriage, so that he would be free to marry Anne of Brittany, Francis's heir. On 23 November, he signed a treaty which envisaged his marriage with Anne. Returning to the royal court, Louis tried to take the King into his custody, but Anne de Beaujeu prevented him by force: she stopped some lords of the royal guard and placed the Duke of Orléans under house arrest at Gien.
Having escaped from Gien on 17 January 1485, Louis of Orléans tried to invest Paris, but failed. He managed to escape on 3 February to Alençon, and made amende honorable on 12 March. Royal troops placed around Évreux prevented him from joining Brittany, and he was locked up in Orléans. At the same time, the roused Breton nobility was brought back to order by the royal troops.
On 30 August, Louis of Orléans issued a proclamation against the regency. The royal army marched to Orléans, but Louis escaped to Beaugency, whence he was dislodged by the young Louis II de La Trémoille in September. On 9 August, Francis II of Brittany agreed to a year-long truce. Known as the "Peace of Bourges", the truce was signed on 2 November 1485.