LOUIS XI., King of France, the eldest son of Charles VII., b. at Bourges, July 3, 1423, was from his boyhood eminently cruel, tyrannical, and perfidious. He made unsuccessful attempts against his father's throne, was compelled to flee to Brabant, and sought the protection of Philip the good, duke of Burgundy, with whom he remained till his father's death in 1461, when he succeeded to the crown. The severe measures which lie immediately adopted againSt the great vassals led to a coalition against him, at the head of which were the great houses of Burgundy and Bretagne. Louis owed his success more to his artful policy than to arms; and the war threatening to break out anew, he invited Charles the bold, dulKe of Burgundy, to a friendly conference at Peronne, in Oct., 1468. His ag,ents, meanwhile, had stirred up the people of Liege to revolt against the duke, upon the news of which occurrence Charles made the king a prisoner, and treated him roughly. On the death of the duke of Burgundy in 1477, who left an only daughter, Louis claimed great part of his territories as male fiefs lapsed to the superior, and wished to marry the young duchess to his eldest son, a boy of seven years. On her marriage with the archduke Maximilian, he flew to arras; but a peace
Ivas concluded at Arras, Dec. 25,1482, by which the daughter of _Maximilian was betrothed to the dauphin (afterwards Charles VIII.), and the counties of Burgundy and Artois were handed over to France. Louis was also successful—after the use of means far from honorable—hi annexing Provence to the crown as a lapsed fief. He greatly increased the power of the French monarchy. The latter years of his reign were spent in great misery, in excessive horror of death, which superstitious and ascetic practices failed to allay. He died Aug. 30,1483. It WM calculated that he put about 4,000 per sons to death in the course of his reign, mostly without forin of trial. Yet he was a patron of learning, and is said to have been the author of Les cent Nouvelles nouvelles, a dort of iinitation of the Decameron, and of the 1?osier des Guerres, a book of instruction for his son. He also materially advanced the civilization of France by encouraging manufactures, commerce, and mining. He improved the public roads and canals, established several printing-presses, and founded three universities.