FRANCE / FEUDAL - FRANCE / FEUDAL Brittany (duchy of), Anne, widow of Charles VIII (1498-1499). Cadiere of gold dated 1498, N, Nantes. Av. ANNA. D. G. FRAN. REGINA. ET. BRITONVM. DVCISSA [Anne, by the grace of God, Queen of the French and Duchess of the Bretons]. Anne crowned, seated in majesty on a cadier or cathedra, wearing a robe bearing the arms of France and Brittany (with fleurs-de-lis and ermine spots), holding a sceptre in her left hand and a sword in her right; in the exergue: (date). Rv. + SIT (ermine) NOMEN (ermine) DOMINI (ermine) BENEDICTVM (ermine) (workshop). Cross with arms terminated by shamrocks between two petals, with an uncial letter N in the centre, cantoned by four crowned ermine spots. Dy.357 - Jéz.429a - PA.1399 - Dobrée N-49 (same corners) - Levinson VIII-3 ; Gold - 3,49 g - 27,5 mm - 9 h PCGS AU 58 (60810482). Beautifully struck, on a fairly regular blank, the metal barely pinched at 12 o'clock. Minor scratch to the right in the field. With a nice golden patina. Very nice. Anne of Brittany was queen three times, marrying Maximilian, King of the Romans, by proxy in December 1490, then Charles VIII, King of France, on 6 December 1491 in Langeais, and finally Louis XII, King of France, on 8 January 1499 in Nantes. Widowed by Charles VIII (the king died on 8 April 1498), she showed her determination to defend Brittany's independence for the rest of 1498. She re-established the Chancellery of Brittany, relocated the seat of the Audit Office to Vannes and issued new copper and silver coins, as well as a prestigious gold coin, the cadière. The design of the coin was entrusted to Jean Bourdichon (1457-1521), an illuminator at the King's court. The mint is in Nantes, indicated at the end of the reverse legend by the Roman letter N and in the centre by the uncial letter n. In a study published in 1984, Michel Dhénin, curator of the Cabinet des médailles at the BnF, listed eight examples of the cadière of Anne de Bretagne, divided into three right-hand corners and six reverse corners, thus identifying two types of cadière: - The first type bears the date 1498 in the right-hand corner. On this type, the engraving is in a particular style, with a portrait that is still idealised but already showing its Renaissance character. It is also the first time that a French coin bears a date, which is characteristic of the Renaissance. - The second type has no date. The style is more medieval than Renaissance, with the queen wearing her hair long and her crown wider, and the chair or cadiere on which she is seated wider and occupying more space in the field. Half medieval and half Renaissance, with a representation of the queen that comes close to portraiture, the cadière is also a coin that is half French and half Breton, or to use the language of numismatists, half royal and half feudal! It is extremely rare, and most examples are kept in museums. This attractive coin bears witness to the short but intense life of this princess: married three times as queen, became queen of Sicily and Jerusalem through conquest, mother of a future queen of France, and died at the age of 37 after having fourteen children. Born in 1477 to François II, Duke of Brittany, and Marguerite de Foix, Anne was recognised as heir by the Estates of Brittany in 1486 and became Duchess of Brittany in 1488 after the defeat of François II's armies at Saint-Aubin-du-Cormier, which ended the Mad War and forced him to accept the Treaty of Verger, a clause of which stipulated that François II's daughters could not marry without the consent of the King of France. Her marriage by proxy to Maximilian (I), King of the Romans, in 1490 and future German Emperor, violated the Treaty of the Orchard and led Charles VIII, King of France, to invade Brittany. Anne, besieged in Rennes, had to surrender. She then travelled with Charles VIII to Langeais, where their wedding was quickly celebrated. Anne became Queen of France, and was crowned at Saint-Denis in February 1492. By contract, it was agreed that Anne could only marry Charles VIII's heir. At the time of her marriage, she had six children, all of whom died in infancy. With Charles VIII's conquest of Naples, she became Queen of Sicily and Jerusalem. On the death of Charles VIII on 8 April 1498, she took over the administration of the duchy and, in particular, restored the Chancellery of Brittany to the loyal Philippe de Montauban, appointed her heir the Prince of Orange as Lieutenant General of Brittany, convened the Estates of Brittany and issued coinage in her name. Three days after her husband's death, the principle of marriage to Louis XII was accepted. Their union produced eight children, only two of whom survived: Renée de France, who married the Duke of Modena in 1528, and Claude de France, Duchess of Brittany on her mother's death in 1514, who became Queen of France four months later through her marriage to François I. She was buried in the royal basilica and necropolis of Saint-Denis.