X-Nico

unusual facts about Charles VIII


Charles VIII

Charles VIII of Sweden, actually Charles II of Sweden, Charles I of Norway (1409–1470)


Acri

In 1496 the Aragonese were besieged by the French under King Charles VIII, who destroyed the castle and executed the nobles of Acri by sawing them alive.

Albret

Alain the Great, lord of Albret (d. 1522), wished to marry Anne of Brittany, and to that end fought against Charles VIII; but his hopes being defeated by the betrothal of Anne to Maximilian of Austria, he surrendered Nantes to the French in 1486.

Charolles

After the death of Charles the Bold, who in his youth had borne the title of count of Charolais, it was seized by Louis XI of France, but in 1493 it was ceded by Charles VIII to Maximilian of Austria, the representative of the Burgundian family.

David ben Judah Messer Leon

However, in 1495 the city fell to the French under Charles VIII, and he fled east to the Ottoman Empire to escape the violent pogroms that ensued, spending time in Istanbul before moving sometime between 1498 and 1504 to teach Torah in Salonica, at that time in a state of intellectual vibrancy due to the settlement there of many Sephardi exiles forced to leave after the expulsion of the Jews from Spain in 1492, Sicily in 1493, and Portugal in 1496.

Fornovo di Taro

It is especially remembered as the seat of the Battle of Fornovo, fought in 1495 between the Italian league and the French troops of Charles VIII.

Martha Eriksdotter

However, her existence has been doubted by some modern Swedish historians that think she was just made up by Charles VIII or his chroniclers to provide him with a more impressive background.


see also

Bernard Stewart, 4th Lord of Aubigny

Stewart received orders from Charles VIII to lead one thousand of the king's cavalry over the Alps and into Lombardy and after taking part with Charles in the conquest of Romagna accompanied him in the triumphal entry into Florence on 15 November 1494.

Southern Italy

Charles VIII expelled Alfonso II of Naples from Naples in 1495, but was soon forced to withdraw due to the support of Ferdinand II of Aragon for his cousin, Alfonso II's son Ferrantino.