Joan of France, Duchess of Berry
Joan of France was briefly Queen of France as wife of King Louis XII, in between the death of her brother, King Charles VIII, and the annulment of her marriage. After that, she retired to her domain, where she soon founded the monastic Order of the Annunciation of the Blessed Virgin Mary, where she served as abbess. From this Order later sprang the religious congregation of the Apostolic Sisters of the Annunciation, founded in 1787 to teach the children of the poor. She was canonized on 28 May 1950.
Portrait by Jean Perréal (before 1530)
A contemporary portrait of Joan of France
Joan of Valois, foundress of the Order of the Annunciation of the Blessed Virgin Mary
Louis XII was King of France from 1498 to 1515 and King of Naples from 1501 to 1504. The son of Charles, Duke of Orléans, and Marie of Cleves, he succeeded his second cousin once removed and brother-in-law, Charles VIII, who died childless in 1498.
Louis XII in 1514
Louis kneeling in prayer, with saints, from the Hours of Louis XII, his personal book of hours, 1498–99, Getty Museum. Inscribed (literally) "Louis XII of this name: it is made at the age of 36 years".
Louis XII on a coin of 1514
Bronze cannon of Louis XII, with porcupine emblem. Caliber: 172mm, length: 305 cm, weight: 1870kg. Recovered in Algiers in 1830. Musée de l'Armée.