Anne d'Orléans (1464 – 1491 in

Poitiers Poitiers (, , , ; Poitevin: ''Poetàe'') is a city on the River Clain in west-central France. It is a commune and the capital of the Vienne department and the historical centre of Poitou. In 2017 it had a population of 88,291. Its agglomerat ...

) was a French abbess. She was the youngest child of

Charles, Duke of Orléans Charles of Orléans (24 November 1394 – 5 January 1465) was Duke of Orléans from 1407, following the murder of his father, Louis I, Duke of Orléans. He was also Duke of Valois, Count of Beaumont-sur-Oise and of Blois, Lord of Coucy, and t ...

, and

Maria of Cleves Maria may refer to: People * Mary, mother of Jesus * Maria (given name), a popular given name in many languages Place names Extraterrestrial *170 Maria, a Main belt S-type asteroid discovered in 1877 *Lunar maria (plural of ''mare''), large, da ...

. Her only brother became King

Louis XII of France Louis XII (27 June 14621 January 1515), was King of France from 1498 to 1515 and King of Naples from 1501 to 1504. The son of Charles, Duke of Orléans, and Maria of Cleves, he succeeded his 2nd cousin once removed and brother in law at the tim ...

in 1498.

Life

Anne became abbess of

Fontevraud Fontevraud-l'Abbaye () is a commune in the western French department of Maine-et-Loire. It is situated both in the Loire Valley, a UNESCO World Heritage Site between Chalonnes-sur-Loire and Sully-sur-Loire, and the Loire Anjou Touraine French r ...

in 1477. This was an abbey in which both monks and nuns lived, but which was always ruled by an abbess. She continued the work of her predecessor Marie de Bretagne in reforming the order. She also became abbess of

Holy Cross Abbey Holy Cross Abbey ''(Mainistir na Croise Naofa)'' was a Cistercian monastery in Holycross near Thurles, County Tipperary, Ireland, situated on the River Suir. It takes its name from a relic of the True Cross or Holy Rood. History A supposed fra ...

in Poitiers until her death in 1491. The election that followed her death resulted in a violent contest between the brothers of two candidates for abbess.

Bibliography

*Jennifer C. Edwards, “My Sister for Abbess: Fifteenth-Century Power Disputes over the Abbey of Sainte-Croix, Poitiers,” ''Journal of Medieval History'' 40, no. 1 (2014): 85–107. Abbesses of Fontevraud House of Valois-Orléans 15th-century French people 1464 births 1491 deaths

References

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