He had been almost forced to marry her, and he had no child by her.

On ascending the throne, he begged Pope Alexander VI.

to annul his marriage; the negotiation was anything but honorable, either to the king or to the pope; and the pope granted his bull in consideration of the favors shown to his unworthy son, Caesar Borgia, by the king.

Joan alone behaved with a virtuous as well as modest pride, and ended her life in sanctity within a convent at Bourges, being wholly devoted to pious works, regarded by the people as a saint, spoken of by bold preachers as a martyr, and "still the true and legitimate Queen of France," and treated at a distance with profound respect by the king who had put her away.

Louis married, in 1499, his predecessor's widow, Anne, Duchess of Brittany, twenty-three years of age, short, pretty, a little lame, witty, able, and firm.