Anne de Bretagne became Duchess of Brittany at 11 years old in 1488 and spent her entir…

Anne de Bretagne became Duchess of Brittany at 11 years old in 1488 and spent her entire life trying to keep the duchy independent from France. She is the only woman to have been Queen of France twice, married first to Charles VIII then to his successor Louis XII, enduring sixteen pregnancies in twenty years, almost none of which survived. She insisted on governing Brittany separately even while wearing the French crown, and her gold heart reliquary in Nantes Cathedral bears the inscription: “In this little vessel rests a heart greater than any lady in the world ever had.” Brittany formally lost its independence eighteen years after her death.​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​