Naples

Louis III (XII of France), King of Naples 1501-1504

Fr-826 var., MIR 111; MEC 14, 1082 var., PCGS-graded MS-64

Very rare; unusually choice with a splendid portrait and French crest, with rich gold toning.

This short-lived king succeeded his cousin Charles VIII, who died without a closer heir in 1498. Louis XII was a monarch of the House of Valois who ruled as King of France from 1498 to 1515 and King of Naples from 1501 to 1504. He persevered in the Italian Wars, initiating a second Italian campaignfor the control of the Kingdom of Naples. Then he conquered the Duchy of Milan in 1500 and pushed forward to the Kingdom of Naples, which fell to him in 1501. Proclaimed King of Naples, Louis faced a new coalition gathered by Ferdinand II of Aragon and was forced to cede Naples to Spain in 1504.