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On 27 May 1498, King Louis XII, "Père du Peuple," was crowned in the cathedral at Rheims according to ancient French custom. Thus began one of the least studied reigns in French history. Too often regarded merely as an insignificant link in the chain that loosely unites Medieval and Ren- aissance France, the seventeen-year reign of Louis XII has largely been ignored. At the beginning of the last century, P.L. Roederer complained that "for three centuries we have only rendered to Louis XII’s memory cold and equivocable homage." He was shocked by the lack of interest in the King and disgusted by the sterility of the few existing biographies. He was determined, therefore, to restore the King’s memory to its former greatness, criticizing those who offered him only weak tributes for commonplace virtues and despising the "nearly contemptible eulogies" of others. Unfortunately, Roederer’s work was not pursued. Only within the last decade has recent scholarship begun to take more interest in the period of Louis’ reign; however, very little attention has been devoted to Louis himself. Consequently, the simplistic, superficial and unflattering views and judgements of traditional accounts of the King remain in force.
Contributing to this unfavourable view of Louis XII undoubtedly has been the few available conventional sources for the reign compared to that of the King’s predecessors and successors. And, ironically, the resulting ignorance has only compounded the traditional disdain for Louis XII’s reputation. Despite knowing little of his reign, nineteenth- and twentieth- century scholars have not been prevented from jumping to decisive con- clusions, based upon limited information, that have unjustly ignored the reputation as "Père du Peuple" enjoyed by the King during his own lifetime, and remembered by subsequent generations of Renaissance and Early Modern French subjects.

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