rt of his first birthday. A chronicler stated that after the death of this child, Louis swore he would be faithful to Charlotte from then on. The chronicler Phillip de Commynes confirms he kept this vow.
Charlotte’s life at Amboise was monotonous and secluded. She was surrounded by her children, her servants and several of her sisters. She spent her time playing chess and marbles, listening to her lute player, doing needlework and following devotional pursuits. Phillip de Commynes described Charlotte saying she “was not one of those women in whom a man would take great pleasure but in all a very good lady.” A diarist from a Bohemian embassy in 1466 described the Queen: “verily it was a pity she was but a middling handsome woman”. Despite this she was virtuous and considered very stylish by the French court.
While Louis was in charge of the education of their son Charles, Charlotte supervised her daughters’ education. Louis would visit Charlotte at Amboise where he enjoyed the hunting and the rustic atmosphere of the castle. On June 8, 1470, Louis had a meeting with the powerful Earl of Warwick and the Duke of Clarence from England. They were taken to Amboise and greeted by the heavily pregnant Queen. She received kisses from them both.
Charlotte was an avid reader and acquired many books. She had a splendid library in her home. Louis did not always fund her household to the fullest so she couldn’t print her own books but she managed to keep a bookseller at all times. Upon her death her collection consisted of about one hundred manuscripts, mostly devotional works. Her library would become the genesis of the Bibliothèque nationale of France.
Louis died on August 30, 1483. Charlotte followed him in death on the first of December that same year. They were both buried in the Notre-Dame de Clery Basilica in Clery-Saint-André. Charlotte was devoted to her husband all her life.
Further reading: “Louis XI: The Universal Spider” by Paul Murray Kendall, “Isabel of Portugal: The Duchess Who Played Politics in the Age of Joan of Arc” by Aline S. Taylor, “Women, Manuscripts and Identity in Northern Europe, 1350-1550” by Joni M. Hand, “The Memoirs of Philip de Commines, Lord of Argenton, Volume 1”