Elegy for Francis, Duke of Dukes | An Alternate History

The Madness of Duchess Anne

SECOND STANZA, VERSE III

During the first half of the war, Anne was as aggressive as a lion and as stubborn as an ass. Mass arrests were common in the twilight of her rule. I doubt even a quarter of them were guilty. When rule of law was subverted by madness, suffering for all was sure to follow. Nearly half of civilian prisoners taken during this time were publicly executed. Half of the rest were offered to join the fight as levymen.

Such tactics came into effect around 1513 as manpower dried up from the constant assaults on English ports. Ships were in short supply, most of the navy sunk by superior enemy fleets. Wood had to be imported from the east and shipbuilders taken from other professions. War fervor had given way to exhaustion by this point, and people were tired of being dictated to. But still they begrudgingly acquiesced.

Since few Breton garrisons remained to defend the coast, raiding parties were able to land and take several key forts. Brest, unguarded. Caen, isolated. Evreux, in disrepair. Most of Brittany-Normandy stood occupied, and the rest had enemies at the gates. Rouen was actively being sieged, allied Dutch forces a month's journey away. The capital, Nantes, was in imminent danger of falling to Aquitanian forces.

Anne ultimately died of a heart attack in 1514. For all her rage, there was also interminable fear and anxiety. It grew and swelled inside her body until it popped. Doctors rushed to the scene, but she was already dead. I was there, kneeled over and trying to make her breathe again, pressing on the lower chest over and over. Francis was there too, his face an incomprehensible mess of emotions. He did nothing as the guards pushed me aside to get to the body. Outside, the distant sound of marching could be heard.