Mary of Genovia

Louis XII of France (m. 1483)

**Mary of Genovia** (25 September 1464 - 12 November 1500), or **Marie Elizabeth**, was **Queen of France** as the second spouse of Louis XII and **Duchess of Clarence** as the second spouse of George, 1st Duke of Clarence. She was also nominal **Princess of Relante** from 1475 to 1490. After her death, her husband married his predecessor's widow, Elizabeth of England and Elizabeth would become the most powerful woman in Europe for a decade and would continue Marie's legacy.

## Early Life

Mary Elisabeth of Genovia was born on 25 September 1464, out of wedlock, to Constance IV of Genovia and John of Portugal. Since she was born out of wedlock, Mary was originally considered illegitimate until her parents marriage in 1468. Upon their marriage, Mary was declared legitimate and her past illegitimacy was forgotten. She was quite educated by the time her sister Constance was born, being fluent in Latin, French, Dutch, Genovianese and Castilian. She had three siblings: Constance, Richard and Isabella, the latter being born when Mary was a widow at thirteen.

## First Marriage

In 1476, Constance IV of Genovia and Edward IV of England betrothed the 12-year-old Mary to George, Duke of Clarence, Edward's brother. George had been recently widowed and his brother preferred it if he remarried. Mary didn't like this, as she had preferred a French match over an English one. Constance wanted an English match for an alliance, and the marriage rejected half of Mary's suitors. Mary and George were married on 4 February 1477. Mary entered the marriage dutifully to please her mother, although herself wanted to marry another. The marriage was not long-lived, as George was murdered in 1478 for treason against his brother Edward IV, and Mary was widowed at the age of thirteen.

## Second Marriage

After the death of her husband, Mary considered entering a convent as the Dowager Duchess of Clarence. The devout Mary decided to remarry for the sake of the potential succession. Constance attempted to negotiate a marriage between Mary and the Dauphin, Charles. Charles ended up marrying Elizabeth of York, the daughter of Edward IV of England and Rosaline I of England. Mary was then betrothed to the latter's son, Edward V. The marriage didn't take place for political reasons and due to the fact Edward held little to no claim over the Genovian Throne, something Constance wanted in case of a succession crisis. Edward instead married Anne of Brittany, who remained in friendly correspondence with Mary. Mary then was betrothed to Louis, Duke of Orléans, the son of Richard III of Genovia's youngest daughter Ella of Genovia. Louis was already married, however he appealed to the pope for an annulment and it was granted sometime after. After reviewing other potential suitors, Louis sought to marry Mary Elisabeth, as she had a stronger claim to the Genovian Throne than himself. Constance offered for her daughter a dowry of 10,000 Genoves, which was accepted, and on 6 April 1483 Mary and Louis were married at Relante Exquisite in Genovia. The marriage united the claim of the last surviving senior descendant of Richard III of Genovia with the second-in-line to the Genovian Throne.