Louis XI of France in the context of "Tours"

The land of Provence has a history quite separate from that of any of the larger nations of Europe. Its independent existence has its origins in the frontier nature of the dukedom in Merovingian Gaul. In this position, influenced and affected by several different cultures on different sides, the Provençals maintained a unity which was reinforced when the region was made a separate kingdom during the Carolingian decline of the later ninth century. When Boso of Provence acquired the region in 879, it was known as Lower Burgundy until it was merged with Upper Burgundy in 933 to form the Kingdom of Arles. The counts of Arles began calling themselves "count of Provence"; although in name vassals, they were de facto autonomous princes. After 1032, the county was part of the Holy Roman Empire.

In the eleventh century, Provence became disputed between the traditional line and the counts of Toulouse, who claimed the title of "Margrave of Provence". In the High Middle Ages, the title of Count of Provence belonged to local families of Frankish origin, from 1112 to 1245 to the House of Barcelona (a cadet branch of the House of Aragón), from 1245 to 1382 to the House of Anjou, and from 1382 to 1481 to a cadet branch of the House of Valois. It was inherited by King Louis XI of France in 1481, and definitively incorporated into the French royal domain by his son Charles VIII in 1487.

French Renaissance architecture is a style which was prominent between the late 15th and early 17th centuries in the Kingdom of France. It succeeded French Gothic architecture. The style was originally imported from Italy after the Hundred Years' War by the French kings Charles VII, Louis XI, Charles VIII, Louis XII and François I. Several notable royal châteaux in this style were built in the Loire Valley, notably the Château de Montsoreau, the Château de Langeais, the Château d'Amboise, the Château de Blois, the Château de Gaillon and the Château de Chambord, as well as, closer to Paris, the Château de Fontainebleau.

This style of French architecture had two distinct periods. During the first period, between about 1491 and 1540, the Italian style was copied directly, often by Italian architects and craftsmen. In the second period, between 1540 and the end of the Valois dynasty in 1589, French architects and craftsmen gave the style a more distinctive and original French character.

Jean (or Jehan) Fouquet (French: [fuke]; c. 1420 – 1481) was a French painter and miniaturist. A master of panel painting and manuscript illumination, and the apparent inventor of the portrait miniature, he is considered one of the most important painters from the period between the late Gothic and early Renaissance. He was the first French artist to travel to Italy and experience first-hand the early Italian Renaissance.

Little is known of Fouquet's early life and education. Though long assumed to have been an apprentice of the so-called Bedford Master of Paris it is now suggested that he may have studied under the Jouvenal Master in Nantes, whose works were formerly assumed to be early works by Fouquet. Sometime between 1445 and 1447 he travelled to Italy, where he came under the influence of Roman Quattrocento artists such as Fra Angelico and Filarete. During the 1450s he began working at the French court, where he counted kings Charles VII and his successor Louis XI among his many patrons.

The Treaty of Arras was concluded at Arras on 23 December 1482, between King Louis XI of France and Archduke Maximilian I of Austria, thus ending the first phase of the War of the Burgundian Succession, that broke out in 1477 over the Burgundian inheritance, a collection of Valois-Burgundy domains that included the Burgundian Netherlands and several other possessions of the House of Valois-Burgundy.

Jean Bourdichon (1457 or 1459 – 1521) was a French painter and manuscript illuminator at the court of France between the end of the 15th century and the start of the 16th century, in the reigns of Louis XI of France, Charles VIII of France, Louis XII of France, and Francis I of France. He was probably born in Tours, and was a pupil of Jean Fouquet. He died in Tours.

The University of Bourges (French: Université de Bourges) was a university located in Bourges, France. It was founded by Louis XI in 1463 and closed during the French Revolution.

Until the mid-17th century, lack of suitable legal training at home meant many Scots seeking to practice law studied at Bourges, Paris or Orléans; thereafter, most did so at Leyden University in the Dutch Republic.

Francis II (Breton: Frañsez II, French: François II) (23 June 1433 – 9 September 1488) was Duke of Brittany from 1458 to his death. He was the grandson of John IV, Duke of Brittany. A recurring theme in Francis' life would be his quest to maintain the quasi-independence of Brittany from France. As such, his reign was characterized by conflicts with King Louis XI of France and with his daughter, Anne of France, who served as regent during the minority of her brother, King Charles VIII. The armed and unarmed conflicts from 1465 to 1477 and 1484–1488 have been called the "War of the Public Weal" and the Mad War (la Guerre Folle), respectively.

Étienne de Vesc (ca 1445 – 6 October 1501), was a courtier of Louis XI of France and a formative influence on Charles VIII, whom he strongly encouraged in the French adventure into Italy in the First Italian War (1494–95).