Joan the Lame

Two of the princesses, Margaret of Burgundy, wife of the eldest son Louis, and Blanche of Burgundy, wife of the youngest son Charles, were accused of committing adultery with two young knights of the royal household.

The brothers Philippe and Gautier d'Ornay, a third princess, Joan of Burgundy, wife of the middle son Philip, was accused of knowing about it and keeping quiet.

According to tradition, the affair was exposed by Philip the Fair's daughter, Isabella, the Queen of England, who had noticed that the Dornay brothers were carrying purses she had given to her sisters-in-law as gifts.

Whether or not that detail is true, the consequences were catastrophic.

In August 1499, the Duchy was attacked on two sides, and by September, Ludovico and his family had fled, heading for refuge with Maximilian.

Louis XII entered the city of Milan triumphantly on October sixth, 1499, accompanied by Cesare Borgia, the illegitimate son of Pope Alexander VI, whom you might remember Louis had given a made-up ducal title to in return for the Pope annulling his marriage to Joan the Lame.

We mentioned that in episode 54.

Ludovico was able to raise an army of German and Swiss mercenaries with the help of Maximilian, who helped him briefly retake Milan in February 1500.