Louis XI of France, 3 July 1423 – 30 August 1483, was a master of the intrigue with a rebellious spirit. His ongoing intrigues so infuriated his father, Charles VII, that Louis was banished. In exile, he married against his father’s will. And when his father sent soldiers to break up the marriage, Louis fled to and lived with his father’s bitter enemies. When Louis became king, his intrigues increased in a number and complexity and he acquire the nickname “Louis the Cunning” and, because of the web of intrigues around him, “Louis the Universal Spider.”
But he could be fooled. On one occasion, an astrologer predicted one of the king’s favorite ladies would die within eight days. When she did die, Louis ordered the soothsayer to come to an upper room in the castle. When the man appeared, Louis had him seized and taken to an open window. You are so knowledgeable of the future, snapped the king, “Tell me then, what will be your fate? How long will you live?” Thinking fast the astrologer replied, “I shall die just three days before your majesty.”