Editing Louis XI (section)

===Legacy===
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Eager to obtain information about his enemies, Louis created, from 1464, a net of postal relays all over France,{{sfn|Thompson|1995|p=64}} which was a precursor to the modern [[La Poste (France)|French postal service]].

Louis developed his kingdom by encouraging trade fairs and the building and maintenance of roads. Louis XI pursued the organization of the kingdom of France with the assistance of bourgeois officials.{{sfn|Guérard|1959|p=116}} In some respects, Louis XI perfected the framework of the modern French Government which was to last until the French Revolution.{{sfn|Guérard|1959|p=116}} Thus, Louis XI is one of the first modern kings of France who helped take it out of the [[Middle Ages]].{{citation needed|date=November 2024}}

Louis XI was very superstitious{{sfn|Bowersock|2009|p=64}} and surrounded himself with [[astrology|astrologers]]. Interested in science, he once pardoned a man sentenced to death on condition that he serve as a [[Human subject research|test subject]] for a gallstone operation.{{citation needed|date=November 2024}}

Through wars and guile, Louis XI overcame France's mostly independent feudal lords, and at the time of his death in the [[Château de Plessis-lez-Tours]], he had united France and laid the foundations of a strong monarchy. He was, however, a secretive, reclusive man, and few mourned his death.{{citation needed|date=November 2024}}

Despite Louis XI's political acumen and overall policy of ''Realpolitik'', [[Niccolò Machiavelli]]  criticized him harshly in Chapter 13 of ''[[The Prince]]'', calling him shortsighted and imprudent for abolishing his own infantry in favor of [[Swiss mercenaries]].