Louis XII of France

About Louis XII of France

Louis XII, King of France from 1498 to 1515, was a pivotal figure in the Italian Wars, often remembered for his campaigns to assert French claims over the Kingdom of Naples and the Duchy of Milan. His reign is also noted for administrative reforms and the introduction of new taxes, which, while stabilizing the state, contributed to later political unrest. His sustained, though not top-tier, historical influence earns him a respectable rank of #959 in MIT's Pantheon index of the most influential figures across history.

Despite this established historical importance, Louis XII currently experiences a significant attention gap in the digital sphere. In 2025, his Wikipedia page accrued only 94K annualized views, placing him in an 'underattention' category of -3x relative to his HPI rank. This lack of modern online engagement is highlighted when comparing him to other politicians of similar historical weight; for instance, Ferdinand I of Austria (HPI #973) drew 461K views last year, more than four times Louis XII’s traffic. Even Margaret I of Denmark (#994 importance) commanded 166K views in the same period, suggesting Louis XII is disproportionately overlooked by contemporary internet users.

The data further indicates a downward trend in current interest, with a sharp -42.0% year-over-year decline in pageviews and a -46% drop in momentum between Q1 and Q3 of 2025, suggesting his digital footprint continues to shrink.