| Charles
VI
King of France
(1368-1422)
Other names: the Mad, the Well-Beloved
Other Titles
Dauphiné de France, 1368
Biographical
The first prince of France to be granted the title of Dauphiné
de France at birth, his father entrusted his education to Philippe de
Mézières, and had fixed his majority at fourteen. He succeeded to the
throne in 1380, at the age of twelve, and the royal authority was divided
between his paternal uncles, Louis, duke of Anjou, John, duke of Berry,
Philip the Bold, duke of Burgundy, and his mother’s brother, Louis II,
duke of Bourbon. In accordance with an ordinance of the late king, the
duke of Anjou became regent, while the guardianship of the young king,
together with the control of Paris and Normandy, passed to the dukes of
Burgundy and Bourbon, who were to be assisted by certain of the councillors
of Charles V. The duke of Berry, excluded by this arrangement, was compensated
by the government of Languedoc and Guienne. Anjou held the regency for
a few months only, until the king’s coronation in November 1380. He enriched
himself from the estate of Charles V and by excessive exactions, before
he set out in 1382 for Italy to effect the conquest of Naples. Considerable
discontent existed in the south of France at the time of the death of
Charles V, and when the duke of Anjou reimposed certain taxes which the
late king had remitted at the end of his reign, there were revolts at
Puy and Montpellier. Paris, Rouen, the cities of Flanders, with Amiens,
Orleans, Reims and other French towns, also rose in revolt in 1382 against
their masters. The Maillotins, as the Parisian insurgents were named from
the weapon they used, gained the upper hand in Paris, and were able temporarily
to make terms, but the commune of Rouen was abolished, and the Tuchins,
as the marauders in Languedoc were called, were pitilessly hunted down.
Charles VI. marched to the help of the count of Flanders against the insurgents
headed by Philip van Artevelde, and gained a complete victory at Roosebeke
on the 27th of November 1382. Strengthened by this success the king, on
his return to Paris in the following January, exacted vengeance on the
citizens by fines, executions and the suppression of the privileges of
the city. The help sent by the English to the Flemish cities resulted
in a second Flemish campaign. In 1385 Jean de Vienne made an unsuccessful
descent on the Scottish coast, and Charles equipped a fleet at Sluys for
the invasion of England, but a series of delays ended in the destruction
of the ships by the English.
In 1385 Charles VI married Elizabeth, daughter of Stephen II, duke of
Bavaria, her name being Gallicised as Isabeau. Three years later, with
the help of his brother, Louis of Orleans, duke of Touraine, he threw
off the tutelage of his uncles, whom he replaced by Bureau de la Rivière
and others among his father’s counsellors, nicknamed by the royal princes
the marmousets because of their humble origin. Two years later he deprived
the duke of Berry of the government of Languedoc. The opening years of
Charles VI’s effective rule promised well, but excess in gaiety of all
kinds undermined his constitution, and in 1392 he had an attack of madness
at Le Mans, when on his way to Brittany to force from John V the surrender
of his cousin Pierre de Craon, who had tried to assassinate the constable
Olivier de Clisson in the streets of Paris. Other attacks followed, and
it became evident that Charles was unable permanently to sustain the royal
authority. Clisson, Bureau de la Rivière, Jean de Mercier, and the other
marmousets were driven from office, and the royal dukes regained their
power. The rivalries between the most powerful of these—the duke of Burgundy,
who during the king’s attacks of madness practically ruled the country,
and the duke of Orleans—were a constant menace to peace. In 1306, peace
with England seemed assured by the marriage of Richard II with Charles
VI’s daughter Isabella, but the Lancastrian revolution of 1399 destroyed
the diplomatic advantages gained by this union. In France the country
was disturbed by the papal schism. At an assembly of the clergy held in
Paris in 1398 it was resolved to refuse to recognise the authority of
Benedict XIII, who succeeded Clement VII as schismatic pope at Avignon.
The question became a party one; Benedict was supported by Louis of Orleans,
while Philip the Bold and the university of Paris opposed him. Obedience
to Benedict’s authority was resumed in 1403, only to be withdrawn again
in 1408, when the king declared himself the guardian and protector of
the French church, which was indeed for a time self-governing. Edicts
further extending the royal power in ecclesiastical affairs were even
issued in 1418, after the schism was at an end.
The king’s intelligence became yearly feebler, and in 1404 the death of
Philip the Bold aggravated the position of affairs. The new duke, John
the Fearless, did not immediately replace his father in general affairs,
and the influence of the duke of Orleans increased. Queen Isabeau, who
had generally supported the Burgundian party, was now practically separated
from her husband, whose madness had become pronounced. She was replaced
by a young Burgundian lady, Odette de Champdivers, called by her contemporaries
la petite reine, who rescued the king from the state of neglect into which
he had fallen. Isabeau of Bavaria was freely accused of intrigue with
the duke of Orleans. She was from time to time regent of France, and as
her policy was directed by personal considerations and by her love of
splendour she further added to the general distress. The relations between
John the Fearless and the duke of Orleans became more embittered, and
on the 23rd of November 1407 Orleans was murdered in the streets of Paris
at the instigation of his rival. The young duke Charles of Orleans married
the daughter of the Gascon count Bernard VII of Armagnac, and presently
formed alliances with the dukes of Berry, Bourbon and Brittany, and others
who formed the party known as the Armagnacs, against the Burgundians who
had gained the upper hand in the royal council. In 1411, John the Fearless
contracted an alliance with Henry IV. of England, and civil war began
in the autumn, but in 1412 the Armagnacs in their turn sought English
aid, and, by promising the sovereignty of Aquitaine to the English king,
gave John the opportunity of posing as defender of France. In Paris the
Burgundians were hand in hand with the corporation of the butchers, who
were the leaders of the Parisian populace. The malcontents, who took their
name from one of their number, Caboche, penetrated into the palace of
the dauphin Louis, and demanded the surrender of the unpopular members
of his household. A royal ordinance, promising reforms in administration,
was promulgated on the 27th of May 1413, and some of the royal advisers
were executed. The king and the dauphin, powerless in the hands of Duke
John and the Parisians, appealed secretly to the Armagnac princes for
deliverance. They entered Paris in September; the ordinance extracted
by the Cabochiens was rescinded; and numbers of the insurgents were banished
the city.
In the next year Henry V. of England, after concluding an alliance with
Burgundy, resumed the pretensions of Edward III to the crown of France,
and in 1415 followed the disastrous battle of Agincourt. The two elder
sons of Charles VI, Louis, duke of Guienne, and John, duke of Touraine,
died in 1415 and 1417, and Charles, count of Ponthieu, became heir apparent.
Paris was governed by Bernard of Armagnac, constable of France, who expelled
all suspected of Burgundian sympathies and treated Paris like a conquered
city. Queen Isabeau was imprisoned at Tours, but escaped to Burgundy.
The capture of Paris by the Burgundians on the 20th of May 1418 was followed
by a series of horrible massacres of the Armagnacs; and in July Duke John
and Isabeau, who assumed the title of regent, entered Paris. Meanwhile
Henry V had completed the conquest of Normandy. The murder of John the
Fearless in 1419 under the eyes of the dauphin Charles threw the Burgundians
definitely into the arms of the English, and his successor Philip the
Good, in concert with Queen Isabeau, concluded the treaty of Troyes with
Henry V in 1420, who became master of France. Charles VI. had long been
of no account in the government, and the state of neglect in which he
existed at Senlis induced Henry V to undertake the reorganisation of his
household. He came to Paris in September 1422, and died on the 21st of
October.
Place of birth: Paris
Place of death: Paris
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