Charles VII King Of FRANCE

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Excerpt from Wikipedia
Charles VII the Victorious, or the Well-Served (French: Charles VII le Victorieux, or le Bien-Servi) (February 22, 1403 ? July 22, 1461) was king of France from 1422 to 1461, a member of the Valois Dynasty.

Born in Paris, Charles was the fifth and only surviving son of Charles VI of France and Isabeau de BaviËre. Four of his elder brothers were dauphin in their turn but died without issue during the lifetime of their parents: Charles (1386), Charles (1392-1401), Louis, Duke of Guyenne (1397-1415) and Jean, Duke of Touraine (1398-1417). Charles, being the fifth dauphin, added to instability of the kingdom, which was under English attack. His survival was in doubt (apparently his own parents were not eager to protect him nor keep him as heir). There was also considerable doubt about his legitimacy, his mother being renowned for her affairs.

As a young man he was taken in by his future mother-in-law Yolande of Aragon, Queen of the Four Kingdoms, kept away from the royal court, and kept protected. On the death of his father in 1422, the French throne did not pass to Charles but to his infant nephew, King Henry VI of England in accordance with his father's Treaty of Troyes signed in 1420. The English right to the throne of France had been granted as part of the Treaty in an effort to put an end to the raging Hundred Years' War. Under the Treaty, King Henry of England ruled Northern France through a regent in Normandy; the Dauphin was disinherited and pronounced a bastard by Queen Isabeau. Charles and his advisors, who did not accept the treaty, set up court in a fortified castle at Chinon.

Without any organized French army, the English strengthened their grip over France until March 8, 1429 when Joan of Arc, claiming divine inspiration, urged Charles to declare himself king and raise an army to liberate France from the English.

One of the important factors that aided in the ultimate success of Charles VII was the support from the powerful and wealthy family of his wife Marie d'Anjou (1404-1463), particularly the mother-in-law the Queen Yolande of Aragon. Despite whatever affection he had for his wife, the great love of Charles VII's life was his mistress, AgnËs Sorel.

After the French won the Battle of Patay, Charles was crowned King Charles VII of France on July 17, 1429, in Reims Cathedral. Over the following two decades, King Charles VII recaptured Paris from the English and eventually recovered all of France with the exception of the northern port of Calais.

While Charles VII's legacy is far overshadowed by the deeds and eventual martyrdom of Joan of Arc, he did something his predecessors had failed to do by uniting most of the country under one French king and, starting with the general parliament at Orleans in 1439, creating for the first time a standing army, which would yield the powerful gendarme cavalry companies notable in the wars of the sixteenth century. He established the University of Poitiers in 1432 and his policies brought some economic prosperity to the citizens. Although his leadership was sometimes marked by indecisiveness, hardly any other leader left a nation so much better improved than when he came on the scene.

King Charles VII died on July 22, 1461 at Mehun-sur-YËvre, but his latter years were marked by an open revolt by his son who succeeded him as Louis XI.

Charles married Marie Of ANJOU in 1422. Marie (daughter of Louis II Of Naples And ANJOU and Yolande Of ARAGON) was born in 1404; died in 1463. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

1. Radegonde Of FRANCE was born in 1428; died in 1444.
2. Jacques Of FRANCE was born in 1432; died in 1437.
3. Joan Of FRANCE was born in 1435; died in 1482.
4. Charles Duc DE BERRY was born in 1446; died in 1472.
5. Mary Of FRANCE was born on 07 Sep 1438; died on 14 Feb 1439.
6. Louis XI King Of FRANCE was born on 03 Jul 1423 in Bourges; died between 24 and 30 Aug 1483; was buried in Notre-Dame de Clery, Montils.
7. Joan Of FRANCE was born on 07 Sep 1438; died on 26 Dec 1446.
8. Yolande Of FRANCE was born in 1434; died in 1478.
9. John Of FRANCE was born in 1424; died in 1425.
10. Madeleine Of FRANCE was born in 1443; died in 1486.
11. Catharine Of VALOIS was born in 1428; died in 1446.
12. Margaret Of FRANCE was born in 1437; died in 1438.

Notes:

He was born in Paris, the son of King Charles V and Jeanne de Bourbon. At the age of eleven, he was crowned King of France in 1380 in the cathedral at Reims. He married Isabeau of Bavaria in 1385. Until he took complete charge as king in 1388, France was ruled by his uncle, Philip the Bold.

Charles VI was known both as Charles the Well Beloved and later as Charles the Mad, since, beginning in his mid-twenties, he experienced bouts of psychosis. These fits of madness would recur for the rest of his life. Based on his symptoms, doctors believe the king may have suffered from schizophrenia, porphyria or Bipolar disorder.

[edit] The King goes mad
His first known fit occurred in 1392 when his friend and advisor, Olivier de Clisson, was the victim of an attempted murder. Although Clisson survived, Charles was determined to punish the would-be assassin Pierre de Craon who had taken refuge in Brittany. Contemporaries said Charles appeared to be in a "fever" to begin the campaign and appeared disconnected in his speech. Charles set off with an army on July 1, 1392. The progress of the army was slow, nearly driving Charles into a frenzy of impatience.

While travelling through a forest on a hot August morning, a barefoot man dressed in rags rushed up to the King's horse and grabbed his bridle. "Ride no further, noble King!" he yelled. "Turn back! You are betrayed!" The king's escorts beat the man back but did not arrest him, and he followed the procession for a half-hour, repeating his cries.

The company emerged from the forest at noon. A page who was drowsy from the sun dropped the king's lance, which clanged loudly against a steel helmet carried by another page. Charles shuddered, drew his sword and yelled "Forward against the traitors! They wish to deliver me to the enemy!" The king spurred his horse and began swinging his sword at his companions, fighting until his chamberlain and a group of soldiers were able to grab him from his mount and lay him on the ground. He laid still and did not react, falling into a coma. The king killed at least one knight in his delirium, and possibly more (the exact numbers differ in the chronicles from the time).

Charles' uncle Philip II, Duke of Burgundy (aka Philip the Bold) assumed the regency on the spot, dismissing Charles' advisers in the process. This was to be the start of a major feud which would divide the Kings of France and the Dukes of Burgundy for the next 85 years.

The king would suffer from periods of mental illness throughout his life. During one attack in 1393, Charles could not remember his name, did not know he was king and fled in terror from his wife. He did not recognize his children, though he knew his brother and councillors and remembered the names of people who had died. In later attacks, he roamed his palaces howling like a wolf, refused to bathe for months on end and suffered from delusions that he was made of glass.

[edit] The Bal des Ardents
In January 1393, Queen Isabeau de BaviËre organised a party to celebrate the marriage of one of her ladies-in-waiting. The King and five other lords dressed up as wild men and danced about chained to one another. They were "in costumes of linen cloth sewn onto their bodies and soaked in resinous wax or pitch to hold a covering of frazzled hemp, "so that they appeared shaggy & hairy from head to foot"".[1] In view of the obvious danger of fire, there was a ban on torches in the room. Nonetheless, the King's brother, Louis of Valois, Duke of OrlÈans, approached with a lighted torch, according to some accounts teasing the dancers with it. One of the dancers caught fire and there was panic. The Duchesse de Berry, who recognized Charles, hid him under her dress and saved his life. Four of the other men perished. This incident became known as the Bal des Ardents (the 'Ball of the Burning Men').

Most accounts seem to agree that Louis' action was an accident; he was merely trying to find his brother. Be that as it may, Louis soon afterwards pursued an affair with the Queen and was murdered by his political rival John, Duke of Burgundy (aka John the Fearless) in 1407.

Charles' royal secretary Pierre Salmon spent much time in discussions with the king while he was suffering from his intermittent but incapacitating psychosis. In an effort to find a cure for the king's illness, stabilize the turbulent political situation, and secure his own future, Salmon supervised the production of two distinct versions of the beautifully illuminated guidebooks to good kingship known as Pierre Salmon's Dialogues.

[edit] Dealing with England
Charles VI's reign was marked by the continuing war with the English (the Hundred Years' War). An early attempt at peace occurred in 1396 when Charles' daughter, the seven-year-old Isabella of Valois married the 29-year-old Richard II of England.

The peace in France did not last. The feud between the Royal family and the house of Burgundy led to chaos and anarchy. Taking advantage, Henry V of England led an invasion which culminated in 1415 when the French army was defeated at the Battle of Agincourt. In 1420, Charles -- now utterly incapacitated by his disease -- signed the Treaty of Troyes which recognized Henry as his successor, declared his son a bastard and bethrothed his daughter, Catherine of Valois, to Henry (see English Kings of France).

In fact there really were many doubts as to the Dauphin Charles' legitimacy, his mother being notorious for her affairs. He was also of a weak and feeble nature which caused conflict with both her and his own son, the future Louis XI.

Many people, including Joan of Arc, believed that the king only agreed to such disastrous and unprecedented terms under the mental stress of his illness and that, as a result, France could not be held to them.

Charles VI died in 1422 at Paris and is interred with his wife, Isabeau de BaviËre in Saint Denis Basilica.

He was eventually succeeded by his son Charles VII. Apparently Catherine of Valois passed Charles' mental illness onto her son, Henry VI. His inability to govern helped spark the Wars of the Roses.

Charles married Isabeau Of BAVARIA on 17 Jul 1385. Isabeau (daughter of Stephen III Duke Of BAVARIA and Taddea VISCONTI) was born in 1371; died on 24 Sep 1435. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

Isabeau de BaviËre (also Isabella of Bavaria-Ingolstadt; ca. 1370 ? September 24, 1435) was a Queen Consort of France (1385 - 1422) after marrying Charles VI of France, a member of the Valois Dynasty, on July 17, 1385. She assumed a prominent role in public affairs during the disastrous later years of her husband's reign.

Lineage
Isabeau of Bavaria was the daughter of Stephen III of Bavaria-Ingolstadt and Taddea Visconti.

Her paternal grandparents were Stephen II, Duke of Bavaria, a son of Emperor Louis IV, and Elisabeth of Sicily (whose name Isabella received), daughter of king Frederick III of Sicily and his wife Eleonora of Anjou. Eleonora was herself a daughter of Charles II of Naples and Maria Arpad of Hungary. Maria was a daughter of Stephen V of Hungary and Elizabeth of the Cumans (whose namesake her great-granddaughter, and through that, ultimately queen Isabella became). Elizabeth was daughter of Koteny (Kuthens, Zayhan) of the Cumans, a chieftain apparently descending from the Kipchaks and lord of the clan of Kun which had settled to Hungary after Mongol pressure drove them westwards.

Her maternal grandparents were BarnabÚ Visconti, Lord of Milan and Regina-Beatrice della Scala. Regina was daughter of Mastino II della Scala, Lord of Verona from 1329 to 1351 and his wife Taddea di Carrara.

Career
Isabeau of Bavaria was the prominent and unpopular queen of an unsuccessful reign. She assumed an unusually powerful role in government to fill the gap left by her husband's frequent bouts of insanity. Around this time she organised the disastrous Bal des Ardents, or 'Ball of the Burning Men'. She was named Regent due to her husband suffering greatly from what now is believed to have been schizophrenia, and she successfully replaced herself with a royal mistress, Odette de Champdivers. Her husband was never the wiser, and rarely made any public appearances.

Others who vied for power in the place of the King included the King's brother Louis of Valois, Duke of OrlÈans, and their cousin John the Fearless, Duke of Burgundy. Queen Isabeau's strong partisanship for the Duke of OrlÈans led to rumors of an extramarital affair. Orleans' bitter feud with Burgundy reached a crisis point when the former was assassinated in 1407. Bitter resentment continued and the late duke's supporters became known as the Armagnacs.

Henry V of England took advantage of French internal strife and invaded the northwest coast. He delivered a crushing defeat to the French at Agincourt. Nearly an entire generation of military leaders died or fell prisoner in a single day. John the Fearless, still feuding with Queen Isabeau, remained neutral as Henry V conquered towns in northern France.

Most of Isabeau's twelve children did not survive to adulthood. Shortly after her fifth and final son assumed the title of dauphin as heir to the throne, the sixteen-year-old future Charles VII of France negotiated a truce with John the Fearless in 1418. Armagnac partisans murdered John while the two met on a bridge under Charles's guarantee of protection.

The new Duke of Burgundy Philip the Good entered an active alliance with the English. With most of northern France under foreign domination, Isabeau agreed to the Treaty of Troyes in 1420. This arranged the marriage of her daughter Catherine of Valois to Henry V and assigned the French royal succession to Henry V and their children. Isabeau's detractors and the Dauphin's political enemies cited this treaty as evidence that he was not the legitimate son of Charles VI. The treaty did not have its intended effect on the French royal succession but did have an ultimate effect on English royal succession. Catherine's second marriage resulted in the eventual Tudor dynasty.

Both Charles VI and Henry V died within two months of each other in 1422. Charles VII, now fully grown, claimed that the Treaty of Troyes was illegal and assumed leadership of the Armagnac party, ruling what was left of central and southern France, and taking his father's former mistress, Odette de Champdivers, as his own.

Isabeau and her son Charles VII shared no apparent love for each other. Charles was to face a similar relationship with his own son Louis XI. Charles' principal female mentor was his childhood guardian Yolande of Aragon.

Isabeau moved to English-controlled territory and exerted no further influence over public affairs. She died in Paris in 1435 and is interred in the Saint Denis Basilica.

Legacy
Posterity has not been kind to Isabeau of Bavaria. A popular saying late in her life was that France had been lost by a woman and would be recovered by a girl. Many took this to be a prediction of Joan of Arc.

In fairness to Isabeau it must be noted that her leadership confronted double prejudice as a woman and a foreigner. There are a few bright spots in her reign, such as her artistic patronage. Isabeau aided the era's most significant French author Christine de Pizan and sponsored artisans who developed innovative techniques in decorative arts.