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EspañolCHARLES VI OF FRANCE
'Charles VI' (3 December 1368 – 21 October 1422), called 'the Beloved' (''le Bienaimé'') and 'the Mad' (''le Fol'' or ''le Fou''), was the King of France from 1380 to his death and a member of the House of Valois.
| Contents |
| Early life |
| The King goes mad |
| The ''Bal des Ardents'' |
| Dealing with England |
| Ancestors |
| Marriage and Issue |
| Cultural References |
| References |
| Sources |
Early life
The crowning of Charles VI
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.
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 the Bold, Duke of Burgundy, 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.
The ''Bal des Ardents''
The Bal des Ardents, miniature of 1450-80
In January 1393, Queen Isabeau de Bavière 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 Orléans, 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, covered him with 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 the Fearless, Duke of Burgundy 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.
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 not quite 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 betrothed 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 Bavière in Saint Denis Basilica.
He was eventually succeeded by his son Charles VII. Henry VI of England's inability to govern England helped spark the Wars of the Roses.
King Charles VI of France
Ancestors
| 'Charles VI of France' | 'Father:' Charles V of France | 'Paternal Grandfather:' John II of France | 'Paternal Great-grandfather:' Philip VI of France |
| 'Paternal Great-grandmother:' Joan the Lame | |||
| 'Paternal Grandmother:' Bonne of Bohemia | 'Paternal Great-grandfather:' John I of Bohemia | ||
| 'Paternal Great-grandmother:' Elisabeth I of Bohemia | |||
| 'Mother:' Joanna of Bourbon | 'Maternal Grandfather:' Peter I, Duke of Bourbon | 'Maternal Great-grandfather:' Louis I, Duke of Bourbon | |
| 'Maternal Great-grandmother:' Mary of Avesnes | |||
| 'Maternal Grandmother:' Isabelle de Valois | 'Maternal Great-grandfather:' Charles of Valois | ||
| 'Maternal Great-grandmother:' Mahaut of Chatillon |
Marriage and Issue
Charles VI married:
Isabeau of Bavaria (1371 – September 24 1435) on July 17 1385.
He also had one illegitimate child by Odette de Champdivers, Marguerite bâtarde de France (1407–1458).
Cultural References
The novel ''The Notebooks of Malte Laurids Brigge'' by Rainer Maria Rilke describes the old age of Charles VI at length.
The story "Hop-Frog, or The Eight Chained Ourang-Outangs" by Edgar Allan Poe involves a scene strikingly similar to the ''Bal des Ardents''. ( at Wikisource)
References
1. Barbara Tuchman;A Distant Mirror,1978,Alfred A Knopf Ltd
Sources
Tuchman, Barbara, A Distant Mirror: The Calamitous 14th Century. New York; Ballantine Books, 1978.
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