Charles VI (lived 1368-1422) reigned as King of France from 1380 to 1422, during an important phase of the Hundred Years' War (1337-1453) against England. Known as the 'Mad King' due to his frequent bouts with psychosis, Charles often had to hand power over to regents, which at various times included his corrupt uncles, his wife Queen Isabeau, and his debaucherous younger brother Louis I of Orléans. His reign was a tumultuous time for France, encompassing the start of a civil war between the Armagnac and Burgundian factions, as well as a disastrous French defeat at the hands of the English at the Battle of Agincourt (25 October 1415). After Agincourt, Charles was forced to disinherit his own son and recognize King Henry V of England (reign 1413-1422) as his heir. However, Charles managed to outlive Henry by two months, allowing his son, Charles VII of France (reign 1422-1461), to continue the struggle against England.
Early Life & Regency
Charles was born on 3 December 1368 in the royal residence of the Hôtel Saint-Pol in Paris. He was the firstborn son and heir of King Charles V of France (reign 1364-1380) and his wife, Queen Joanna of Bourbon (lived 1338-1378). Charles V, known as 'the Wise', had been an effective wartime ruler who had reconquered much of the territory that had been lost to England in 1360. He had, however, been unable to secure a lasting peace before his premature death on 16 September 1380. On his deathbed, he summoned his brothers to his side and charged them with assuming the regency and overseeing the realm until the 11-year-old Charles VI came of age. On 4 November, the boy king was coronated at Rheims Cathedral. He was, as historian Barbara Tuchman describes, "a handsome, well-built boy, tall and fair…with an inexpressive face, mirror of a shallow soul" (368). Beside him sat his uncles who, it would turn out, had little interest in ruling or in the well-being of their royal nephew.
The king's four uncles – the dukes of Burgundy, Anjou, Berry, and Bourbon – used their positions on the Regency Council to enrich themselves at the expense of the kingdom, draining the coffers that Charles V had so painstakingly built up. They sidelined the old king's advisors, doled out political offices to their own supporters, and reimposed unpopular tax policies that led to the 1382 Harelle revolt in Rouen and similar uprisings in Paris. The most dominant figure on the Regency Council was Philip II, Duke of Burgundy (lived 1342-1404), also known as Philip the Bold, who used his newfound power to increase his personal influence in Flanders, then the wealthiest province in Europe. Charles VI's 14th birthday came and went, and although this was legally the age of majority, Burgundy and the other uncles refused to give up power. It was not until 1388 that they finally felt compelled to hand the reins of the kingdom back to their now 20-year-old nephew. Hoping to undo the damage done by his corrupt uncles, Charles reappointed his father's old advisors, a competent group of counsellors referred to by the chronicler Jean Froissart as the marmosets. Under their guidance, conditions in France began to improve, and a grateful populace bestowed upon Charles VI the epithet 'the Well-Beloved'.
First Mental Break
In April 1392, Charles VI fell seriously ill during a trip to Amiens. It took him a month to recover from the disease – likely typhoid – although his physicians remained concerned over the fragile condition of his health. A short while later, Olivier de Clisson, the Constable of France, was assaulted on his way home from dining with the king. Though he was stabbed multiple times, Clisson survived the attack and was able to name his assailant – Pierre de Craon, the king's disgruntled former chamberlain who had blamed Clisson for losing his position. Charles VI was enraged to learn of the attack, viewing it as an insult to the Crown, and was even more enraged to learn that Craon had fled to the court of the Duke of Brittany, who had granted him sanctuary. Vowing to bring justice to the criminal, Charles VI decided to raise an army, invade Brittany, and root Craon out. The king resolved to lead this army himself, ignoring his physician's protests that he had not fully recovered from his illness.
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At around noon, an exhausted page dropped the lance he was carrying. It fell on a steel helmet and made a loud clanking noise. The sound startled the king, who jumped up in his saddle and shouted, "Forward against the traitors! They wish to deliver me to the enemy!" In a blind fury, he drew his sword and charged into a group of knights, slashing at anyone within reach. By the time Charles was finally subdued by one of his chamberlains, as many as four knights lay dead. The king lay on the ground, gazing at his uncles and brother with vacant, unrecognizing eyes. The expedition was called off, and Charles was taken back to Le Mans, where he slipped into a coma. Word of his fit of madness quickly spread, and many began to speak of sorcery or poison; the door to his sick chamber had to be kept open to assure the public that he was still alive. After four days, he regained consciousness and expressed sorrow for what he had done. He opted to go to the castle of Creil for his health, as the regency fell back into Burgundy's hands. Burgundy wasted no time getting revenge on his rivals, dismissing the marmosets and ordering the arrests of those of them who had not vacated their positions in time.
Ball of the Burning Men
In January 1393, the queen, Isabeau of Bavaria – a young German noblewoman who had married Charles in 1385 – decided to host a masked ball to celebrate the marriage of one of her ladies-in-waiting. As part of these revels, six young noblemen were disguised as 'wood savages', dressed in costumes of linen cloth soaked in resinous wax so that they "appeared shaggy and hairy from head to foot" (quoted in Tuchman, 504). Each dancer was given a mask to conceal his identity; few knew, then, that one of the dancers was Charles VI himself, recently returned to court from his absence at Creil. On the night of the ball, 28 January, the six masqueraders pranced in front of a host of delighted guests, howling like wolves.
Presently, the king's younger brother, Louis of Orléans, and one of his friends entered carrying lit torches, ignoring the queen's warnings not to carry flames into the vicinity. Hoping to glimpse the identity of one of the dancers, Louis held his torch over him. A spark fell and immediately set the man's costume afire. The Duchess of Berry, who had recognized the king, quickly threw her skirt over him to shield him from the flames, while another dancer dove into a wine cooler filled with water. The four others were not so lucky, and their screams soon filled the chamber as the flames devoured them. Within three days, all four had succumbed to their injuries. The masquerade – thereafter called the Bal des Ardents, or Ball of the Burning Men – worsened the king's mental state, and the tale spread throughout the kingdom as a consequence of courtly decadence.
Worsening Mental Condition
It is impossible to determine what kind of mental illness Charles VI suffered from. Schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, and porphyria have all been offered up as candidates to explain his psychotic breaks. In any case, it is clear that after the trauma of the Ball of the Burning Men, he began to have more frequent bouts of psychosis. The second seizure came in June 1393 when he suddenly could not remember who he was – he did not know that he was the king, that he was married, or even that his name was Charles. He became horribly offended by the sight of his own coat of arms, which he tried to deface whenever he came across it, and became terrified of his wife; whenever Queen Isabeau approached him, he would flee in terror and cry, "Who is that woman, the sight of whom torments me?" (quoted in Tuchman, 513). During this bout, which lasted on-and-off for seven months, the king could only be soothed by his sister-in-law, the Duchess of Orléans, whom he called his "very dear sister". He recovered in January 1394, but a year and a half later, he suffered a third episode of psychosis in which he claimed that he was Saint George.
In 1399, he began to have shorter but more frequent bouts of psychosis. In that year alone, he suffered six separate attacks. In one instance, he believed that he was made of glass and had iron rods sewn into his clothing so that he would not shatter if he bumped into anything. In another, he refused to bathe or change his clothes for weeks on end. During his moments of lucidity, he would express his fears that he was the victim of witchcraft; he beseeched those around him that, if they were responsible for cursing him so, to "torture me no longer but let me die!" (quoted in Tuchman, 515). As his condition worsened, Charles VI was further sidelined by his courtiers until he was little more than a figurehead. Queen Isabeau became the de facto regent, while various factions vied for influence on the Regency Council. There was, of course, Philip the Bold, the old duke of Burgundy, who coveted his former powers. He was challenged by Charles' younger brother, Louis I of Orléans, who claimed that he was next in line to the throne until Charles' young sons came of age. Orléans eventually formed a close alliance with Isabeau – indeed, rumors spread that the pair were lovers – leading him to take the dominant spot on the Regency Council by her side. Burgundy could not bear to see the young, reckless Duke of Orléans overshadow him, and a bitter rivalry began to develop between the two men.
Murder of Orléans & English Invasion
In 1404, Philip the Bold died, and the dukedom of Burgundy passed to his son, John the Fearless (lived 1371-1419). The new Duke of Burgundy hated Orléans even more than his father had, and the quarrel between the two men grew to such a point that it threatened to destabilize the realm. By now, Orléans had become unpopular – his rumored love affair with the queen gave him the reputation of a usurper with a low moral character. Before long, the supporters of each of these men formed two separate factions, the Burgundians and the Armagnacs, each of which tried to outmaneuver the other and gain influence at court. The feud climaxed on the night of 23 November 1407 when Louis of Orléans was brutally murdered by 15 thugs on the streets of Paris. He had been on his way to visit Queen Isabeau when he was waylaid, his head split in twain by an axe. Many assumed that John the Fearless was behind the assassination. Rather than deny it, the new Duke of Burgundy commissioned a eulogy of tyrannicide.
The assassination of Louis I of Orléans triggered a civil war between the Burgundians and the Armagnacs that would last for decades and tear the kingdom apart. Charles VI, who was driven deeper into madness by the murder of his beloved brother, was helpless to intervene. He retreated into the arms of his mistress, Odette de Champdivers – the daughter of a horse-dealer whom the public referred to as 'the little Queen' – as Burgundians and Armagnacs spilled each other's blood. But France's woes were about to worsen. In 1415, the newly crowned Henry V of England looked across the Channel and saw a land torn apart by civil war and ruled by a mad king, a land ripe for the taking.
On 13 August, he landed in northern France with an army and captured the town of Harfleur a month later. During his march to Calais in October, Henry V was intercepted by a larger French army near the village of Agincourt. But thanks in part to the superior ability of his English longbowmen, and in part to the narrow, muddy field that bogged down the heavily armored French knights, Henry won a decisive victory. Around 7,000 Frenchmen were said to have been killed, including 433 noblemen. Charles VI was in Rouen when news of the disaster at Agincourt reached him. He and his advisors were wondering what to do when they learned that Henry V had sailed back to England to revel in his triumph.
Thus, the attention turned back to the Burgundian-Armagnac War. Though the factions had set aside their differences to oppose Henry's invasion – indeed, two of John the Fearless' brothers had died at Agincourt – their enmities once again threatened to unravel the kingdom. In April 1416, after a Burgundian plot to kidnap key royal officials was uncovered, John the Fearless was forced to swear an oath to keep the peace as well as a renewed oath of fealty to the king. These promises were broken on 30 May 1418 when John the Fearless led an army to Paris, swiftly captured the city, and installed himself as protector of the king. He had been unable to capture the young Dauphin – the future Charles VII of France – who escaped to Rouen. By now, the English had returned and captured large swathes of territory in northern France, leading John to want to end the civil war as soon as possible. On 10 September 1419, he agreed to meet the Dauphin on a bridge at Montereau to discuss terms. This, however, was a trap, as John was set upon and assassinated by one of the Dauphin's companions.
Treaty of Troyes & Death
Although the Burgundian threat had temporarily been stifled, the royal House of Valois knew it could not resist the English invasion sweeping through the north. On 21 May 1420, Charles VI and Henry V signed the Treaty of Troyes. In the treaty, Charles agreed to a marriage between his daughter, Catherine of Valois, and Henry V, and also recognized Henry as heir to the Kingdom of France. In doing so, he necessarily had to disinherit his son, the 17-year-old Dauphin, who practically became an exile in his own kingdom. Though this move was opposed by most of the French aristocracy, it was supported by the Burgundians, who had already been publishing propaganda claiming that the Dauphin was the illegitimate son of the murdered Louis of Orléans.
The treaty could have potentially ended the Hundred Years' War in an English victory, uniting the crowns of England and France in the single person of Henry V. However, the English king fell sick and died on 31 August 1422 – since Charles had managed to outlive him, Henry never inherited the French crown. Charles VI himself would die two months later, on 21 October 1422, at the age of 53. He left behind a kingdom riven by warfare and a dynasty in turmoil. It would only be with the help of Joan of Arc (circa 1412-1431) that the disgraced Dauphin would ascend the throne as King Charles VII, before going on to recover much of the lost territory and see an end to the Hundred Years' War.
