Mad Kings and Queens: Raving Royals and How to Survive Them [Wednesday, May 28th, 2nd Period]

[atreideslioness]

"Étudiants, bonjour."  Ghanima said as the last of the class trickled into the room.  "Today we look at a local monarch, King Charles VI." 

"Charles was a man of many names to his subjects, frequently called le Bienaimé, or beloved, and also le Fol or le Fou; the Mad.  He was the King of France from 1380 to his death, and a member of the House of Valois," Ghanima recited, hopping off her desk to start writing on the board.

"He was born in Paris, the son of King Charles V and Jeanne de Bourbon, and 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," she said, drawing out a timeline.  "Now, 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."

"His first known fit occurred in 1392 when his friend and adviser, 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 traveling through a forest, 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 lay still and did not react, falling into a coma. The king killed 6 knights, and possibly more," she said.  "Accounts from the time vary as to the exact number.  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."

Ghanima grabbed a red marker, circling the date.  "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 advisers, 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." 

"Charles VI's reign was marked by the continuing war with the English known as 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."  Ghanima capped her marker, setting it down to address the class more fully. "It never does.  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 Charles VII of France a bastard and betrothed his daughter, Catherine of Valois, to Henry."  Ghanima smiled thinly.  "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.  I am inclined to agree with them."

"Charles VI died in 1422 at Paris and is interred with his wife Isabeau de Bavière in Saint Denis Basilica. Both their grandson, the one-year-old Henry VI of England, and their son, Charles VII, were proclaimed King of France, but it was the latter who finally became the actual ruler with the support of Joan of Arc."

"Unfortunately, Charles VI appeared to have passed on his madness to his grandson Henry, whose inability to govern England helped spark the Wars of the Roses."

[OOC:  You know the drill, wait for the OCD is up!  Go forth and be kingslayers!]