Ancient history

Charles VII, the Victorious, the Well-Served

Paris, 1403 - Mehun-sur-Yèvre, 1461.

King of France in 1422. Fifth son of Charles VI and Isabeau of Bavaria, he first bore the title of Count of Ponthieu. On the death of Jean de France, the last survivor of his older brothers, he became both Duke of Touraine, Duke of Berry and Dauphin of France (1416); he had himself proclaimed regent of the kingdom in 1418, but his legitimacy was contested by the Burgundian faction which, dominating the spirit of Queen Isabeau, managed through her to have him disinherited in favor of Henry V of England, during the conclusion of the Treaty of Troyes in 1420.

When his father's death in 1422 made him the titular king, the English and their Burgundian allies occupied almost all of France north of the Loire, plus, of course, Gironde Guyenne, known as English Guyenne; as a whole, southern France, dominated by the armagnac party, recognizes Charles VII as king, while continuing to call him Dauphin. The financial effort granted by Languedoc in favor of its sovereign is meritorious, but it is not enough to compensate for the lack of a real royal army, based on stable finances and solid institutions. It also seems that Charles VII did not trust his star. Perhaps he lets himself be won over by the suspicion of bastardy that his enemies bring to bear on him. The main engagements of his troops ended in heavy defeats:Gravant (1423), Verneuil (1424), Herring Day (February 1429).

The line of the Loire becomes the stake of the war. Orleans is invested by the troops of Bedford. In agreement with his advisers, Charles thinks that it is impossible to force the blockade and that we must resign ourselves to withdrawing to the south. It was then that the miracle of Joan of Arc occurred. Orleans is saved. Jargeau, the Meung bridge, Beaugency are taken over. The road to Champagne opens before the prince who is crowned in Reims in July 1429. The personal influence of the Maid and the holy anointing transform the timid suitor into an active king, sure of his birth and his royal vocation. , sure of his authority and of the obedience of his subjects, who, in Champagne and around Paris, rallied little by little to the heir of nineteen Capetian kings. The kingdom's salvation is in sight, but its full restoration is a long-term task. For Charles VII to deserve the nickname Victorious, the Constable de Richemont had to replace the inauspicious La Trémoille at the helm of affairs (1433). The years that follow are still years of mourning (torture of Joan of Arc, ravages of the flayers) or humiliations (treaty of Arras with Philippe le Bon); However, it was during this period that the liberation of the territory was being prepared. In 1436, Richemont reconquers Paris. In 1450, the Battle of Formigny chased the English from Normandy. In 1453, the victory of Castillon, the last major battle of the Hundred Years War, definitively delivered Guyenne, including Bordeaux. The English only keep Calais.

The victory had required a great expenditure of human activity, but also a profound reorganization of the recruitment of the army and the provisioning of the Treasury. It was under the reign of Charles VII that France was endowed, for the first time, with fixed, durable, permanent military forces and financial resources. The truce of 14441448 allowed the constitution of the companies of ordinance (1445) and the francs-archers (1448). In 1438, Charles VII had enacted the Pragmatic Sanction. In 1440, he had to face the noble revolt of Praguerie, at the head of which was placed the Dauphin Louis. The Praguerie had been subdued, the main lords who had adhered to it had submitted, but the dolphin remained eternally hostile to his father. The last years of this one were to be overshadowed by it, whatever the successes obtained against Jean II d'Alençon, condemned by his peers for complicity with the enemy (1458), and against Jean V d'Armagnac, prosecuted in parliament to answer for his incestuous morals and his claim to exercise sovereignty in his fiefs (1460).

The personality of this king with an unattractive face still seems difficult to grasp today. The judgments passed on his intellectual faculties and his morality have long been marked with excessive severity. In the last century and even not long ago, it was fashionable to emphasize his abulia and his "royal ingratitude." Now we come back to more nuances.

Like his father, but fortunately less than him, Charles VII seems to have had weak nerves. In 1422, in La Rochelle, the floor of the hall where the Council was held had collapsed. Charles had been, if not hurt, at least greatly shocked. This incident could explain certain absences of reactions, certain physical and moral abandonments which will diminish without disappearing after the intervention of Joan of Arc and the coronation.

That Charles VII became the Victorious because he had been the Well Served is undeniable. To varying degrees, Joan of Arc, Yolande of Aragon, Jacques Cceur, Dunois, Xaintrailles, and many others (and perhaps Agnès Sorel), were the architects of its success. However, it would be imprudent to consider only the servants and to forget the master. Only those who want and can be served are served. Charles VII intended to conduct the affairs of the kingdom as he pleased. The case of the Pragmatic Sanction, which was never recognized by Rome, but did not entail any excommunication, proves it. The position of arbiter of Christianity that the king of France secured in 1448, when the Great Schism threatened to rebound, is an even more striking testimony to this.

The accusation of ingratitude may appear a priori to be well founded. It rests on two main heads:the abandonment, or alleged abandonment, of Joan of Arc during her captivity; the Jacques Coeur case. As for the abandonment of Jeanne, the defense of the prince is easy. It suffices to ask the following questions:was it Charles VII who made the law among the Burgundians and the English? how could the “alleged king of France have been able to obtain the release of a prisoner whom the English had sworn to condemn, precisely because she was in the process of restoring the Capetian dynasty? finally, who, if not Charles VII, took the initiative in the trial for the rehabilitation of Joan of Arc, when Normandy had been rid of English occupation? The attitude of Charles VII in the iniquitous lawsuit brought against Jacques Ceeur is much less clear, because in this case, the king could protect his servant from the attacks of the envious. If he let things happen, it was certainly not to seize the treasures of his first creditor, nor doubtless to deliver his goods to the courtiers. The most likely explanation is that, since the Dauphin's betrayal, the king's natural distrust of those close to him had increased to the point of becoming sickly.

Charles had married, in 1422, Marie d'Anjou, daughter of King Louis of Sicily. He had twelve children by her. Many died in infancy. The others were:Louis, who succeeded his father under the name of Louis XI; Charles, Duke of Guyenne, Berry, Normandy, died 1472; Radegonde, who died without marriage in 1444; Catherine, married in 1439 to Charles the Bold; Yolande, who married Amédée IX of Savoy in 1452; Jeanne, married in 1447 to Jean de Bourbon; Madeleine, married in 1461 to Gaston de Foix, Prince of Viane.

Linked to the king from the year 1433, Agnès Sorel gave him:Charlotte, who in 1462 married Jacques de Brézé, Count of Maulévrier (who killed her in 1476 to punish her adultery); Marguerite, married to Olivier de Coétivy; Jeanne, married to Antoine de Bueil.


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