The Dauphines

Trascript:

The Dauphines:

Welcome back to the Hundred Years War, well, sort of. It will be restarting very soon, but I need to share a bit of the childhoods of Louis and John first. Things were looking good for France in some ways at the time of these prince’s births. While their father was suffering from mental breakdowns their sister Isabella was queen of England and there wasn’t currently war between France and England. There’s an important thing that I want each of you to think about throughout this episode. What could make a father want to pass over his own son, not in favour of another son, but in favour of someone he was at war with previously? And why would the mother of the child go along with it? 

Louis, the older of the two was born on the 22nd of January 1397. He was the third son  and eighth child of Charles VI of France and Isabeau of Bavaria. His oldest brother, Charles, and sister, Jeanne, had died years earlier, but his sisters Isabella, a second Jeanne, Marie, and Michelle, and a brother, a second Charles were still alive. So at birth Louis was not the dauphin or heir apparent. He was joined a year and a half later by his younger brother John on the 31st of August 1398. For the next two and a half years these two princes would be of minimal consequence or importance. Their older brother, Charles (the one who survived infancy) was the dauphin and therefore where to political and educational focus was directed. By the time of John’s birth the Dauphin was seven and likely being prepared to be king with a bit more focus than previous princes. Due to their father’s mental illness many in the kingdom would have been aware of the importance of the oldest son of the king. 

On the 13th of January 1401 Louis life would change when his brother Charles died. He was elevated to Duke of Guyenne a day later. Really quick Guyenne is another name for the area of Aquitaine or Gascony. You’ll remember that plenty of the counts of this area were siding the with French at the end of Edward III’s reign and throughout Richard II’s and Henry IV’s reigns. Under Henry V things would change, but we’ll get to that soon. So, while Louis was Duke of Guyenne he, or more his father, didn’t have complete control over it. 

Louis had spent his time before the death of his brother in his mother’s household, but now he had to begin his training to be king. I should probably tell you a bit about Louis’ mother, Isabeau of Bavaria, because I feel like history doesn’t like her. She was a great-granddaughter of a previous Holy Roman Emperor, Louis IV, and he father was the Duke of Bavaria. At the time it was a rather powerful state. While her family was powerful her style and manners would not have served her well as queen consort to one of the most powerful men in Europe, she would have been seen as uncultured. She got lucky though, her great aunt Margaret of Brieg took care when Isabeau visited Hainaut to correct these deficiencies. I find it important to point out those moments in history, related to women, that are often overlooked as being trivial. By giving her niece these social and courtly skills Margaret set Isabeau up to be effective in the French court. While the early years of the couple’s marriage went well there were problems when Charles began to have mental health issues. He would often not recognise Isabeau and ask that she be removed from his presence. This same struggle was seen in his grandson, Henry VI of England in relation to his wife, Margaret of Anjou, a generation later. When Charles wasn’t having episodes he and Isabeau apparently had a happy and productive marriage (they would have seven children after his first episode, including these two subjects). He also trusted her politically. She attempted to negotiate between two powerful factions in court, the Orleans and the Burgundians (whose ongoing arguments will come up in just a few moments). Plus, Charles gave her control of the treasury. So, while we normally think of a boy’s time in his mother’s household as ‘just his childhood’ Isabeau’s household didn’t fit this mould. She was politically active and astute.  

Louis was declared an adult in February of 1402, at only five, and Charles announce a bit more than a year later that should Louis be a minor when he became king that there wouldn’t be a traditional regency as he had experienced. Instead there would be an advisory council, a familiar repeat of Richard II’s minority. Charles of course wouldn’t die in Louis’ lifetime (Louis wouldn’t be a passed if that had happened, after all), but his planning shows that when he wasn’t having mental issues he was a rather forward-thinking and carefully planning monarch. Charles also appointed his wife co-legal guardian of their children (you may remember from the Mortimers’ episode that mothers did not naturally have custody of their children, that right belonged to fathers). He appointed his brother Louis of Orleans (I’ll refer to him by his duchy from here on out to avoid confusing him with his nephew) as the primary in relation to the regency council. This also mean that Isabeau and Orleans worked together rather closely. This may have left an opening for one of the other powerful magnates in the kingdom to start the rumour that the queen and her brother-in-law were having an affair. 

In April of 1403 Louis was betrothed to his cousin, Margaret of Nevers, the granddaughter of Philip the Bold. She had previously been betrothed to Louis’ older brother, Charles the Dauphin. This was an attempt by the Burgundian faction to influence court politics, Philip and Charles had agreed that the former’s oldest granddaughter would marry the latter’s heir. Their marriage wouldn’t be consummated for six more years, since the bride was only 10 and the groom six in 1403 (yes, that does make the groom a bit young at the time). Louis’ sister, Michelle, was betrothed to Margaret’s brother, Philip (the future Philip the Good, really the Burgundians knew how to make a sobriquet). Don’t worry, papal dispensation was sought for all couples involved. While Philip the Bold held a great deal of territory from which to raise funds he would never look a gift horse in the mouth. He used his power to raise funds to finance his expansionist goals, it’s estimated up to half of his income came from the French treasury. Philip the Bold died in 1404, and was succeeded by his son, John the Fearless. Before going any further I need to share something about John the Fearless. The only person whose interests John cared about were his own. No matter which side he was on he was on his own first. Him having influence over his younger son-in-law/cousin was one of his long-term plans to power. 

Louis’ uncle, Orleans, who had acted as his godfather, hence the same names, had been powerful and active in court due to Charles’ illness. This is the one who was accused of having an affair with the queen during the king’s various breakdowns. He and John the Fearless continued the political disunity that had started with Orleans and Philip the Bold. This would impact Louis in 1405 when his uncle kidnapped him! With the help of Isabeau! Yes, Louis’ own mother helped his uncle kidnap him, they wanted to remove him from John the Fearless’ influence. Kidnapping may be too strong of a word. John the Fearless was visiting Paris and wanted to meet with Louis. Orleans and Isabeau left the city at the same time, Louis was summoned by his mother and uncle to join them. Remember, John the Fearless was also Louis’ father-in-law. The kidnapping didn’t work, John the Fearless was able to have one of his retainers intercept Louis and had the Dauphin returned to him to Paris. It really was a bit of politics played as piggy-in-the-middle with the prince, not so much a kidnapping, since his mother did have custody of him. Both sides wanted control of the eventual king.

This politicking between Orleans and John the Fearless eventually boiled over into action. Isabeau gave birth to her final child on the 10th of November 1407. Like a good uncle, Orleans went to visit his sister-in-law and meet his nephew, Philip (who sadly wouldn’t live long) on the 23rd of November. Obviously, those accusing Isabeau and Orleans of having an affair could accuse him of visiting his lover and their child, but I’m going to give the queen and her brother-in-law the benefit of the doubt, mainly because I think the rumours of the affair were Burgundian slander. Orleans was told by a retainer of John the Fearless that Charles was waiting for him at a nearby residence. As you may have guessed already Charles was not waiting for his brother, but about 15 masked men were. They had been sent by John the Fearless to kill Orleans. Orleans’ killing was brutal, and John the Fearless bragged about it after he seized power. Some more rumours for you all, in addition to being accused of being the queen’s lover Orleans was also accused of either attempting to seduce or trying to force himself on John the Fearless’ wife. Orleans did not have the best reputation when it came to the treatment of women. 

The Dauphin Louis obviously had nothing personally to do with the murder, he was only 10. Orleans was succeeded to his duchy by his son Charles, whom I’ll refer to as Charles Orleans to differentiate him from his uncle the king. He was 12 on the day of his father’s murder, he turned 13 the next day, happy birthday Charles Orleans. 

This killing would lead to a civil war in France! Yes, France had a civil war that most of us in the English speaking world have never heard of. The Armagnac-Burgundian Civil War would last from 1407 to 1435. Like all the wars related to the Hundred Years’ War this was a family squabble. Charles Orleans, in an attempt to avenge his father’s murder sided with John the Fearless’ enemies. While a peace was achieved for a short time in 1409 it was tossed out the window in 1410. That’s the year that Charles Orleans married Bonne of Armagnac and his father-in-law, Bernard of Armagnac, took over the leadership of the Orleansist party. This does explain why it’s called the Armagnac-Burgundian Civil War and not the Orleans-Burgundian Civil War.

Louis wouldn’t live to see the entire war. He sided with the Burgundians, not due to loyalty with his father-in-law but because he didn’t really have a choice. John the Fearless pretty much controlled the Dauphins household. When the Armagnac forces were able to take control of Paris Louis requested the Burgundian forces rescue him. The destabilisation of the civil war made Henry V’s campaigns in France a bit easier, plus the Burgundians kept their forces out of the war. Louis stayed in Paris with his father instead of fighting in Agincourt in October of 1415. On the 18th of December 1415 Louis died. His death was blamed on everyone’s favourite disease, dysentery. Louis and his wife Margaret didn’t have any children. With his death his younger brother, John, suddenly came to the forefront. 

While Louis would miss the Battle of Agincourt (and everything else on account of dying), and his father was kept away there were plenty of high-ranking French nobles to participate. And a few of those participants would have a bit of an impact on the rest of this story. Charles, the Duke of Orleans, the son of the murdered Louis of Orleans was captured, as was John, Duke of Bourbon, the son of Louis of Bourbon, Charles VI’s maternal uncle. In addition, over 6,000 French fighters died. This would devastate France, which was already struggling with a civil war and a king who was often unable to recognise those closest to him. Adding the death of the Dauphin months later and it’s easy to understand why France struggled over the next decades. Charles VI did have two other sons, but as you’ll see they hadn’t been prepared for the role. 

John’s life was a bit different from his brother’s to say the least. When John was born on the 31st of August 1398, he had two surviving older brothers, he really was the spare. The fact that his oldest brother had survived infancy was usually a good sign that he’d survive to adulthood. So, John was used to make alliances. When he was four he was betrothed to Jacqueline, the daughter and only legitimate child of the William of Bavaria and Margaret of Burgundy. Jacqueline was the heiress of the county of Hainaut. 

Like John’s mother, Jacqueline was a great granddaughter of Holy Roman Emperor Louis IV through her father. She was also the granddaughter of Philip the Bold. John would move to his future mother-in-law’s household in 1406 when he was seven. The couple was officially married in 1415, don’t worry, Papal dispensation was received (early, the couple had it four years before their wedding). Because he was a spare it was expected that he would focus on ruling his wife’s lands in the future. He had minimal connection to the French since he was raised in Hainaut. It had also protected him from the machinations of his uncles and cousins. 

John’s upbringing was focus on preparing him to rule Hainaut. His future father-in-law wanted to make sure his daughter would have an easy transition to Duchess since he had no legitimate sons. By educating his future son-in-law he could see that his daughter’s future was secure. When Louis died, John’s father-in-law, William, was able to gain influence in the French court. Sadly for his plans, and those of Charles, John didn’t live much longer. He would die at the age of 18 in 1417. There were two potential causes of death, and abscess in he head or poisoning.

While this is the end of the story to these two dauphins who were almost king, it’s not really the end of the story. Patrons will get to hear even more when I discuss Henry V and Joan of Arc in coming weeks. But for the rest of you I’ll give you a bit more of the story. 

The royal couple wanted their youngest surviving and only living son with them, he needed to be trained up on kinging after all. Yolande of Aragon and her husband Louis of Anjou had the youngest surviving son of Charles VI and Isabeau, Charles, I’ll call him young Charles, in their custody. He had been sent to them after his betrothal to their daughter Marie. Louis of Anjou was Charles VI’s cousin through his uncle of the same name. Charles VI and Isabeau requested that Yolande and Louis send their son back to the French court after the death of John (though, Louis of Anjou was probably dead by the time the message arrived, he only lived a few weeks after John’s death). Yolande supposedly responded with ‘We have not nurtured and cherished this one for you to make his die like his brothers or to go mad like his father, or to become English like you. I keep him for my own. Come and take him away, if you dare.’ You all obviously know about the first two accusations made in this quote, the deaths of the dauphins and the madness of Charles VI, but you may not understand the accusation that the queen had become English. 

After the Battle of Agincourt and the death of Louis Isabeau and John the Fearless had sided with the English. Now, this may sound like an odd choice, but Isabeau did have her reasons. For one, the Armagnac faction had imprisoned her, once she got out she wasn’t really feeling supportive of them. Oh, and Yolande was a member of the Armagnac faction. This led Yolande to fear for young Charles’ life, rightly so. Her son-in-law would spend much of his life fighting for his life or throne, sometimes both. Yolande literally protected young Charles, who was barely 14 at the time of his brother John’s death. Most of you will know that young Charles eventually became Charles VII. I’m not going to tell his whole story, because he did become king, but I have one more little bit to share.

Due to Yolande’s support and John the Fearless’ siding with the English young Charles didn’t trust his cousin, John the Fearless. John the Fearless had sided with England partially to protect the wool trade that benefitted his holdings in the Low Countries. They stood against each other at various points throughout 1418 and 1419. They finally agreed to a meeting on the 10th of September 1419. They were meet in the middle of the bridge of Montereau across the Seine. Builders had set up a room in the middle of the bridge by constructing barriers with doors on each army’s side. The Dauphin and John the Fearless were to be escorted by the respective men to the middle, where they would each go through and lock themselves in to meet. John the Fearless bowed to his cousin in respect, and the meeting began well, at least until young Charles’ men burst through his unlocked door and stabbed John to death. Charles apparently just stood by watching, without emotion. Apparently bragging about killing the Dauphin’s uncle years earlier wasn’t the best call. The Dauphin’s men may have even mutilated John’s body in the same manner that Louis of Orleans was mutilated at the time of his murder. 

By standing against John the Fearless Charles was in affect standing against his mother. Which helps answer the question I asked at the start of this episode. The question can’t be answered other than to accept that Charles’ mental illness made him so unwell that he shouldn’t have been able to agree to his youngest son being replaced by Henry V of England. From an actual legal standpoint he had no way of making decision of this nature. Isabeau seemed to feel betrayed by her son’s decision to kill her ally. It’s important to remember that the two subjects of this episode, Louis and John, were not passed over. They had both died before they could be. Would Charles and Isabeau have been as quick to pass over Louis as they were to pass over their youngest surviving son? While Louis hadn’t been their first Dauphin he did appear to be child they put their most planning and energy into. They saw him as a hope for their future. John would have suffered from the same lack a familial affection his parents showed his youngest brother, so yes, there’s a chance that John would have been passed over as well. 

So, would Louis and John have been better kings than the king that succeeded in their place? Honestly, probably not. Spoilers, in a few weeks time when I reach the conclusion of the Hundred Years’ War, I’m going to let you know that Charles VII was one of the greatest kings the French could have asked for. He earned two soubriquets: the Victorious and the Well-Served. The former for his victories that saw France remain a country, the latter for his selection of people to trust in this endeavour. I think Louis would have been too caught up in the machinations of his cousins and his mother would have had too much of an influence on him. John on the other hand would have been focused on his wife’s lands at first and this would have included battling with his cousin John the Fearless for these lands when it came to it. Charles VII had more in common with his thoughtful grandfather, Charles V than any of his immediate family. 

Patrons will be getting an episode on Henry V very soon. Plus one on Joan of Arc. For those who aren’t patrons I’m getting things set up so you can purchase a one-off episode. You’re probably all wondering where the Black Death episode is as well. It’s coming soon, and I’ll let you know when it’s ready. Next week I’ll be returning to England to see how things are going with Henry V out of the picture.