WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:01.700 Welcome to the Deep Dive, the place where we 00:00:01.700 --> 00:00:04.240 take stacks of sources, research notes and historical 00:00:04.240 --> 00:00:07.000 narratives and try to distill all that chaos 00:00:07.000 --> 00:00:09.679 into the insight you need to be truly well informed. 00:00:09.900 --> 00:00:13.039 And today we are heading on what is probably 00:00:13.039 --> 00:00:15.779 one of the most tragic and just plain bizarre 00:00:15.779 --> 00:00:18.100 journeys in European history. We're tracking 00:00:18.100 --> 00:00:21.440 the life of Charles VI of France. This is a story. 00:00:22.000 --> 00:00:24.379 That honestly, it reads like a classical tragedy. 00:00:24.480 --> 00:00:27.879 You have a king who governed for 42 years, but 00:00:27.879 --> 00:00:30.940 his life is this perfect, horrifying illustration 00:00:30.940 --> 00:00:34.859 of how a single devastating mental illness can 00:00:34.859 --> 00:00:37.039 completely shatter a nation. Right. And lead 00:00:37.039 --> 00:00:39.380 it to the very brink of foreign conquest and, 00:00:39.520 --> 00:00:43.100 well, civil annihilation. And the sources. The 00:00:43.100 --> 00:00:45.259 sources saddle him with these two nicknames that 00:00:45.259 --> 00:00:47.100 are so contradictory, they're almost unbelievable. 00:00:47.460 --> 00:00:50.500 The first one is the beloved. Le Bien -Aimé. 00:00:50.560 --> 00:00:54.100 Yeah, which he earned during this brief successful 00:00:54.100 --> 00:00:56.240 window when things were going really well. And 00:00:56.240 --> 00:00:59.880 the second one. The Mad. Le Fou. Or Le Fou. And 00:00:59.880 --> 00:01:01.700 that's the name that ultimately defined not just 00:01:01.700 --> 00:01:04.579 him, but his entire era. So our mission for this 00:01:04.579 --> 00:01:07.519 deep dive is to really unpack that. To trace 00:01:07.519 --> 00:01:11.239 his life from this promising start through the... 00:01:11.590 --> 00:01:14.209 really disturbing manifestations of his psychosis. 00:01:14.370 --> 00:01:17.290 Which were often spectacular and very, very public. 00:01:17.489 --> 00:01:20.290 Exactly. And then understand precisely how this 00:01:20.290 --> 00:01:24.010 personal disaster created a power vacuum that 00:01:24.010 --> 00:01:26.400 just fractured the French state. A vacuum that 00:01:26.400 --> 00:01:29.640 ultimately allowed Henry V of England to seize 00:01:29.640 --> 00:01:32.859 the advantage and for a time completely dominate 00:01:32.859 --> 00:01:35.400 France during the late Hundred Years' War. Okay, 00:01:35.459 --> 00:01:37.599 so the starting line here is absolutely essential. 00:01:38.019 --> 00:01:40.939 Charles VI was born in 1368, and when he was 00:01:40.939 --> 00:01:42.819 crowned, he was only 11 years old. This was in 00:01:42.819 --> 00:01:45.900 1380. And at that point, he was in an enviably 00:01:45.900 --> 00:01:49.180 strong position. His father, Charles V, was an 00:01:49.180 --> 00:01:51.280 incredibly astute ruler. They called him the 00:01:51.280 --> 00:01:53.540 wise for a reason. Right. He rebuilt the royal 00:01:53.540 --> 00:01:56.159 finances. He professionalized. the army, he was 00:01:56.159 --> 00:01:58.340 actively driving the English back. So Charles 00:01:58.340 --> 00:02:01.120 VI inherits this really favorable military and 00:02:01.120 --> 00:02:03.439 political situation. But as we're about to see, 00:02:03.560 --> 00:02:06.239 that strength was, well, it was squandered almost 00:02:06.239 --> 00:02:08.159 immediately. The irony is just crushing, isn't 00:02:08.159 --> 00:02:10.340 it? He reigned all the way until 1422, which 00:02:10.340 --> 00:02:13.699 is a long time. A very long tenure. But his true 00:02:13.699 --> 00:02:16.620 control, the period where he was actually a successful 00:02:16.620 --> 00:02:19.639 functional monarch, was incredibly short -lived. 00:02:19.780 --> 00:02:21.819 First, it was dominated by these self -interested 00:02:21.819 --> 00:02:24.889 regents. Yeah. His uncles. And then, tragically, 00:02:25.009 --> 00:02:28.030 it was completely eclipsed by the onset of these 00:02:28.030 --> 00:02:30.509 severe psychotic episodes that began when he 00:02:30.509 --> 00:02:34.189 was only 24. It's a 42 -year chronicle of catastrophic 00:02:34.189 --> 00:02:36.449 decline. So let's start where all the trouble 00:02:36.449 --> 00:02:39.750 really began. The minority. Charles VI is crowned 00:02:39.750 --> 00:02:42.909 in November 1380. Now, the official age of majority 00:02:42.909 --> 00:02:45.900 was 14. But the powerful men around him, his 00:02:45.900 --> 00:02:48.780 uncles, they successfully argued to extend the 00:02:48.780 --> 00:02:51.379 regency until he was 20. So who were these men 00:02:51.379 --> 00:02:53.259 and what were their real interests? Because it 00:02:53.259 --> 00:02:55.000 certainly wasn't the stability of France. No, 00:02:55.020 --> 00:02:57.180 not really. These were the powerful dukes, all 00:02:57.180 --> 00:02:59.659 brothers of the late Charles V, plus one maternal 00:02:59.659 --> 00:03:02.520 uncle. In order of, let's say, influence, you 00:03:02.520 --> 00:03:04.740 had Philip II, the Duke of Burgundy. He immediately 00:03:04.740 --> 00:03:06.939 took the dominant role. Then there was Louis 00:03:06.939 --> 00:03:10.199 XVI, Duke of Anjou, John, Duke of Bury, and finally 00:03:10.199 --> 00:03:12.460 Louis II, Duke of Bourbon, the maternal uncle. 00:03:12.740 --> 00:03:14.479 It sounds... Sounds like a recipe for political 00:03:14.479 --> 00:03:16.879 fragmentation right from the start. It was, and 00:03:16.879 --> 00:03:18.919 that's exactly what happened. Take Louis Vanjou, 00:03:18.979 --> 00:03:22.180 for example. He had these grand, incredibly distracting 00:03:22.180 --> 00:03:24.580 ambitions elsewhere. You wanted a kingdom in 00:03:24.580 --> 00:03:27.800 Italy, right? Precisely. He spent years, starting 00:03:27.800 --> 00:03:30.979 in 1382, fighting for the kingdom of Naples to 00:03:30.979 --> 00:03:33.719 assert his claim there. He was completely focused 00:03:33.719 --> 00:03:36.099 on an Italian kingdom, not the French treasury, 00:03:36.300 --> 00:03:39.900 right up until he died in 1384. And John of Barry. 00:03:40.319 --> 00:03:42.939 Was he any better? He was similarly distracted, 00:03:43.360 --> 00:03:46.280 though a bit closer to home. His focus was almost 00:03:46.280 --> 00:03:49.360 entirely on maximizing his own extensive interests 00:03:49.360 --> 00:03:51.599 and wealth in Languedoc in the south of France. 00:03:51.860 --> 00:03:55.900 He was a famous patron of the arts, though. An 00:03:55.900 --> 00:03:58.879 incredible patron of the arts, yes, but a terrible 00:03:58.879 --> 00:04:01.300 public servant, he was far more concerned with 00:04:01.300 --> 00:04:03.360 building his magnificent chateau and acquiring 00:04:03.360 --> 00:04:05.680 these beautiful illuminated manuscripts than 00:04:05.680 --> 00:04:07.900 he was with actually governing France. So that 00:04:07.900 --> 00:04:10.620 leaves the maternal uncle, Louis II, Duke of 00:04:10.620 --> 00:04:13.080 Bourbon. The sources describe him as the least 00:04:13.080 --> 00:04:16.120 consequential, eccentric, largely unimportant 00:04:16.120 --> 00:04:19.120 politically. It is worth noting, though, that 00:04:19.120 --> 00:04:21.560 he himself was known to display signs of mental 00:04:21.560 --> 00:04:25.610 instability. An unsettling bit of foreshadowing, 00:04:25.649 --> 00:04:28.290 isn't it? It really is an unsettling precursor, 00:04:28.290 --> 00:04:30.389 perhaps, to the illness that would soon grip 00:04:30.389 --> 00:04:33.350 the family's young king. So you have four men 00:04:33.350 --> 00:04:34.970 who are supposed to be governing the kingdom, 00:04:35.089 --> 00:04:38.110 but only one, Philip the Bold of Burgundy, is 00:04:38.110 --> 00:04:40.490 really active in the core decision -making. And 00:04:40.490 --> 00:04:43.129 his focus was entirely self -serving. This led 00:04:43.129 --> 00:04:45.870 directly to the central problem of the early 00:04:45.870 --> 00:04:49.220 regency. The systematic and incredibly rapid 00:04:49.220 --> 00:04:51.699 financial mismanagement of the entire kingdom. 00:04:51.879 --> 00:04:54.740 Right. Because their father, Charles V, had been 00:04:54.740 --> 00:04:56.759 so careful he'd painstakingly built up the royal 00:04:56.759 --> 00:04:59.180 treasury, accumulated wealth, secured loans. 00:04:59.379 --> 00:05:02.500 He ensured fiscal stability. But the Dukes, they 00:05:02.500 --> 00:05:05.019 saw this accumulated wealth not as state resources, 00:05:05.180 --> 00:05:08.180 but as like a giant inheritance, a personal cash 00:05:08.180 --> 00:05:10.360 machine for their own ambitions. The sources 00:05:10.360 --> 00:05:12.189 on this are pretty damning, aren't they? Oh, 00:05:12.189 --> 00:05:15.209 absolutely. They centralized power specifically 00:05:15.209 --> 00:05:18.610 to achieve their financial aims. They got rid 00:05:18.610 --> 00:05:21.860 of Charles V's competent administrators. And 00:05:21.860 --> 00:05:25.120 critically, they reversed Charles V's popular 00:05:25.120 --> 00:05:29.100 deathbed decision to repeal several highly unpopular 00:05:29.100 --> 00:05:32.079 taxes, known as the aides. So they weren't just 00:05:32.079 --> 00:05:34.699 squandering money. They were actively alienating 00:05:34.699 --> 00:05:37.399 the population for personal gain. Exactly. They 00:05:37.399 --> 00:05:40.360 needed cash for Burgundy's expansion, for Anjou's 00:05:40.360 --> 00:05:43.180 Neapolitan adventure, for Barry's luxury spending. 00:05:43.399 --> 00:05:45.420 And they were going to get it, no matter the 00:05:45.420 --> 00:05:47.620 cost to the kingdom's stability. Reversing a 00:05:47.620 --> 00:05:49.939 popular tax repeal has to be one of the quickest 00:05:49.939 --> 00:05:52.720 ways to trigger urban unrest. And that's exactly 00:05:52.720 --> 00:05:54.699 what happened almost immediately. It resulted 00:05:54.699 --> 00:05:57.240 in significant tax revolts all across the kingdom, 00:05:57.420 --> 00:05:59.860 collectively known as the Harrel. The Harrel, 00:05:59.879 --> 00:06:01.939 what does that name mean? It comes from the rallying 00:06:01.939 --> 00:06:04.439 cry, the hurrah, which was a cry of alarm. It 00:06:04.439 --> 00:06:07.459 began in ruin and just spread like wildfire throughout 00:06:07.459 --> 00:06:10.180 northern France. So this is a massive urban uprising. 00:06:10.399 --> 00:06:13.120 It was. It was a huge popular movement against 00:06:13.120 --> 00:06:16.319 the arbitrary reimposition of these taxes. And 00:06:16.319 --> 00:06:18.540 it just goes to show how quickly the legitimacy 00:06:18.540 --> 00:06:21.720 and the goodwill that Charles V had earned were 00:06:21.720 --> 00:06:24.639 completely destroyed by the Duke's sheer greed. 00:06:25.360 --> 00:06:27.779 The crown was immediately unstable the moment 00:06:27.779 --> 00:06:29.959 its strong hand was removed. And their political 00:06:29.959 --> 00:06:32.279 decisions in foreign affairs were just as self 00:06:32.279 --> 00:06:34.860 -interested. You mentioned the Battle of Rosbeck 00:06:34.860 --> 00:06:38.000 in 1382. That battle is the perfect example of 00:06:38.000 --> 00:06:40.139 the dukes manipulating the French state for private 00:06:40.139 --> 00:06:42.860 gain. Rosbeck was fought against the Flemings, 00:06:42.860 --> 00:06:45.279 led by Philip van Artvel. And this was a revolt 00:06:45.279 --> 00:06:47.120 that threatened Philip the Bold of Burgundy's 00:06:47.120 --> 00:06:50.189 interest in Flanders. Significantly. His territorial 00:06:50.189 --> 00:06:52.610 and economic interests. So the French army, the 00:06:52.610 --> 00:06:55.529 king's forces, were essentially deployed for 00:06:55.529 --> 00:06:57.990 one reason, to protect the private domain of 00:06:57.990 --> 00:06:59.930 Duke of Burgundy. Further draining resources 00:06:59.930 --> 00:07:02.750 and diverting attention from the actual war against 00:07:02.750 --> 00:07:05.730 England. Precisely. During this period, France 00:07:05.730 --> 00:07:09.050 was less a kingdom and more a collection of private 00:07:09.050 --> 00:07:12.949 vehicle properties. So by 1388, Charles VI is 00:07:12.949 --> 00:07:15.589 20. He must have been acutely aware that his 00:07:15.589 --> 00:07:17.670 uncles were bankrupting the country in his name. 00:07:17.980 --> 00:07:20.819 Absolutely. And the sources described this moment 00:07:20.819 --> 00:07:24.339 in 1388 as Charles finally showing this powerful, 00:07:24.480 --> 00:07:27.560 decisive moment of political maturity. He saw 00:07:27.560 --> 00:07:31.139 the damage. And he acted. He did. Publicly and 00:07:31.139 --> 00:07:33.579 dramatically, he dismissed his corrupt uncles. 00:07:33.720 --> 00:07:36.079 He effectively stripped them of their governmental 00:07:36.079 --> 00:07:38.759 authority and took the reins of power himself. 00:07:39.259 --> 00:07:42.220 It was a bit late, but he did it with great conviction. 00:07:42.439 --> 00:07:45.519 And what he did next was brilliantly strategic. 00:07:46.329 --> 00:07:48.709 he restored the highly competent advisers of 00:07:48.709 --> 00:07:51.319 his father The men often dismissively called 00:07:51.319 --> 00:07:54.660 the marmosets. The marmosets, yes. The word means 00:07:54.660 --> 00:07:57.040 something like little men or little boys. It 00:07:57.040 --> 00:07:59.199 was a derogatory term the powerful dukes used 00:07:59.199 --> 00:08:01.939 to describe these, you know, lower nobility but 00:08:01.939 --> 00:08:04.459 highly educated and loyal administrators. Men 00:08:04.459 --> 00:08:07.240 like Bureau de la Riviere and Olivier de Clisson. 00:08:07.360 --> 00:08:10.060 Exactly. But these little men were incredibly 00:08:10.060 --> 00:08:12.220 effective. They immediately began restoring financial 00:08:12.220 --> 00:08:14.899 order, simplifying the tax code, and enforcing 00:08:14.899 --> 00:08:17.019 strict accountability on all royal spending. 00:08:17.550 --> 00:08:19.910 And this marks a really critical four -year period. 00:08:20.189 --> 00:08:22.569 The sources describe it as ushering in a new 00:08:22.569 --> 00:08:24.949 period of high esteem for the crown. And it was 00:08:24.949 --> 00:08:27.569 during this brief time that the young, competent 00:08:27.569 --> 00:08:31.410 king earned that first positive and, in hindsight, 00:08:31.569 --> 00:08:33.889 tragically ironic nickname from his subjects, 00:08:34.230 --> 00:08:36.809 Charles the Beloved. For a moment, it really 00:08:36.809 --> 00:08:39.190 must have appeared that the House of Valois was 00:08:39.190 --> 00:08:42.409 not only stable, but was actually poised for 00:08:42.409 --> 00:08:44.909 a new era of success. That's why this period 00:08:44.909 --> 00:08:47.090 is so important to understand. It shows that 00:08:47.090 --> 00:08:49.889 Charles VI had the capacity to be a strong, effective 00:08:49.889 --> 00:08:53.110 ruler. He wasn't destined for madness from birth. 00:08:53.450 --> 00:08:56.070 His successful four years prove he possessed 00:08:56.070 --> 00:08:58.509 the political intelligence to govern. Which just 00:08:58.509 --> 00:09:01.309 makes the eventual collapse due to his illness 00:09:01.309 --> 00:09:03.429 all the more devastating for the kingdom. It 00:09:03.429 --> 00:09:05.789 is genuinely tragic, knowing that this brief 00:09:05.789 --> 00:09:08.509 shining moment was just a prelude to utter psychological 00:09:08.509 --> 00:09:11.610 and political darkness. That era of competency 00:09:11.610 --> 00:09:14.580 was so fragile. it collapsed in the most spectacular 00:09:14.580 --> 00:09:17.940 fashion in 1392. So the period of stable, successful 00:09:17.940 --> 00:09:22.200 rule ends abruptly in August 1392. This is the 00:09:22.200 --> 00:09:24.600 year that marks the clear onset of his debilitating 00:09:24.600 --> 00:09:26.659 psychosis. And it was triggered by a military 00:09:26.659 --> 00:09:29.259 campaign. He was heading to the Duchy of Brittany. 00:09:29.519 --> 00:09:32.200 Why Brittany? The king was absolutely incensed 00:09:32.200 --> 00:09:35.360 because his dear friend and one of his key marmoset 00:09:35.360 --> 00:09:38.419 advisors, Olivier de Clisson. The constable of 00:09:38.419 --> 00:09:41.059 France. Right. Clisson had survived an assassination 00:09:41.059 --> 00:09:43.360 attempt orchestrated by by a man named Pierre 00:09:43.360 --> 00:09:46.419 de Creon. Creon then took refuge with John V, 00:09:46.659 --> 00:09:48.980 the Duke of Brittany, who refused to hand him 00:09:48.980 --> 00:09:51.779 over. So Charles took it personally. Very personally. 00:09:52.019 --> 00:09:55.139 He insisted on punishing the Duke himself, and 00:09:55.139 --> 00:09:57.600 some sources suggest this was an early sign of 00:09:57.600 --> 00:10:00.039 a kind of manic fixation. He seemed to be in 00:10:00.039 --> 00:10:02.919 a frantic fever to start the campaign, ignoring 00:10:02.919 --> 00:10:05.620 his physician's advice to rest. The sources paint 00:10:05.620 --> 00:10:07.279 a really disturbing picture of his psychological 00:10:07.279 --> 00:10:10.899 state, even before they set off. They do. Contemporaries 00:10:10.899 --> 00:10:12.679 noted that Charles was already showing signs 00:10:12.679 --> 00:10:15.539 of distraction, his speech was disjointed. The 00:10:15.539 --> 00:10:19.120 army set off on July 1st, 1392, but the slow 00:10:19.120 --> 00:10:21.320 pace and the intense... Tense summer heat just 00:10:21.320 --> 00:10:23.799 seemed to feed his internal agitation. Okay, 00:10:23.840 --> 00:10:25.720 so let's unpack this incredibly dramatic scene 00:10:25.720 --> 00:10:29.220 that happened near Le Mans in August 1392. This 00:10:29.220 --> 00:10:32.039 is the moment history recorded his first true 00:10:32.039 --> 00:10:35.259 public breakdown. The buildup is just critical. 00:10:35.500 --> 00:10:38.899 The royal procession is riding through this hot, 00:10:38.899 --> 00:10:41.440 humid forest, and they're suddenly confronted 00:10:41.440 --> 00:10:44.139 by this figure. He's described as a barefoot 00:10:44.139 --> 00:10:46.820 leper dressed in rags who just rushes out of 00:10:46.820 --> 00:10:49.429 the trees. And he grabs the king's bridle. the 00:10:49.429 --> 00:10:51.789 nerve of that incredible and he starts screaming 00:10:51.789 --> 00:10:54.909 at the king ride no further noble king turn back 00:10:54.909 --> 00:10:58.169 you are betrayed wow the king's guards managed 00:10:58.169 --> 00:11:00.509 to beat the man back but they didn't capture 00:11:00.509 --> 00:11:03.350 him and he continued to shadow the procession 00:11:03.350 --> 00:11:05.809 for nearly half an hour just repeating this frantic 00:11:05.809 --> 00:11:09.149 warning over and over so that immediately establishes 00:11:09.149 --> 00:11:12.389 this state of intense paranoia and tension among 00:11:12.389 --> 00:11:15.169 the entire escort completely and then came the 00:11:15.169 --> 00:11:17.370 physical trigger the thing that finally broke 00:11:17.370 --> 00:11:20.320 charles's already stressed mind what was it as 00:11:20.320 --> 00:11:22.399 the company emerged from the dense woods into 00:11:22.399 --> 00:11:25.700 the full heat of the midday sun a page maybe 00:11:25.700 --> 00:11:28.500 he was tired maybe careless he dropped the king's 00:11:28.500 --> 00:11:31.179 lance and it made a loud noise a very loud noise 00:11:31.179 --> 00:11:33.820 the weapon clanged against a steel helmet being 00:11:33.820 --> 00:11:36.440 carried by another page nearby and that seemingly 00:11:36.440 --> 00:11:39.059 minor sound was the catalyst for the whole catastrophe 00:11:39.789 --> 00:11:42.250 It was the breaking point. The sound, combined 00:11:42.250 --> 00:11:44.809 with the heat, the stress, and that chilling 00:11:44.809 --> 00:11:47.389 warning from the leper. Charles just shuddered 00:11:47.389 --> 00:11:50.210 violently. He instantly drew his sword. And started 00:11:50.210 --> 00:11:52.669 yelling. Screaming, forward against the traitors! 00:11:52.730 --> 00:11:55.230 They wish to deliver me to the enemy! And he 00:11:55.230 --> 00:11:57.490 attacked his own men. He attacked without discrimination. 00:11:58.240 --> 00:12:00.600 He genuinely believed they were the traitors 00:12:00.600 --> 00:12:03.480 the leper had warned him about. The sources confirm 00:12:03.480 --> 00:12:06.139 he killed several men, including a knight known 00:12:06.139 --> 00:12:09.519 as the Bastard of Poloniak. My God, how did they 00:12:09.519 --> 00:12:12.080 stop him? It took the combined strength of his 00:12:12.080 --> 00:12:14.740 chamberlains and soldiers to finally drag him 00:12:14.740 --> 00:12:17.840 from his horse and subdue him. He then just collapsed. 00:12:18.039 --> 00:12:21.100 He fell into a profound coma. What a terrifying 00:12:21.100 --> 00:12:23.820 and incredibly public display of instability. 00:12:24.399 --> 00:12:26.720 The political consequences must have been devastating. 00:12:27.339 --> 00:12:29.940 Immediate and total, he was carried unconscious 00:12:29.940 --> 00:12:33.399 to the nearby castle of Creole. The political 00:12:33.399 --> 00:12:36.059 reality was crystal clear. The successful rule 00:12:36.059 --> 00:12:38.620 of the marmosets was over. The sources say he 00:12:38.620 --> 00:12:40.779 was instantly placed back under the regency of 00:12:40.779 --> 00:12:43.200 the powerful dukes of Bury and Burgundy. So the 00:12:43.200 --> 00:12:46.059 clock was turned back to 1388, but this time 00:12:46.059 --> 00:12:49.629 the crown itself was broken. Exactly. And the 00:12:49.629 --> 00:12:51.549 incident near Le Mans was just the beginning. 00:12:51.730 --> 00:12:55.470 From 1392 until his death 30 years later, Charles 00:12:55.470 --> 00:12:58.870 VI cycled constantly between these brief, precious 00:12:58.870 --> 00:13:02.230 periods of lucidity and intense mental instability. 00:13:02.889 --> 00:13:05.990 Stable governance became impossible. So what 00:13:05.990 --> 00:13:08.850 were some of the other bizarre manifestations 00:13:08.850 --> 00:13:12.350 of his psychosis? The sheer variety of his delusions 00:13:12.350 --> 00:13:14.389 is what makes this case so medically compelling. 00:13:15.230 --> 00:13:18.789 Just a few months after Le Mans, in 1393, he 00:13:18.789 --> 00:13:21.669 experienced this profound amnesia. He didn't 00:13:21.669 --> 00:13:23.769 know who he was. Didn't have a clue. When his 00:13:23.769 --> 00:13:26.370 wife, Queen Isabeau, came to his bedside, he 00:13:26.370 --> 00:13:29.149 genuinely did not recognize her. He asked his 00:13:29.149 --> 00:13:31.289 servants who this woman was and ordered them 00:13:31.289 --> 00:13:33.570 to remove her so he could be left alone. He couldn't 00:13:33.570 --> 00:13:35.330 remember his own name or the fact that he was 00:13:35.330 --> 00:13:36.950 the king of France. Can you imagine the horror 00:13:36.950 --> 00:13:39.320 of the court? Realizing their sovereign doesn't 00:13:39.320 --> 00:13:40.980 even know he's the sovereign. It's terrifying. 00:13:41.259 --> 00:13:43.259 And subsequent delusions took on these almost 00:13:43.259 --> 00:13:45.639 mythical qualities. It showed he still retained 00:13:45.639 --> 00:13:47.879 some fragments of his royal and religious education. 00:13:48.299 --> 00:13:52.299 Well, around 1395 to 96, he developed these highly 00:13:52.299 --> 00:13:55.399 specific delusions. For a time, he claimed he 00:13:55.399 --> 00:13:57.740 was St. George, the patron saint of chivalry. 00:13:58.039 --> 00:14:00.399 He started demanding that his coat of arms be 00:14:00.399 --> 00:14:02.539 changed to a lion with a sword thrust through 00:14:02.539 --> 00:14:04.659 it. And he would recognize some people, but not 00:14:04.659 --> 00:14:07.169 others. That's one of the strangest parts. During 00:14:07.169 --> 00:14:08.870 these episodes, he would often recognize the 00:14:08.870 --> 00:14:11.190 minor officers of his household, the squires, 00:14:11.230 --> 00:14:14.110 the valets, but remain utterly detached from 00:14:14.110 --> 00:14:16.610 his own wife and his children. It suggests a 00:14:16.610 --> 00:14:19.309 very selective or maybe even a defensive form 00:14:19.309 --> 00:14:21.970 of memory and recognition. And then, of course, 00:14:22.049 --> 00:14:24.009 there's the most famous delusion, the one that 00:14:24.009 --> 00:14:26.730 truly captured the imagination for centuries, 00:14:27.009 --> 00:14:30.360 the glass delusion. The documentation for this 00:14:30.360 --> 00:14:32.799 is incredible. It comes not just from chroniclers, 00:14:32.879 --> 00:14:35.100 but from Pope Pius II, who wrote about it in 00:14:35.100 --> 00:14:38.019 his commentaries. Charles VI sometimes genuinely 00:14:38.019 --> 00:14:40.139 believed his body was made of glass. That he 00:14:40.139 --> 00:14:42.559 would shatter if he experienced any kind of impact. 00:14:42.799 --> 00:14:45.100 Exactly. And that is such a powerful and specific 00:14:45.100 --> 00:14:48.080 mental image. What did he do to, you know, protect 00:14:48.080 --> 00:14:50.519 himself? He reportedly took these extraordinary 00:14:50.519 --> 00:14:54.179 measures. He had iron rods sewn into his clothes, 00:14:54.299 --> 00:14:56.379 essentially creating a kind of internal cage 00:14:56.379 --> 00:15:00.019 around his body. into a person or a piece of 00:15:00.019 --> 00:15:02.240 furniture? The metal structure would absorb the 00:15:02.240 --> 00:15:05.019 shock and his glass body would remain intact. 00:15:05.460 --> 00:15:08.820 This kind of persistent protective behavior really 00:15:08.820 --> 00:15:11.240 demonstrates the absolute conviction he held 00:15:11.240 --> 00:15:14.259 in this delusion. Beyond these dramatic delusions, 00:15:14.279 --> 00:15:17.539 his illness eventually led to just sheer self 00:15:17.539 --> 00:15:20.299 -neglect, which must have further isolated him 00:15:20.299 --> 00:15:23.200 from his role as king. By 1405, the self -neglect 00:15:23.200 --> 00:15:25.879 became impossible to hide. The sources state 00:15:25.879 --> 00:15:28.159 he refused to bathe or change his clothes for 00:15:28.159 --> 00:15:30.940 five months straight. Five months. Five months. 00:15:31.080 --> 00:15:33.759 At his residence, the Hotel Saint -Paul, he would 00:15:33.759 --> 00:15:36.139 sometimes experience these periods of manic running, 00:15:36.240 --> 00:15:38.179 just wildly sprinting through the corridors. 00:15:38.419 --> 00:15:41.259 It created such a state of chaos and danger that 00:15:41.259 --> 00:15:43.419 eventually they had to physically wall up the 00:15:43.419 --> 00:15:46.460 doorways. To keep him confined. His court effectively 00:15:46.460 --> 00:15:49.000 became a padded cell for the king. It did. Now, 00:15:49.059 --> 00:15:55.139 given the dramatic and varied nature... I can 00:15:55.139 --> 00:15:57.740 imagine. What are the main theories? Well, the 00:15:57.740 --> 00:16:00.139 lack of a unified diagnosis is a big part of 00:16:00.139 --> 00:16:02.740 the story. When modern psychiatry emerged in 00:16:02.740 --> 00:16:05.340 the 19th century, the default assumption for 00:16:05.340 --> 00:16:08.980 any historical royal instability was, you know, 00:16:09.019 --> 00:16:12.080 schizophrenia. The general term for severe psychosis. 00:16:12.179 --> 00:16:15.259 Right. But more specific alternatives have been 00:16:15.259 --> 00:16:18.100 proposed based on the source descriptions. Things 00:16:18.100 --> 00:16:20.559 like manic depressive psychosis, what we now 00:16:20.559 --> 00:16:23.259 call bipolar disorder, which would account for 00:16:23.259 --> 00:16:25.519 the cycles between frenetic activity, like the 00:16:25.519 --> 00:16:28.299 campaign to Brittany, and then deep comas or 00:16:28.299 --> 00:16:30.159 amnesia. And there were more physical theories 00:16:30.159 --> 00:16:33.480 too, right? Yes. Some have suggested severe arsenic 00:16:33.480 --> 00:16:35.759 poisoning may be administered inadvertently or 00:16:35.759 --> 00:16:38.960 maliciously. The sudden violent onset supports 00:16:38.960 --> 00:16:42.700 that idea. Then there's typhus induced encephalopathy. 00:16:42.840 --> 00:16:44.960 Typhus. Typhus is interesting because it could 00:16:44.960 --> 00:16:47.580 explain both the fits of delirium and the chronicler's 00:16:47.580 --> 00:16:50.639 mentions of rashes or skin issues. And finally, 00:16:50.759 --> 00:16:53.879 porphyria, a metabolic disorder, is another classic, 00:16:53.960 --> 00:16:56.799 though maybe overused, historical diagnosis for 00:16:56.799 --> 00:16:59.919 royal madness. So a single definitive diagnosis. 00:17:00.269 --> 00:17:02.289 will probably forever remain out of reach. I 00:17:02.289 --> 00:17:05.190 think so. But the political impact was immediate 00:17:05.190 --> 00:17:07.769 and measurable. The one constant through these 00:17:07.769 --> 00:17:10.349 years was the desperate attempt by those close 00:17:10.349 --> 00:17:13.269 to him to maintain some semblance of order. Which 00:17:13.269 --> 00:17:15.769 brings us to Pierre Salmon, his secretary. Exactly. 00:17:16.069 --> 00:17:18.230 Salmon spent a lot of time with the king during 00:17:18.230 --> 00:17:20.950 his lucid periods. And his response wasn't medical. 00:17:21.009 --> 00:17:25.250 It was... philosophical and political. He oversaw 00:17:25.250 --> 00:17:28.069 the production of these two magnificent, richly 00:17:28.069 --> 00:17:30.430 illuminated versions of his dialogues. They were 00:17:30.430 --> 00:17:33.000 basically guidebooks for good kingship. That's 00:17:33.000 --> 00:17:35.240 right. Manuals designed to remind Charles of 00:17:35.240 --> 00:17:37.720 his duty, and perhaps through literature, to 00:17:37.720 --> 00:17:40.059 help stabilize this deeply volatile kingdom. 00:17:40.279 --> 00:17:42.920 It was a very courtly, intellectual attempt to 00:17:42.920 --> 00:17:45.599 fight chaos. Speaking of chaos, let's transition 00:17:45.599 --> 00:17:48.339 from the king's personal breakdown to the massive 00:17:48.339 --> 00:17:51.000 public spectacle that solidified the public's 00:17:51.000 --> 00:17:54.119 view of the court as unstable and reckless. The 00:17:54.119 --> 00:17:56.160 Balle des Ardents. The Dance of the Burning Men. 00:17:56.589 --> 00:17:59.690 This happened in January 1393, just months after 00:17:59.690 --> 00:18:01.630 the incident near Le Mans. And it was organized 00:18:01.630 --> 00:18:05.089 by Queen Isabeau of Bavaria. Yes, at the Hotel 00:18:05.089 --> 00:18:07.369 Saint -Paul to celebrate a lady -in -waiting's 00:18:07.369 --> 00:18:10.109 wedding. It was meant to be a moment of levity, 00:18:10.109 --> 00:18:12.930 you know, to try and mask the underlying anxiety 00:18:12.930 --> 00:18:15.809 about the king. But the choice of costume was 00:18:15.809 --> 00:18:19.319 disastrously ill -advised. A reckless attempt 00:18:19.319 --> 00:18:21.339 at entertainment. It was almost unbelievably 00:18:21.339 --> 00:18:24.559 dangerous. The king and four other young lords 00:18:24.559 --> 00:18:27.440 decided to dress as wild men. The sources are 00:18:27.440 --> 00:18:30.519 very specific about this. Linen cloth was sewn 00:18:30.519 --> 00:18:33.380 directly onto their bodies. And then this cloth 00:18:33.380 --> 00:18:36.339 was soaked in pitch or resinous wax to make it 00:18:36.339 --> 00:18:38.539 sticky. That allowed them to cover themselves 00:18:38.539 --> 00:18:41.099 completely in frazzled hemp so they looked shaggy 00:18:41.099 --> 00:18:44.670 and hairy. And crucially. Highly flammable. Incredibly 00:18:44.670 --> 00:18:47.130 flammable. The king made a rule that no torches 00:18:47.130 --> 00:18:48.869 were to be brought into the room, ostensibly 00:18:48.869 --> 00:18:51.390 for safety, but... Everyone ignored it. Immediately 00:18:51.390 --> 00:18:54.069 disregarded. The king's younger brother, Louis 00:18:54.069 --> 00:18:57.049 I, Duke of Orléans, arrived late with his own 00:18:57.049 --> 00:18:59.990 entourage. He was excited, maybe a bit drunk, 00:19:00.130 --> 00:19:02.569 and he approached the masked dancers with a lighted 00:19:02.569 --> 00:19:04.569 torch, trying to figure out who they were. And 00:19:04.569 --> 00:19:06.609 he accidentally set one of the costumes on fire. 00:19:06.970 --> 00:19:09.289 And the panic must have been horrifying. It was 00:19:09.289 --> 00:19:12.210 instant and absolute. The flames spread from 00:19:12.210 --> 00:19:14.809 man to man in seconds. But the king was saved 00:19:14.809 --> 00:19:18.190 through a miraculous act of quick thinking. His 00:19:18.190 --> 00:19:21.170 aunt, the Duchess of Berry, recognized him and 00:19:21.170 --> 00:19:23.390 instantly threw the heavy train of her gown over 00:19:23.390 --> 00:19:26.029 Charles, smothering the flames and shielding 00:19:26.029 --> 00:19:28.150 him from the blaze. The others weren't so lucky. 00:19:28.390 --> 00:19:31.329 Four of the dancers perished horribly. One man, 00:19:31.630 --> 00:19:34.230 Jean, son of the Lord of Nantouyé, saved his 00:19:34.230 --> 00:19:37.009 own life by jumping headfirst into a large open 00:19:37.009 --> 00:19:39.970 tub of dishwater. The tragedy was complete and 00:19:39.970 --> 00:19:42.650 very, very public. The public reaction must have 00:19:42.650 --> 00:19:45.190 been one of profound shock and outrage. It was. 00:19:45.289 --> 00:19:48.319 The court, led by... the queen and the now returned 00:19:48.319 --> 00:19:51.400 dukes was seen not only as politically incompetent 00:19:51.400 --> 00:19:54.299 but as morally decadent. This horrific fire just 00:19:54.299 --> 00:19:56.460 solidified the notion that the king and his government 00:19:56.460 --> 00:19:58.980 were cursed, incapable of providing safety or 00:19:58.980 --> 00:20:01.740 stability. The era of the beloved was truly over. 00:20:01.980 --> 00:20:04.559 Replaced by the grim reality of the mad. So now 00:20:04.559 --> 00:20:07.079 we move from the king's personal tragedy to the 00:20:07.079 --> 00:20:09.940 political catastrophe that followed. With Charles 00:20:09.940 --> 00:20:12.619 VI cycling between states of being functional 00:20:12.619 --> 00:20:15.619 and non -functional, the Regency Council, which 00:20:15.619 --> 00:20:18.039 was dominated by Queen Isabeau, became the focus 00:20:18.039 --> 00:20:21.380 of this desperate power struggle from 1393 onward. 00:20:21.519 --> 00:20:23.940 The rivalry was so intense because the stakes 00:20:23.940 --> 00:20:26.660 were, well, total control over the French treasury 00:20:26.660 --> 00:20:29.519 and military. Initially, Filthibold of Burgundy 00:20:29.519 --> 00:20:31.680 still had a lot of influence over the queen. 00:20:31.920 --> 00:20:33.960 But that influence began to shift. It shifted 00:20:33.960 --> 00:20:36.079 significantly towards the king's younger brother, 00:20:36.299 --> 00:20:39.480 Louis XIV, Duke of Orléans. Varlion was charismatic, 00:20:39.859 --> 00:20:42.819 ambitious, and he actively wanted the regency. 00:20:43.039 --> 00:20:45.700 And crucially, the sources strongly suggest that 00:20:45.700 --> 00:20:48.359 he was the queen's lover. Which added this layer 00:20:48.359 --> 00:20:51.059 of scandalous personal animosity to the political 00:20:51.059 --> 00:20:53.400 feud against Philip the Bold. And this internal 00:20:53.400 --> 00:20:56.000 struggle immediately resulted in the dismissal 00:20:56.000 --> 00:20:57.859 of those competent marmosets that Charles had 00:20:57.859 --> 00:21:00.920 installed. Yes. Order was replaced by patronage 00:21:00.920 --> 00:21:03.740 and pure self -interest. The underlying rivalry 00:21:03.740 --> 00:21:06.339 was between this increasingly powerful, centralized, 00:21:06.539 --> 00:21:09.039 and tax -heavy government faction led by Orléans. 00:21:09.180 --> 00:21:11.740 And the powerful, decentralized, more populous 00:21:11.740 --> 00:21:14.519 faction, often allied with the communes of Paris, 00:21:14.759 --> 00:21:17.880 led by Burgundy. And that rivalry intensified 00:21:17.880 --> 00:21:20.420 massively when Philip the Bold died in 1404. 00:21:20.839 --> 00:21:23.839 His son, John the Fearless, inherited the title 00:21:23.839 --> 00:21:26.339 and his father's political aims, but with a far 00:21:26.339 --> 00:21:29.960 more ruthless edge. The feud with Louis of Orléans 00:21:29.960 --> 00:21:33.650 became this open, defining conflict. But before 00:21:33.650 --> 00:21:35.950 this conflict exploded into full -blown civil 00:21:35.950 --> 00:21:39.130 war, the court, which really reflected the arbitrary 00:21:39.130 --> 00:21:41.990 and unstable nature of the regency, issued a 00:21:41.990 --> 00:21:45.710 devastating decree in 1394. The complete expulsion 00:21:45.710 --> 00:21:47.950 of the Jews from France. This was a sudden and 00:21:47.950 --> 00:21:50.170 shocking ordinance published on September 17, 00:21:50.549 --> 00:21:53.630 1394. What was the pretext for such a sweeping, 00:21:53.769 --> 00:21:56.200 irreversible action? The official rationale was 00:21:56.200 --> 00:21:58.359 based on these longstanding complaints of alleged 00:21:58.359 --> 00:22:00.640 excesses and misdemeanors committed by the Jewish 00:22:00.640 --> 00:22:03.400 community against Christians. Prosecutors supposedly 00:22:03.400 --> 00:22:05.299 found evidence that the community had broken 00:22:05.299 --> 00:22:07.400 prior oaths and agreements made with the king. 00:22:07.579 --> 00:22:09.720 But the chronicler, the monk of St. Denis, cast 00:22:09.720 --> 00:22:11.740 some serious doubt on whether the king genuinely 00:22:11.740 --> 00:22:14.880 assented to this. He does. He claims that Charles 00:22:14.880 --> 00:22:17.900 VI, during a lucid moment, signed the decree 00:22:17.900 --> 00:22:21.480 only at the absolute persistent insistence of 00:22:21.480 --> 00:22:23.619 Queen Isabeau. Which puts the decision squarely 00:22:23.619 --> 00:22:26.269 in the realm of court manipulation, not rational 00:22:26.269 --> 00:22:28.609 governance. Exactly. And the decree, which was 00:22:28.609 --> 00:22:32.670 framed as an irrevocable law and statute, stipulated 00:22:32.670 --> 00:22:35.289 that no Jew could dwell in Charles VI's domains. 00:22:35.589 --> 00:22:38.049 And the enforcement details in the sources... 00:22:38.720 --> 00:22:41.539 They reveal the harsh financial motivation behind 00:22:41.539 --> 00:22:43.680 the whole thing. Walk us through that enforcement 00:22:43.680 --> 00:23:04.859 process. So the financial catastrophe for the 00:23:04.859 --> 00:23:07.039 Jewish community was sealed by what the king 00:23:07.039 --> 00:23:08.880 did next, right? With the debt cancellation. 00:23:09.440 --> 00:23:12.210 Precisely. Once the Jews were forced to sell 00:23:12.210 --> 00:23:14.430 what they could and were escorted to the frontier 00:23:14.430 --> 00:23:17.569 by the provost, the king then officially released 00:23:17.569 --> 00:23:19.910 all Christians from their remaining debts to 00:23:19.910 --> 00:23:22.670 the now -expelled Jews. So it was a massive wealth 00:23:22.670 --> 00:23:25.670 transfer disguised as a religious decree. That's 00:23:25.670 --> 00:23:28.329 exactly what it was. It guaranteed that the departing 00:23:28.329 --> 00:23:30.710 community would leave France financially crippled, 00:23:30.750 --> 00:23:33.390 and it marked the definitive end of the Jewish 00:23:33.390 --> 00:23:36.069 presence in France until the time of the revolution. 00:23:36.549 --> 00:23:39.900 A politically expedient and financially cool 00:23:39.900 --> 00:23:42.079 measure. And this political environment, just 00:23:42.079 --> 00:23:44.700 rife with ambition, debt, and this factional 00:23:44.700 --> 00:23:47.180 hatred, it all culminated in the assassination 00:23:47.180 --> 00:23:50.640 of Louis of Orléans in 1407. This was the moment 00:23:50.640 --> 00:23:53.359 the rivalry turned into open war. It happened 00:23:53.359 --> 00:23:55.599 right in the heart of Paris, in the Rue Villiers 00:23:55.599 --> 00:23:58.559 du Temple. Louis of Orléans was ambushed and 00:23:58.559 --> 00:24:00.859 brutally murdered. And John the Fearless, Duke 00:24:00.859 --> 00:24:03.140 of Burgundy, he didn't even try to hide his involvement. 00:24:03.420 --> 00:24:06.059 Not at all. In fact, he publicly claimed responsibility 00:24:06.059 --> 00:24:08.359 and then provided this cynical justification 00:24:08.359 --> 00:24:11.029 for the act. what was the justification this 00:24:11.029 --> 00:24:14.410 is critical he essentially had to frame regicide 00:24:14.410 --> 00:24:17.950 the murder of the king's own brother as some 00:24:17.950 --> 00:24:20.680 kind of moral necessity He commissioned theologians 00:24:20.680 --> 00:24:23.119 and legal scholars, most famously a man named 00:24:23.119 --> 00:24:26.619 Jean Petit, to issue these elaborate justifications 00:24:26.619 --> 00:24:30.240 in the form of pamphlets. Petit argued that Orléans 00:24:30.240 --> 00:24:32.920 wasn't just a political opponent, but a financial 00:24:32.920 --> 00:24:35.599 tyrant who had systematically squandered royal 00:24:35.599 --> 00:24:38.220 money and committed treason. So John the Fearless 00:24:38.220 --> 00:24:40.900 wasn't a murderer. No, he was an agent of public 00:24:40.900 --> 00:24:44.200 justice, a tyrannicide. He was removing a corrupt 00:24:44.200 --> 00:24:46.900 threat to the public good and to the king himself. 00:24:47.299 --> 00:24:49.140 That's the language of propaganda, isn't it? 00:24:49.359 --> 00:24:51.759 Designed to appeal to the Parisian populace who 00:24:51.759 --> 00:24:54.099 had suffered under Orléans' high taxes. Absolutely. 00:24:54.380 --> 00:24:57.319 But despite the theological cover, the act was 00:24:57.319 --> 00:25:00.039 still viewed as a blood crime by Orléans' heirs, 00:25:00.059 --> 00:25:03.279 and the war began immediately. Yes, the assassination 00:25:03.279 --> 00:25:05.859 was the fuse that lit the Armagnac -Burgundian 00:25:05.859 --> 00:25:08.460 Civil War, which would tear France apart for 00:25:08.460 --> 00:25:11.349 decades. Orléans' son Charles, who became the 00:25:11.349 --> 00:25:14.309 next Duke of Orléans and a famous poet, was too 00:25:14.309 --> 00:25:17.009 young to lead. So he immediately sought support 00:25:17.009 --> 00:25:19.630 from his powerful father -in -law, Bernard VII, 00:25:20.109 --> 00:25:23.230 Count of Armagnac. And just like that, France 00:25:23.230 --> 00:25:26.029 was formally and brutally split in two. You had 00:25:26.029 --> 00:25:27.890 the Armagnacs, representing the Orléans party, 00:25:28.049 --> 00:25:30.769 and the Bourguignons, the Burgundy party. And 00:25:30.769 --> 00:25:32.730 the Bourguignons consistently controlled the 00:25:32.730 --> 00:25:36.089 capital, Paris. And most importantly, they controlled 00:25:36.089 --> 00:25:38.569 the person. of the tragically afflicted King 00:25:38.569 --> 00:25:41.269 Charles VI. And the king, during his moments 00:25:41.269 --> 00:25:43.950 of lucidity, was forced to oscillate between 00:25:43.950 --> 00:25:46.769 legitimizing one side or the other. He'd issued 00:25:46.769 --> 00:25:48.769 decrees that were immediately reversed when the 00:25:48.769 --> 00:25:51.329 opposing factions seized control of Paris. This 00:25:51.329 --> 00:25:55.109 constant, bloody, localized fighting with massacres 00:25:55.109 --> 00:25:57.190 and terror enacted on the Parisian population. 00:25:57.609 --> 00:26:00.109 It left the French crown utterly incapable of 00:26:00.109 --> 00:26:02.390 defending itself against foreign enemies. The 00:26:02.390 --> 00:26:04.750 focus had turned completely, fatally inward. 00:26:05.279 --> 00:26:07.839 And that internal fracturing was the open invitation 00:26:07.839 --> 00:26:10.059 that Henry V of England had been waiting for. 00:26:10.500 --> 00:26:13.220 By 1415, he's looking across the channel and 00:26:13.220 --> 00:26:15.920 seeing a France that's leaderless, divided, and 00:26:15.920 --> 00:26:19.140 bleeding itself dry. This was the moment to reignite 00:26:19.140 --> 00:26:21.880 the Hundred Years' War in earnest. And he wasn't 00:26:21.880 --> 00:26:24.119 just fighting for land anymore. He was fighting 00:26:24.119 --> 00:26:27.140 for the entire French throne. The renewed English 00:26:27.140 --> 00:26:29.819 invasion culminated in the catastrophic Battle 00:26:29.819 --> 00:26:33.559 of Agincourt in October 1415. It was a military 00:26:33.559 --> 00:26:36.039 disaster, of course, but fundamentally it was 00:26:36.039 --> 00:26:39.079 a political failure. The divided French leadership, 00:26:39.180 --> 00:26:42.140 composed of Armagnac and Burgundian -leaning 00:26:42.140 --> 00:26:44.420 nobles who could barely stand to be in the same 00:26:44.420 --> 00:26:47.380 camp, they made one critical strategic error 00:26:47.380 --> 00:26:50.140 after another. They fueled this massive, heavily 00:26:50.140 --> 00:26:53.369 armored force. But the sources all indicate this 00:26:53.369 --> 00:26:56.190 profound lack of unified command and coordination. 00:26:56.589 --> 00:26:58.930 Which Henry V, with his disciplined archers, 00:26:59.009 --> 00:27:01.869 exploited ruthlessly. The result was devastating. 00:27:02.250 --> 00:27:04.529 The loss of life among the French aristocracy 00:27:04.529 --> 00:27:07.309 was just crippling. It gutted the military and 00:27:07.309 --> 00:27:09.369 administrative leadership of the Valois dynasty. 00:27:09.710 --> 00:27:11.930 The constable of France himself, Charles Delbray, 00:27:11.990 --> 00:27:13.950 was killed, along with thousands of knights and 00:27:13.950 --> 00:27:16.329 nobles. This single battle just hollowed out 00:27:16.329 --> 00:27:18.309 the French state's ability to recruit, command, 00:27:18.549 --> 00:27:21.519 and fund any future resistance. left a massive 00:27:21.519 --> 00:27:23.980 power vacuum right at the top of society. And 00:27:23.980 --> 00:27:25.920 with the military so weakened, the Civil War 00:27:25.920 --> 00:27:29.400 only intensified. In 1418, the Gundians seized 00:27:29.400 --> 00:27:31.799 Paris in a bloody coup. And the Dauphin Charles, 00:27:32.160 --> 00:27:35.279 the king's heir, he was forced to flee south, 00:27:35.500 --> 00:27:38.660 escaping barely with his life. This political 00:27:38.660 --> 00:27:40.779 instability just kept producing these cycles 00:27:40.779 --> 00:27:44.099 of violence. John the Fearless, now controlling 00:27:44.099 --> 00:27:46.660 Carus and the king, he actually attempted to 00:27:46.660 --> 00:27:49.769 solidify his power. By negotiating a truce with 00:27:49.769 --> 00:27:52.250 the Delfin Charles. Yes, hoping to unite against 00:27:52.250 --> 00:27:54.470 the common English enemy. The two leaders met 00:27:54.470 --> 00:27:57.230 at the bridge at Monroe on September 10th, 1419. 00:27:57.589 --> 00:27:59.490 It sounds like this was meant to be the ultimate 00:27:59.490 --> 00:28:01.869 peace conference. It was supposed to be a reconciliation, 00:28:01.970 --> 00:28:04.789 but the memory of Orléans' murder was too fresh. 00:28:05.420 --> 00:28:07.660 The distrust was just too deep, and during the 00:28:07.660 --> 00:28:09.819 meeting, John the Fearless was murdered. By one 00:28:09.819 --> 00:28:12.119 of the Dauphin's followers, Tanigida Shestel. 00:28:12.180 --> 00:28:15.240 It was assassination as revenge. So the Armagnacs 00:28:15.240 --> 00:28:17.519 detaliated with an assassination of their own, 00:28:17.599 --> 00:28:20.180 cementing this cycle of royal violence, and the 00:28:20.180 --> 00:28:22.400 consequences for France were immediate, total, 00:28:22.640 --> 00:28:25.910 and fatal. Absolutely fatal. John the Fearless's 00:28:25.910 --> 00:28:28.930 successor, his son Philip the Good, Duke of Burgundy, 00:28:29.109 --> 00:28:32.789 was utterly enraged. And he reacted not with 00:28:32.789 --> 00:28:35.269 another attempt at revenge, but with geopolitical 00:28:35.269 --> 00:28:37.950 finality. He allied himself with Henry V. Completely 00:28:37.950 --> 00:28:40.470 and irrevocably. The alliance between Burgundy, 00:28:40.609 --> 00:28:42.609 which controlled Paris and the king's person, 00:28:42.890 --> 00:28:45.789 and England, which controlled the military, created 00:28:45.789 --> 00:28:49.230 an unstoppable political force. And this alliance 00:28:49.230 --> 00:28:52.230 led directly to the ultimate act of state betrayal. 00:28:53.230 --> 00:28:57.150 The Treaty of Troyes. signed on May 21st, 1420. 00:28:57.349 --> 00:28:59.910 Charles VI, in one of his lucid but politically 00:28:59.910 --> 00:29:02.470 helpless periods, essentially signed away the 00:29:02.470 --> 00:29:04.910 French crown to the English. The terms were unambiguous 00:29:04.910 --> 00:29:06.990 and just devastating for the Valois line. The 00:29:06.990 --> 00:29:09.829 treaty formally named Henry V of England as Charles 00:29:09.829 --> 00:29:12.910 VI's successor. It stipulated that Henry's heirs, 00:29:12.930 --> 00:29:15.650 not the French Dauphin, would inherit the throne 00:29:15.650 --> 00:29:18.130 of France, thus unifying the crowns of England 00:29:18.130 --> 00:29:20.029 and France. And it officially disinherited the 00:29:20.029 --> 00:29:22.190 Dauphin Charles, the true French heir, who was 00:29:22.190 --> 00:29:24.609 only 17 at the time. It denied him his birthright. 00:29:24.890 --> 00:29:27.769 And to cement the whole agreement, Charles VI's 00:29:27.769 --> 00:29:30.450 daughter, Catherine of Valois, was betrothed 00:29:30.450 --> 00:29:33.890 to Henry V. This political marriage ensured that 00:29:33.890 --> 00:29:36.109 their child would possess a valid genealogical 00:29:36.109 --> 00:29:38.990 claim to both thrones, based on a treaty signed 00:29:38.990 --> 00:29:41.930 by the French king himself. So the disinherited 00:29:41.930 --> 00:29:44.529 Dauphin, who had set up this, you know, pathetic 00:29:44.529 --> 00:29:48.150 but persistent rival court in Bourges, was then 00:29:48.150 --> 00:29:50.910 subjected to a vicious propaganda campaign by 00:29:50.910 --> 00:29:54.539 the powerful Burgundian faction. Yes. By 1421, 00:29:54.799 --> 00:29:56.779 the Burgundian propagandists went beyond just 00:29:56.779 --> 00:29:59.500 citing the treaty. They began strongly implying 00:29:59.500 --> 00:30:01.480 that the young Charles VII was illegitimate. 00:30:01.619 --> 00:30:04.680 A direct political attack, likely fueled by those 00:30:04.680 --> 00:30:07.220 old rumors of Queen Isabeau's affair with Louis 00:30:07.220 --> 00:30:09.460 of Orleans. Exactly. If they could convince the 00:30:09.460 --> 00:30:11.400 populace that the Dauphin was not the son of 00:30:11.400 --> 00:30:13.799 Charles VI, then the disinheritance would be 00:30:13.799 --> 00:30:16.359 legally and morally justified. The entire fate 00:30:16.359 --> 00:30:18.500 of France hinged on the mental instability of 00:30:18.500 --> 00:30:21.079 one man and the alleged infidelities of his wife. 00:30:21.279 --> 00:30:23.359 The sources also mentioned the broader imperial 00:30:23.359 --> 00:30:26.740 context, which shows just how fragmented French 00:30:26.740 --> 00:30:29.460 authority had become. Indeed, the Holy Roman 00:30:29.460 --> 00:30:32.559 Emperor Sigismund, he sensed this complete collapse 00:30:32.559 --> 00:30:35.240 of French authority and tried to exploit the 00:30:35.240 --> 00:30:38.039 chaos to reassert imperial control over French 00:30:38.039 --> 00:30:41.440 border territories. In 1421, he appointed an 00:30:41.440 --> 00:30:43.980 imperial vicar for the Kingdom of Burgundy, or 00:30:43.980 --> 00:30:47.329 Arles. Yes, a man named Louis II of Chalon -Arlais. 00:30:47.470 --> 00:30:50.049 And for those unfamiliar with the title, an imperial 00:30:50.049 --> 00:30:52.210 vicar was basically a temporary representative 00:30:52.210 --> 00:30:54.789 with military and judicial authority over the 00:30:54.789 --> 00:30:57.430 region. So the Holy Roman Empire, which bordered 00:30:57.430 --> 00:30:59.609 France to the east, was trying to install its 00:30:59.609 --> 00:31:02.170 own man. They were trying to detach territories 00:31:02.170 --> 00:31:05.029 like Dauphine and Provence, claiming they fell 00:31:05.029 --> 00:31:08.240 under imperial jurisdiction. It was a clear sign 00:31:08.240 --> 00:31:10.500 that foreign powers believed the French crown 00:31:10.500 --> 00:31:12.940 was completely incapable of governing its own 00:31:12.940 --> 00:31:15.539 eastern domains. The attempt ultimately failed, 00:31:15.619 --> 00:31:17.519 but it highlights just how vulnerable France 00:31:17.519 --> 00:31:20.240 was perceived to be. The final chapter of Charles 00:31:20.240 --> 00:31:22.900 VI's life is marked by this strange irony of 00:31:22.900 --> 00:31:25.920 timing. Henry V of England, the man legally designated 00:31:25.920 --> 00:31:28.539 to inherit the French throne, died first. In 00:31:28.539 --> 00:31:31.740 August 1422, it was a pivotal twist of fate. 00:31:32.019 --> 00:31:35.150 Because just weeks later... Charles VI, the source 00:31:35.150 --> 00:31:37.809 of so much national tragedy, he died on October 00:31:37.809 --> 00:31:41.529 21st, 1422, in Paris at the Hotel Saint -Paul. 00:31:41.670 --> 00:31:44.750 So because Henry V had died first, the succession, 00:31:45.150 --> 00:31:47.690 at least in law, according to the Treaty of Troy, 00:31:47.869 --> 00:31:51.710 passed to Henry V's infant son. The nine -month 00:31:51.710 --> 00:31:54.900 -old Henry VI of England. The English and Burgundians 00:31:54.900 --> 00:31:57.640 controlled Paris, and Henry VI was subsequently 00:31:57.640 --> 00:32:00.099 proclaimed king of France. And he was later crowned 00:32:00.099 --> 00:32:03.059 in Notre Dame in 1431. France technically had 00:32:03.059 --> 00:32:05.799 an English king. But the fight was far from over. 00:32:06.190 --> 00:32:08.509 The disinherited Dauphin, Charles, who refused 00:32:08.509 --> 00:32:10.369 to accept the treaty, he continued the fight 00:32:10.369 --> 00:32:13.029 from his rival court in Bourges. And he was widely 00:32:13.029 --> 00:32:15.450 regarded by the vast majority of the French people 00:32:15.450 --> 00:32:18.329 and loyalists as the true rightful heir. They 00:32:18.329 --> 00:32:20.170 called him the King of Bourges. The national 00:32:20.170 --> 00:32:23.009 war now shifted focus entirely. It wasn't a civil 00:32:23.009 --> 00:32:25.210 war between Armagnacs and Bourguignons anymore. 00:32:25.470 --> 00:32:27.789 It became a fight for national survival against 00:32:27.789 --> 00:32:30.109 the English occupation. And it was ultimately 00:32:30.109 --> 00:32:32.430 the arrival and leadership of Joan of Arc that 00:32:32.430 --> 00:32:35.210 galvanized the French forces. She led the Dauphin's 00:32:35.210 --> 00:32:37.869 army. to these crucial victories, demonstrating 00:32:37.869 --> 00:32:40.450 what was seen as divine favor for the French 00:32:40.450 --> 00:32:43.410 cause. And that allowed for Charles' symbolic, 00:32:43.490 --> 00:32:47.130 powerful coronation as King Charles VII at Rheims 00:32:47.130 --> 00:32:50.470 Cathedral in 1429, the traditional site for French 00:32:50.470 --> 00:32:53.390 kings deep within English -held territory. And 00:32:53.390 --> 00:32:56.109 Charles VII eventually succeeded where his father 00:32:56.109 --> 00:32:58.369 had failed. He proved himself to be an excellent 00:32:58.369 --> 00:33:01.079 and determined king. He ultimately defeated the 00:33:01.079 --> 00:33:04.160 English entirely by 1450, finally ending the 00:33:04.160 --> 00:33:06.400 Hundred Years' War and living up to the new title 00:33:06.400 --> 00:33:10.019 history gave him, Charles the Victorious. Hashtag 00:33:10.019 --> 00:33:12.420 tag outro. So as we wrap up this deep dive, it's 00:33:12.420 --> 00:33:14.460 really worth summarizing the direct lineage of 00:33:14.460 --> 00:33:17.299 Charles VI, because his tragedy created this 00:33:17.299 --> 00:33:19.579 incredible web of geopolitical relationships 00:33:19.579 --> 00:33:21.980 that affected not just France, but England as 00:33:21.980 --> 00:33:24.890 well. His marriage to Isabeau of Bavaria in 1385, 00:33:25.029 --> 00:33:27.450 it produced a large number of children. It's 00:33:27.450 --> 00:33:29.670 a testament to the fact that even amidst psychosis 00:33:29.670 --> 00:33:32.289 and civil war, dynastic duties continued. Several 00:33:32.289 --> 00:33:34.369 children died young, including three dolphins 00:33:34.369 --> 00:33:36.849 who never lived to inherit the crown. But the 00:33:36.849 --> 00:33:38.710 surviving children's marriages were profoundly 00:33:38.710 --> 00:33:41.190 strategic. The sources highlight several key 00:33:41.190 --> 00:33:44.329 dynastic bonds. Their daughter, Isabella, first 00:33:44.329 --> 00:33:46.930 married Richard II of England and then later 00:33:46.930 --> 00:33:49.559 married Charles, Duke of Borléon. The son of 00:33:49.559 --> 00:33:51.359 the man murdered by the Duke of Burgundy. The 00:33:51.359 --> 00:33:54.440 very same. Another daughter, Michelle, married 00:33:54.440 --> 00:33:57.319 Philip the Good, Duke of Burgundy, solidifying 00:33:57.319 --> 00:33:59.839 that deadly alliance between the House of Valois 00:33:59.839 --> 00:34:02.660 and Burgundy, the one which nearly destroyed 00:34:02.660 --> 00:34:04.579 France. And, of course, Catherine of Valois. 00:34:04.700 --> 00:34:07.230 She became the political centerpiece. of the 00:34:07.230 --> 00:34:09.710 Treaty of Troyes, marrying Henry V of England. 00:34:09.889 --> 00:34:12.590 Her marriage produced Henry VI, the infant king 00:34:12.590 --> 00:34:15.530 of both nations, who had to be physically crowned 00:34:15.530 --> 00:34:18.250 in both London and Paris. But Catherine's story 00:34:18.250 --> 00:34:21.530 has a secondary, equally massive legacy for England. 00:34:21.750 --> 00:34:25.510 It does. After Henry V's death, she allegedly 00:34:25.510 --> 00:34:29.190 married a Welsh courtier named Owen Tudor. Through 00:34:29.190 --> 00:34:31.469 this union, she became the grandmother of Henry 00:34:31.469 --> 00:34:34.210 VII. The founder of the powerful Tudor dynasty 00:34:34.210 --> 00:34:36.750 in England. Exactly. So the children of Charles 00:34:36.750 --> 00:34:39.050 Amad influenced both the ending of the Valois 00:34:39.050 --> 00:34:41.809 period in France and the beginning of the Tudor 00:34:41.809 --> 00:34:44.570 period across the Channel. It is a history just 00:34:44.570 --> 00:34:47.150 saturated in political manipulation and personal 00:34:47.150 --> 00:34:50.590 frailty. Charles VI's reign stands as one of 00:34:50.590 --> 00:34:52.809 the lowest, most vulnerable periods for the House 00:34:52.809 --> 00:34:55.829 of Valois. It's a terrifying historical lesson. 00:34:56.010 --> 00:34:59.150 The profound, debilitating mental illness of 00:34:59.150 --> 00:35:01.710 one king metastasized into national failure, 00:35:01.949 --> 00:35:04.510 permitting foreign invasion and internal civil 00:35:04.510 --> 00:35:08.030 war to nearly obliterate the most powerful monarchy 00:35:08.030 --> 00:35:10.389 in Western Europe. His madness created the power 00:35:10.389 --> 00:35:13.190 vacuum. His madness allowed the dukes to steal 00:35:13.190 --> 00:35:16.239 the treasury. His madness allowed Henry V to 00:35:16.239 --> 00:35:18.219 claim a legitimate right to the French throne. 00:35:18.380 --> 00:35:21.519 It forces us to acknowledge just how fragile 00:35:21.519 --> 00:35:23.840 the entire system of medieval governance was, 00:35:24.079 --> 00:35:26.500 resting on the stability of a single, highly 00:35:26.500 --> 00:35:28.980 privileged individual. Which brings us right 00:35:28.980 --> 00:35:31.280 back to where we began with that crucial, unsettling 00:35:31.280 --> 00:35:33.940 question. We spend so much time analyzing history 00:35:33.940 --> 00:35:37.639 through grand economic tides, deep social structures, 00:35:37.820 --> 00:35:41.179 or inevitable dynastic decay. But Charles VI's 00:35:41.179 --> 00:35:44.500 story forces you to stop and ask. How much of 00:35:44.500 --> 00:35:47.239 the fate of nations, its survival of dynasties, 00:35:47.239 --> 00:35:49.860 and the continuation of centuries -long conflicts 00:35:49.860 --> 00:35:53.340 can truly hinge upon the random, unpredictable 00:35:53.340 --> 00:35:56.420 chaos contained within the mental health of a 00:35:56.420 --> 00:35:59.829 single individual? It's a profound thought. The 00:35:59.829 --> 00:36:02.170 English conquered France not just because of 00:36:02.170 --> 00:36:05.110 superior strategy, but because their main opponent 00:36:05.110 --> 00:36:07.489 was incapacitated by a psychological illness. 00:36:07.710 --> 00:36:10.409 The most consequential 42 years of 15th century 00:36:10.409 --> 00:36:12.809 French history were dictated by the state of 00:36:12.809 --> 00:36:15.590 Charles VI's mind, a state that swung violently 00:36:15.590 --> 00:36:18.269 between the beloved and the mad. A truly profound 00:36:18.269 --> 00:36:21.210 and deeply unsettling historical reality. Thank 00:36:21.210 --> 00:36:23.309 you for taking this complex, dramatic, deep dive 00:36:23.309 --> 00:36:25.110 with us. My pleasure. We'll see you next time.