French victory
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258-514: A basis for the imperial administration and would survive up to the middle-ages when their capitals became centres of bishoprics . These religious provinces would survive until the French revolution. During the Roman Empire , southern Gaul was more heavily populated and because of this more episcopal sees were present there at first while in northern France they shrank greatly in size because of
387-593: A compromise, agreement could not be reached and the war resumed in 1377. The Black Prince died in 1376; in April 1377, Edward III sent his Lord Chancellor , Adam Houghton , to negotiate with Charles, who returned home when Edward himself died in June. He was succeeded on the throne of England by his ten-year-old grandson, Richard II . It was not until Richard had been deposed by his cousin Henry Bolingbroke that
516-692: A few weeks before Charles, in August 1422, leaving an infant son, who became King Henry VI of England . Therefore, according to the Treaty of Troyes, with the death of Charles VI, Henry VI became King of France. His coronation as such was in Paris (held by the English since 1418) at the cathedral of Notre Dame de Paris on 26 December 1431. The son disinherited by Charles VI, the Dauphin Charles, continued
645-774: A huge sum of money in order to restore Peter the Cruel to the throne of Castile. The Castilian King was unable to repay him, however, so the Black Prince raised taxes in his domains in Aquitaine . The people's complaints were unheeded, so they appealed to the French King Charles V. In May 1369, the Black Prince received summons from the French king demanding his presence in Paris . The prince refused, and Charles responded by declaring war. He immediately set out to reverse
774-432: A journey of over 1,000 miles lasting five months. By burning manors, mills and villages, they hoped to destroy the French tax base and demonstrate Charles's inability to protect his subjects, moving at speed to allow them strike and withdraw before the enemy could respond. On this occasion, Charles issued strict instructions to avoid major combat and ordered farmers to take refuge in fortified towns. As they entered Burgundy,
903-414: A knight known as "The Bastard of Polignac" and several other men during the attack. Periods of mental illness continued throughout Charles's life. During one episode in 1393, he could not remember his name and did not know he was king. When his wife came to visit, he asked his servants who she was and ordered them to help her so he would be left alone. During another episode in 1395–96, the king claimed he
1032-468: A long time he had been taking note of the many complaints provoked by the excesses and misdemeanors of the Jews against Christians, and that the prosecutors had made several investigations and discovered that the Jews broke the agreement with the king on many occasions. Therefore, the king decreed, as an irrevocable law and statute, that no Jew would dwell in his domains ("Ordonnances", vii. 675). According to
1161-521: A map, see Provinces of France ). In principle, the lords of these lands owed homage to the French king for their possession, but in reality the king in Paris had little control over these lands, and this was to be confounded by the uniting of Normandy, Aquitaine and England under the Plantagenet dynasty in the 12th century. Philip II Augustus undertook a massive French expansion in the 13th century, but most of these acquisitions were lost both by
1290-416: A military expedition. Contemporaries reported that Charles appeared to be in a "fever" to begin the campaign and was disconnected in his speech. He set off with an army on 1 July 1392. The progress of the army was slow, driving Charles into a frenzy of impatience. As the king and his escort were traveling through the forest near Le Mans on a hot August morning, a barefoot leper dressed in rags rushed up to
1419-512: A part of France. North of the Loire, the King of France at times fought or allied with one of the great principalities of Normandy, Anjou, Blois-Champagne, Flanders and Burgundy. The duke of Normandy was overlord of the duke of Brittany. South of the Loire were the principalities of Aquitaine, Toulouse and Barcelona. Normandy became the strongest power in the north, while Barcelona became the strongest in
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#17327653295361548-465: A practice which grew out of Late Antiquity. This practice would develop into the system of vassalage and feudalism in the Middle Ages. Originally, vassalage did not imply the giving or receiving of landholdings (which were granted only as a reward for loyalty), but by the eighth century the giving of a landholding was becoming standard. The granting of a landholding to a vassal did not relinquish
1677-560: A series of expulsions in the 14th century, caused considerable suffering for French Jews; see History of the Jews in France . During the Middle Ages in France, Medieval Latin was the primary medium of scholarly exchange as well as the liturgical language of the Catholic Church ; it was also the language of science, literature, law, and administration. From 1200 on, vernacular languages began to be used in administrative work and
1806-413: A steady increase of aristocratic and monastic control of the land, at the expense of landowning peasants. At the same time, the traditional notion of "unfree" dependents and the distinction between "unfree" and "free" tenants was eroded as the concept of serfdom (see also History of serfdom ) came to dominate. From the mid-8th century on, particularly in the north, the relationship between peasants and
1935-785: The Carolingian Empire , and by the early years of the Direct Capetians , the French kingdom was more or less a fiction. The "domaine royal" of the Capetians was limited to the regions around Paris , Bourges and Sens . The great majority of French territory was part of Aquitaine , the Duchy of Normandy , the Duchy of Brittany , the Comté of Champagne , the Duchy of Burgundy , the County of Flanders and other territories (for
2064-658: The English Channel , both for reasons of trade and of flight from the Anglo-Saxon invasions of England, and established themselves in Armorica in northwest France. Their dialect evolved into the Breton language in more recent centuries, and they gave their name to the peninsula they inhabited: Brittany . Attested since the time of Julius Caesar , a non-Celtic people who spoke a Basque -related language inhabited
2193-526: The Harelle . The dukes also monopolized royal power for their own gain. The Battle of Roosebeke (1382), for example, was prosecuted solely for the benefit of Philip of Burgundy. Charles VI finally removed his corrupt uncles from power in 1388, taking up personal rule. He restored to power the highly competent advisors of Charles V, known as the Marmousets , who ushered in a new period of high esteem for
2322-450: The House of Valois and of Joanna of Bourbon . As the eldest son of the king, Charles was heir to the French throne and held the title Dauphin of France . At his father's death on 16 September 1380, Charles inherited the throne of France. His coronation took place on 4 November at Reims Cathedral . Charles was only eleven years old when he was crowned king. During his minority, France
2451-791: The Loire , the Rhône , the Seine as well as the Garonne . These rivers were settled earlier than the rest and important cities were founded on their banks but they were separated by large forests, marsh, and other rough terrains. Before the Romans conquered Gaul, the Gauls lived in villages organised in wider tribes. The Romans referred to the smallest of these groups as pagi and the widest ones as civitates . These pagi and civitates were often taken as
2580-458: The Monk of St. Denis , the king signed this decree at the insistence of Isabeau ("Chron. de Charles VI." ii. 119). The decree was not immediately enforced, a respite being granted to the Jews so that they have enough time to sell their property and pay their debts. Those indebted to them were enjoined to redeem their obligations within a set time; otherwise their pledges held in pawn were to be sold by
2709-615: The Novempopulania ( Aquitania Tertia ) in southwestern France, though the language gradually lost ground to the expanding Romance during a period spanning most of the Early Middle Ages. This Proto-Basque influenced the emerging Latin-based language spoken in the area between the Garonne and the Pyrenees , eventually resulting in the dialect of Occitan called Gascon . Scandinavian Vikings invaded France from
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#17327653295362838-477: The Romance languages into three groups by their respective words for "yes": Nam alii oc, alii si, alii vero dicunt oil ("For some say oc , others say si , others say oïl "). The oïl languages – from Latin hoc ille , "that is it" – were spoken primarily in northern France, the oc languages – from Latin hoc , "that" – in southern France, and
2967-542: The Treaty of Troyes , which entirely disinherited his son, the Dauphin and future Charles VII , in favour of Henry V of England . Henry was thus made regent and heir to the throne of France, and Charles married his daughter Catherine to Henry. However, Henry died shortly before Charles, which gave the House of Valois the chance to continue the fight against the House of Lancaster , leading to eventual Valois victory and
3096-529: The Treaty of Troyes , which named Henry as Charles's successor and stipulated that Henry's heirs would succeed him on the throne of France. It disinherited the Dauphin Charles, then only aged 17. (In 1421, it was implied in Burgundian propaganda that the young Charles was illegitimate.) The treaty also betrothed Charles VI's daughter, Catherine of Valois , to Henry. Disinheriting the Dauphin in favor of Henry
3225-513: The seigneurial economic system (including the attachment of peasants to the land through serfdom ); the extension of the Feudal system of political rights and obligations between lords and vassals ; the so-called "feudal revolution" of the 11th century during which ever smaller lords took control of local lands in many regions; and the appropriation by regional/local seigneurs of various administrative, fiscal and judicial rights for themselves. From
3354-517: The si languages – from Latin sic , "thus" – on the Italian and Iberian peninsulas . Modern linguists typically add a third group within France around Lyon , the "Arpitan" or " Franco-Provençal language ", whose modern word for "yes" is ouè . The Gallo-Romance group in the north of France, consisting of langues d'oïl such as Picard , Walloon , and Francien , were influenced by Germanic languages spoken by
3483-483: The 10th to the 11th centuries, the urban development of the country expanded (particularly on the northern coasts): new ports appeared and dukes and counts encouraged and created new towns. In other areas, urban growth was slower and centered on the monastic houses. In many regions, market towns ( burgs ) with limited privileges were established by local lords. In the late 11th century, " communes ", governing assemblies, began to develop in towns. Starting sporadically in
3612-400: The 11th century. The traditional rights of "free" peasants—such as service in royal armies (they had been able to serve in the royal armies as late as Charlemagne's reign) and participation in public assemblies and law courts—were lost through the 9th to the 10th centuries, and they were increasingly made dependents of nobles, churches and large landholders. The mid-8th century to 1000 also saw
3741-403: The 12th century. The economic and demographic crises of the 14th–15th centuries ( agricultural expansion had lost many of the gains made in the 12th and 13th centuries ) reversed this trend: landlords offered serfs their freedom in exchange for working abandoned lands, ecclesiastical and royal authorities created new "free" cities ( villefranches ) or granted freedom to existing cities, etc. By
3870-457: The 1375 Treaty of Bruges agreed a 12-month truce between the two sides while they negotiated an end to the fighting. France was represented by Philip II, Duke of Burgundy , and England by John of Gaunt. Talks eventually broke down over the issue of Aquitaine; the English wanted full sovereignty, while the French insisted it be retained by the House of Valois . Despite attempts by the Pope to broker
3999-546: The 13th century on, the state slowly regained control of a number of these lost powers. The crises of the 13th and 14th centuries led to the convening of an advisory assembly, the Estates General , and also to an effective end to serfdom. From the 12th and 13th centuries on, France was at the center of a vibrant cultural production that extended across much of western Europe, including the transition from Romanesque architecture to Gothic architecture and Gothic art ;
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4128-459: The 14th century, before the arrival of the Black Death, the total population of the area covered by modern-day France has been estimated at 16 million. The population of Paris is controversial. Josiah Russell argued for about 80,000 in the early 14th century, although he noted that some other scholars suggested 200,000. The higher count would make it by far the largest city in western Europe;
4257-548: The 9th century onwards and established themselves mostly in what would come to be called Normandy . The Normans took up the langue d'oïl spoken there, although Norman French remained heavily influenced by Old Norse and its dialects. They also contributed many words to French related to sailing and farming. After the Norman conquest of England in 1066, the Normans' language developed into Anglo-Norman . Anglo-Norman served as
4386-516: The Beloved (French: le Bien-Aimé ) and in the 19th century, the Mad (French: le Fol or le Fou ), was King of France from 1380 until his death in 1422. He is known for his mental illness and psychotic episodes that plagued him throughout his life. Charles ascended the throne at age 11, his father Charles V leaving behind a favorable military situation, marked by the reconquest of most of
4515-469: The Beloved , he became known also as Charles the Mad . Charles's first known episode occurred in 1392 when his friend and advisor, Olivier de Clisson , was the victim of an attempted murder. Although Clisson survived, the king was determined to punish the would-be assassin, Pierre de Craon , who had taken refuge in Brittany . John V, Duke of Brittany , was unwilling to hand him over, so Charles prepared
4644-623: The Blois side to be the rightful heir. The war began in 1341, but the English continued backing the Montforts even after the Peace of Brétigny. The English-supported claimant John of Montfort defeated and killed the French claimant, Charles of Blois , at the Battle of Auray in 1364. By that time, however, Edward III no longer had a claim to the throne of France, so John had to accept the suzerainty of
4773-546: The Bold [REDACTED] Robert II [REDACTED] Louis de Sancerre [REDACTED] Edward III # [REDACTED] Richard II [REDACTED] The Black Prince # [REDACTED] John of Gaunt [REDACTED] Edmund of Langley [REDACTED] John Hastings # [REDACTED] Jean III de Grailly [REDACTED] # [REDACTED] Philip van Artevelde † [REDACTED] Frans Ackerman The Caroline War
4902-584: The Burning Men"), was organized by Isabeau of Bavaria to celebrate the wedding of one of her ladies-in-waiting at the Hôtel Saint-Pol. At the suggestion of Huguet de Guisay, the king and four other lords dressed up as wild men and performed a dance while dressed "in costumes of linen cloth sewn onto their bodies and soaked in resinous wax or pitch to hold a covering of frazzled hemp, so that they appeared shaggy & hairy from head to foot." At
5031-700: The Carolingian period, by the 11th century and continuing into the 13th century, the lay (secular) public in France—both nobles and peasants—was largely illiterate , except for (at least to the end of the 12th century) members of the great courts and, in the south, smaller noble families. This situation began to change in the 13th century, where we find highly literate members of the French nobility like Guillaume de Lorris , Geoffrey of Villehardouin (sometimes referred to as Villehardouin), and Jean de Joinville (sometimes referred to as Joinville). Similarly, due to
5160-475: The Castilian throne. Having been opposed by the French, Pedro appealed to the Black Prince for aid, promising rewards. The Black Prince succeeded in restoring Pedro following the Battle of Nájera . But Pedro refused to make payments, to the chagrin of his English and Navarrese allies. Without them, Pedro was once more deposed, and lost his life. Again the English gained nothing from their intervention, except
5289-718: The Dauphin Charles VII , the king's heir. They met at the bridge at Montereau on 10 September 1419, but during the meeting, John the Fearless was killed by Tanneguy du Chastel , a follower of the Dauphin. His successor, Philip the Good , the new Duke of Burgundy, threw in his lot with the English. Charles VI's reign was marked by the continuing conflict with the English, known as the Hundred Years' War . An early attempt at peace occurred in 1396 when his daughter,
Hundred Years' War, 1369–1389 - Misplaced Pages Continue
5418-468: The English columns were tracked by one of du Guesclin's most effective subordinates, Olivier de Clisson , who killed over 600 and took many others prisoner. Most of their baggage and transport was lost crossing the Loire and Allier in October, leaving them short of supplies. By the time they reached Bordeaux on Christmas Eve 1373, the English had been decimated by disease and starvation, with many of
5547-417: The English possessions in France. Charles VI was placed under the regency of his uncles: Philip II, Duke of Burgundy ; Louis I, Duke of Anjou ; John, Duke of Berry ; and Louis II, Duke of Bourbon . He decided in 1388, aged 20, to emancipate himself. In 1392, while leading a military expedition against the Duchy of Brittany , the king had his first attack of delirium , during which he attacked his own men in
5676-463: The English, under the House of Lancaster , could forcefully revive their claim to the French throne. The war nonetheless continued until the first of a series of truces was signed in 1389. Charles V died in September 1380 and was succeeded by his underage son, Charles VI, who was placed under the joint regency of his three uncles. With his successes, Charles may have believed that the end of the war
5805-463: The French king in order to hold his duchy in peace. Thus, the English derived no benefit from their victory. In fact, the French received the benefit of improved generalship in the person of the Breton commander Bertrand du Guesclin , who, leaving Brittany, entered the service of Charles and became one of his most successful generals. With peace in France, the mercenaries and soldiers lately employed in
5934-446: The French system of peers. Peerage was attached to a specific territorial jurisdiction, either an episcopal see for episcopal peerages or a fief for secular. Peerages attached to fiefs were transmissible or inheritable with the fief, and these fiefs are often designated as pairie-duché (for duchies) and pairie-comté (for counties). By 1216 there were nine peers: A few years later and before 1228 three peers were added to make
6063-599: The Gallo-Roman urban network of cities survived (albeit much changed) into the Middle Ages as regional centers and capitals: certain cities had been chosen as centers of bishoprics by the church (for example, Paris , Reims , Aix , Tours , Carcassonne and Narbonne , Auch , Albi , Bourges , Lyon , etc.), others as seats of local (county, duchy) administrative power (such as Angers , Blois , Poitiers , Toulouse ). In many cases (such as with Poitiers ) cities were seats of both episcopal and administrative power. From
6192-454: The Jews. The provost was to escort the Jews to the frontier of the kingdom. Subsequently, the king released Christians from their debts. With Charles mentally ill, from 1393 his wife Isabeau presided over a regency council, on which sat the grandees of the kingdom. Philip the Bold, who acted as regent during the king's minority (from 1380 to 1388), was initially a great influence on the queen. However, influence progressively shifted to Orléans,
6321-547: The King of France retained his suzerainty over Aquitaine. Charles V summoned the Black Prince to answer the complaints of his vassals, but Edward refused. The Caroline phase of the Hundred Years' War began. When Charles V resumed the war, the balance had shifted in his favour; France remained the largest and most powerful state in Western Europe, and England had lost its most capable military leaders. Edward III
6450-701: The Kingdom of France showed great geographical diversity; the northern and central parts enjoyed a temperate climate while the southern part was closer to the Mediterranean climate. While there were great differences between the northern and southern parts of the kingdom there were equally important differences depending on the distance of mountains: mainly the Alps , the Pyrenees and the Massif Central . France had important rivers that were used as waterways:
6579-512: The Romans; one was "noble" if he or she possessed significant land holdings, had access to the king and royal court, could receive honores and benefices for service (such as being named count or duke ). Their access to political power in the Carolingian period might also necessitate a need for education. Their wealth and power was also evident in their lifestyle and purchase of luxury goods, and in their maintenance of an armed entourage of fideles (men who had sworn oaths to serve them). From
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#17327653295366708-456: The almost seven-year-old Isabella of Valois , married the 29-year-old Richard II of England . By 1415, however, the feud between the French royal family and the House of Burgundy led to chaos and anarchy throughout France, a situation that Henry V of England was eager to take advantage of. Henry led an invasion that culminated in the defeat of the French army at the Battle of Agincourt in October. In May 1420, Henry V and Charles VI signed
6837-503: The area north of the Loire was dominated by six or seven of these virtually independent states. ) After 1000, these counties in turn began to break down into smaller lordships, as smaller lords wrest control of local lands in the so-called "feudal revolution" and seized control over many elements of comital powers (see vassal/feudal below). Secondly, from the 9th century on, military ability was increasingly seen as conferring special status, and professional soldiers or milites , generally in
6966-429: The areas ceded at Bretigny were retaken piece by piece, including Poitiers in 1372. In August 1372, the English suffered a disastrous naval defeat at La Rochelle , when a supply convoy carrying reinforcements for Aquitaine, along with £20,000 to pay the troops, was intercepted and sunk by a Castilian fleet. This exposed the English coast to French and Spanish raids, isolated Gascony , and increased public opposition to
7095-509: The barbarian invasions and became heavily fortified to resist the invaders. Discussion of the size of France in the Middle Ages is complicated by distinctions between lands personally held by the king (the " domaine royal ") and lands held in homage by another lord. The notion of res publica inherited from the Roman province of Gaul was not fully maintained by the Frankish kingdom and
7224-603: The communal movement and growing trade. The 13th to 14th centuries were a period of significant urbanization. Paris was the largest city in the realm, and indeed one of the largest cities in Europe, with an estimated population of 200,000 or more at the end of the century. The second-largest city was Rouen ; the other major cities (with populations over 10,000) were Orléans , Tours , Bordeaux , Lyon , Dijon , and Reims . In addition to these, there also existed zones with an extended urban network of medium to small cities, as in
7353-411: The concession of the usufruct of lands (a beneficatium or " benefice " in the documents) for the lifetime of the vassal, or, sometimes extending to the second or third generation. By the middle of the 10th century, feudal land grants (fee, fiefs) had largely become hereditary. The eldest son of a deceased vassal would inherit, but first he had to do homage and fealty to the lord and pay a " relief " for
7482-490: The conditions under which the fief could be transmitted (e.g. only male heirs) for princes of the blood who held an apanage . By 1328 all apanagists would be peers. The number of lay peerages increased over time from 7 in 1297 to 26 in 1400, 21 in 1505, and 24 in 1588. France was a very decentralised state during the Middle Ages. At the time, Lorraine and Provence were states of the Holy Roman Empire and not
7611-420: The coronation in early periods, due to the fact that most lay peerages were forfeited to or merged in the crown, delegates were chosen by the king, mainly from the princes of the blood. In later periods peers also held up by poles a baldaquin or cloth of honour over the king during much of the ceremony. In 1204 the Duchy of Normandy was absorbed by the French crown, and later in the 13th century two more of
7740-464: The crown. Charles VI was initially referred to as Charles the Beloved by his subjects. Charles VI's early successes with the Marmousets as his counselors quickly dissipated as a result of the bouts of psychosis he experienced from his mid-twenties. Mental illness may have been passed on for several generations through his mother, Joanna of Bourbon. Although still called by his subjects Charles
7869-639: The crusades, and French knights founded and ruled the Crusader states . An example of the legacy left in the Middle East by these nobles is the Krak des Chevaliers ' enlargement by the Counts of Tripoli and Toulouse . The history of the monarchy is how it overcame the powerful barons over ensuing centuries, and established absolute sovereignty over France in the 16th century. A number of factors contributed to
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#17327653295367998-531: The dominant role during the regency. Louis of Anjou was fighting for his claim to the Kingdom of Naples after 1382, dying in 1384; John of Berry was interested mainly in the Languedoc , and not particularly interested in politics; and Louis of Bourbon was a largely unimportant figure, owing to his personality (showing signs of mental illness ) and status (since he did not belong to the royal bloodline). During
8127-575: The earliest Frankish invaders. From the time of Clovis I on, the Franks expanded their rule over northern Gaul. Over time, the French language developed from either the Oïl languages found around Paris and Île-de-France (the Francien theory) or from a standard administrative language based on common characteristics found in all Oïl languages (the lingua franca theory). The langue d'oc , consisting of
8256-551: The end of the Hundred Years' War in 1453. Charles was succeeded in law by his grandson (Henry V's son), the infant Henry VI of England , but Charles's own son was crowned first in Reims Cathedral and was widely regarded even before his coronation as the true heir by the French people. Charles VI was born in Paris, in the royal residence of the Hôtel Saint-Pol , on 3 December 1368, the son of King Charles V of
8385-528: The end of the 15th century, serfdom was largely extinct; henceforth "free" peasants paid rents for their own lands, and the lord's demesne was worked by hired labor. This liberated the peasantry to a certain degree, but also made their lives more precarious in times of economic uncertainty. For lords who rented out more and more of their holdings for fixed rents, the initial benefits were positive, but over time they found themselves increasingly cash-strapped as inflationary pressures reduced their incomes. Much of
8514-414: The enmity of the new king of Castile, who allied himself with France. The English merchant community that had been established in Seville was massacred on Henry's order. Between 1372 and 1380, Castilian corsairs raided the southern coasts of England with relative impunity, turning the tide in the Hundred Years' War decisively in France's favour. The Black Prince's intervention in the Castilian Civil War, and
8643-446: The entourage of sworn lords, began to establish themselves in the ranks of the aristocracy (acquiring local lands, building private castles, seizing elements of justice), thereby transforming into the military noble class historians refer to as " knights ". The Merovingians and Carolingians maintained relations of power with their aristocracy through the use of clientele systems and the granting of honores and benefices, including land,
8772-403: The expansion of royal control by the House of Capet (987–1328), including their struggles with the virtually independent principalities (duchies and counties, such as the Norman and Angevin regions), and the creation and extension of administrative/state control (notably under Philip II Augustus and Louis IX ) in the 13th century; and the rise of the House of Valois (1328–1589), including
8901-484: The failure of Pedro to reward his services, depleted the prince's treasury. He resolved to recover his losses by raising the taxes in Aquitaine. The Gascons, unaccustomed to such taxes, complained. Unheeded, they turned to the King of France as their feudal overlord. But by the Treaty of Brétigny the King of France had lost his suzerainty over Aquitaine. After reflecting on the matter, it was asserted that Edward III's renunciation of France had been imperfect. In consequence,
9030-454: The fight to regain his kingdom. In 1429, Joan of Arc led his forces to victory against the English and took him to be crowned in Reims Cathedral as King Charles VII on 17 July 1429. He became known as "Charles the Victorious" and was able to restore the French line to the throne of France by defeating the English in 1450. Charles VI married Isabeau of Bavaria ( c. 1371 – 24 September 1435) on 17 July 1385. They had: Charles had
9159-464: The flowering of the Notre Dame school of polyphony). From the Middle Ages onward, French rulers believed their kingdoms had natural borders: the Pyrenees, the Alps and the Rhine. This was used as a pretext for an aggressive policy and repeated invasions. The belief, however, had mere basis in reality for not all of these territories were part of the Kingdom and the authority of the King within his kingdom would be quite fluctuant. The lands that composed
9288-577: The forest of Le Mans . A few months later, following the Bal des Ardents (January 1393) where he narrowly escaped death from burning, Charles was again placed under the regency of his uncles, the Dukes of Berry and Burgundy. From then on, and until his death, Charles alternated between periods of mental instability and lucidity. Power was held by his influential uncles and by his wife, Queen Isabeau . His younger brother, Louis I, Duke of Orléans , also aspired to
9417-401: The foundation of medieval universities (such as the universities of Paris (recognized in 1150), Montpellier (1220), Toulouse (1229), and Orleans (1235)) and the so-called " Renaissance of the 12th century "; a growing body of secular vernacular literature (including the chanson de geste , chivalric romance , troubadour and trouvère poetry, etc.) and medieval music (such as
9546-605: The king to protect him. Several knights who tried to put out the flames were severely burned. Four of the dancers perished: Charles de Poitiers, son of the Count of Valentinois ; Huguet de Guisay; Yvain de Foix ; and the Count of Joigny . Another – Jean, son of the Lord of Nantouillet – saved himself by jumping into a dishwater tub. On 17 September 1394, Charles suddenly published an ordinance in which he declared, in substance, that for
9675-408: The king while he was intermittently psychotic. In an effort to find a cure for his illness, stabilize the turbulent political situation and secure his own future, Salmon supervised the production of two distinct versions of the beautifully illuminated guidebooks to good kingship known as his Dialogues . On 29 January 1393, a masked ball , which later became known as the Bal des Ardents ("Ball of
9804-667: The king's brother, who was not only another contender for power, but, it was suspected, the queen's lover as well. Charles's other uncles were less influential during the regency: Louis of Naples was still engaged managing the Kingdom of Naples, and John of Berry served as a mediator between the Orléans party (what would become the Armagnacs ) and the Burgundy party ( Bourguignons ). The rivalry would increase bit by bit and eventually result in outright civil war. The new regents dismissed
9933-495: 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 half an hour, repeating his cries. After 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
10062-484: The knights on foot. Defeat caused great anger and resentment in England against John of Gaunt, who remained a powerful political player, but his unpopularity meant his efforts to agree peace with France were unsuccessful. By 1374, the Treaty of Bretigny had been nullified in fact as well as name; apart from Calais, England held no more territory than before their victory at Crécy in 1346. Instigated by Pope Gregory XI ,
10191-491: The land (a monetary recognition of the lord's continuing proprietary rights over the property). By the 11th century, the bonds of vassalage and the granting of fiefs had spread throughout much of French society, but it was in no ways universal in France: in the south, feudal grants of land or of rights were unknown. In its origin, the feudal grant had been seen in terms of a personal bond between lord and vassal, but with time and
10320-425: The land became increasingly characterized by the extension of the new "bipartite estate" system ( manorialism ), in which peasants (who were bound to the land) held tenant holdings from a lord or monastery (for which they paid rent), but were also required to work the lord's own " demesne "; in the north, some of these estates could be quite substantial. This system remained a standard part of lord-tenant relations into
10449-700: The language of the ruling classes and commerce in England from the time of the conquest until the Hundred Years' War , by which time the use of French-influenced English had spread throughout English society. Also around this time period, many words from the Arabic language entered French, mainly indirectly through Medieval Latin , Italian and Spanish. There are words for luxury goods ( élixir, orange ), spices ( camphre, safran ), trade goods ( alcool, bougie, coton ), sciences ( alchimie, hasard ), and mathematics ( algèbre, algorithme ). While education and literacy had been important components of aristocratic service in
10578-437: The languages which use oc or òc for "yes", was the language group spoken in the south of France and northeastern Spain . These languages, such as Gascon and Provençal , have relatively little Frankish influence. The Middle Ages also saw the influence of other linguistic groups on the dialects spoken in France. From the 4th to 7th centuries, Brythonic -speaking peoples from Cornwall , Devon , and Wales travelled across
10707-469: The late 10th, and increasingly in the 12th century, many towns and villages were able to gain economic, social or judicial privileges and franchises from their lords (exemptions from tolls and dues, rights to clear land or hold fairs, some judicial or administrative independence, etc.). The seigneurial reaction to expanding urbanism and enfranchisement was mixed; some lords fought against the changes, but some lords gained financial and political advantages from
10836-402: The late 9th to the late 10th century, the nature of the noble class changed significantly. First off, the aristocracy increasingly focused on establishing strong regional bases of landholdings, on taking hereditary control of the counties and duchies, and eventually on erecting these into veritable independent principalities and privatizing various privileges and rights of the state. (By 1025,
10965-660: The law courts, but Latin would remain an administrative and legal language until the Ordinance of Villers-Cotterêts (1539) prescribed the use of French in all judicial acts, notarized contracts, and official legislation. The vast majority of the population, however, spoke a variety of vernacular languages derived from vulgar Latin , the common spoken language of the Western Roman Empire. The medieval Italian poet Dante , in his Latin De vulgari eloquentia , classified
11094-405: The lay peerages were absorbed by the crown (Toulouse 1271, Champagne 1284), so in 1297 three new peerages were created, the County of Artois , the Duchy of Anjou and the Duchy of Brittany , to compensate for the three peerages that had disappeared. Thus, beginning in 1297 the practice started of creating new peerages by letters patent , specifying the fief to which the peerage was attached, and
11223-485: The lord's mill, etc. (what Georges Duby called collectively the " seigneurie banale " ). Power in this period became more personal and it would take centuries for the state to fully reimpose its control over local justice and fiscal administration (by the 15th century, much of the seigneur's legal purview had been given to the bailliages , leaving them only affairs concerning seigneurial dues and duties, and small affairs of local justice) This "fragmentation of powers"
11352-399: The lord's property rights, but only the use of the lands and their income; the granting lord retained ultimate ownership of the fee and could, technically, recover the lands in case of disloyalty or death. In the 8th-century Frankish empire , Charles Martel was the first to make large scale and systematic use (the practice had remained until then sporadic) of the remuneration of vassals by
11481-430: The lower count would put it behind Venice with 100,000 and Florence with 96,000. The Black Death killed an estimated one-third of the population from its appearance in 1348. The concurrent Hundred Years' War slowed recovery. It would be the mid-16th century before the population recovered to mid-fourteenth century levels. In the early Middle Ages, France was a center of Jewish learning, but increasing persecution, and
11610-423: The more so as vassals could and frequently did pledge themselves to two or more lords. In response to this, the idea of a " liege lord " was developed (where the obligations to one lord are regarded as superior) in the 12th century. Medieval French kings conferred the dignity of peerage upon certain of his preëminent vassals , both clerical and lay. Some historians consider Louis VII (1137–1180) to have created
11739-495: The new Duke of Orléans, turned to his father-in-law, Bernard VII, Count of Armagnac , for support against John the Fearless. This resulted in the Armagnac–Burgundian Civil War , which lasted from 1407 until 1435, beyond Charles's reign, though the war with the English was still in progress. With the English taking over much of France, John the Fearless sought to end the feud with the royal family by negotiating with
11868-690: The nine years of formal peace between the two kingdoms, the English and French clashed in Brittany and Castile. In the War of the Breton Succession , the English backed the heir male, the House of Montfort (a cadet of the House of Dreux, itself a cadet of the Capetian dynasty ) while the French backed the heir general, the House of Blois. Since Brittany allowed female succession, the French considered
11997-564: The outpouring of French vernacular literature from the 12th century on ( chanson de geste , chivalric romance , troubadour and trouvère poetry, etc.), French eventually became the "international language of the aristocracy". In the Middle Ages in France, the vast majority of the population—between 80 and 90 percent—were peasants. Traditional categories inherited from the Roman and Merovingian period (distinctions between free and unfree peasants, between tenants and peasants who owned their own land, etc.) underwent significant changes up to
12126-491: The periods preceding or following it. Historians refer to this as the " Medieval Warm Period ", lasting from about the 10th century to about the 14th century. Part of the French population growth in this period (see below) is directly linked to this temperate weather and its effect on crops and livestock. At the end of the Middle Ages, France was the most populous region in Europe—having overtaken Spain and Italy by 1340. In
12255-596: The principle of male primogeniture, later popularized as the Salic law . The authority of the king was more religious than administrative. The 11th century in France marked the apogee of princely power at the expense of the king when states like Normandy , Flanders or Languedoc enjoyed a local authority comparable to kingdoms in all but name. The Capetians , as they were descended from the Robertians , were formerly powerful princes themselves who had successfully unseated
12384-468: The protracted dynastic crisis against the House of Plantagenet and their Angevin Empire , culminating in the Hundred Years' War (1337–1453) (compounded by the catastrophic Black Death in 1348), which laid the seeds for a more centralized and expanded state in the early modern period and the creation of a sense of French identity. Up to the 12th century, the period saw the elaboration and extension of
12513-549: The regency and saw his influence grow. The enmity between the Duke of Orléans and his cousin John the Fearless , successor of Philip the Bold as Duke of Burgundy , plunged France into the Armagnac–Burgundian Civil War of 1407–1435, during which the king found himself successively controlled by one or the other of the two parties. In 1415, Charles's army was crushed by the English at the Battle of Agincourt . The king subsequently signed
12642-408: The reign of Charlemagne, who was considered the model king and shining example for knighthood and nobility. The dozen pairs played a role in the royal sacre or consecration , during the liturgy of the coronation of the king, attested to as early as 1179, symbolically upholding his crown, and each original peer had a specific role, often with an attribute. Since the peers were never twelve during
12771-399: The rise of the French monarchy. The dynasty established by Hugh Capet continued uninterrupted until 1328, and the laws of primogeniture ensured orderly successions of power. Secondly, the successors of Capet came to be recognised as members of an illustrious and ancient royal house and therefore socially superior to their politically and economically superior rivals. Thirdly, the Capetians had
12900-425: The royal system of " apanage " (the giving of regions to members of the royal family to be administered) and through losses in the Hundred Years' War . Only in the 15th century would Charles VII and Louis XI gain control of most of modern-day France (except for Brittany , Navarre , and parts of eastern and northern France). The weather in France and Europe in the Middle Ages was significantly milder than during
13029-447: The rule of his uncles, the financial resources of the kingdom, painstakingly built up by Charles V, were squandered for the personal profit of the dukes, whose interests were frequently divergent or even opposing. Power was slowly centralized in a new royal administration, which reimposed a number of unpopular taxes. The latter policy represented a reversal of the deathbed decision by Charles V to repeal them, and led to tax revolts, known as
13158-426: The same period or later: counties and duchies began to break down into smaller holdings as castellans and lesser seigneurs took control of local lands, and (as comital families had done before them) lesser lords usurped/privatized a wide range of prerogatives and rights of the state, most importantly the highly profitable rights of justice, but also travel dues, market dues, fees for using woodlands, obligations to use
13287-540: The similarity of his behavior and delusions. Pope Pius II , who was born during the reign of Charles VI, wrote in his Commentaries that there were times when Charles thought that he was made of glass, and thus tried to protect himself in various ways so that he would not break. He reportedly had iron rods sewn into his clothes so that he would not shatter if he came into contact with another person. This condition has come to be known as glass delusion . Charles's secretary, Pierre Salmon , spent much time in discussions with
13416-590: The situation. In 1378 Charles V's support for the election of the Avignon Pope Clement VII started the Great Schism. This event split the Church for almost four decades and thwarted papal efforts to prevent or end the Hundred Years' War. The disputed papal succession resulted in several lines of popes competing for the support of national rulers, which exacerbated the political divisions of
13545-411: The south and the Mediterranean coast (from Toulouse to Marseille , including Narbonne and Montpellier ) and in the north ( Beauvais , Laon , Amiens , Arras , Bruges , etc.). Market towns increased in size and many were able to gain privileges and franchises including transformation into free cities ( villes franches ); rural populations from the countrysides moved to the cities and burgs. This
13674-426: The south. The rulers of both fiefs eventually became kings, the former by the conquest of England, and the latter by the succession to Aragon. French suzerainty over Barcelona was only formally relinquished by Saint Louis in 1258. Initially, West Frankish kings were elected by the secular and ecclesiastic magnates, but the regular coronation of the eldest son of the reigning king during his father's lifetime established
13803-416: The suggestion of one Yvain de Foix, the king commanded that the torch-bearers were to stand at the side of the room. Nonetheless, the king's younger brother Louis I, Duke of Orléans , who had arrived late, approached with a lighted torch to discover the identity of the dancers, and accidentally set one of them on fire. There was panic as the flames spread. The Duchess of Berry threw the train of her gown over
13932-517: The support of the Church , which favoured a strong central government in France. This alliance with the Church was one of the great enduring legacies of the Capetians. The First Crusade was composed almost entirely of Frankish Princes. As time went on the power of the King was expanded by conquests, seizures and successful feudal political battles. Charles VI of France Charles VI (3 December 1368 – 21 October 1422), nicknamed
14061-410: The territorial losses imposed at Brétigny and he was largely successful in his lifetime. His successor, Charles VI , made peace with the son of the Black Prince, Richard II , in 1389. This truce was extended many times until the war was resumed in 1415. In the Treaty of Brétigny , Edward III renounced his claim to the French throne in exchange for the duchy of Aquitaine in full sovereignty. During
14190-479: The title of King gave them a complicated status. Thus they were involved in the struggle for power within France as princes but they also had a religious authority over Roman Catholicism in France as King. However, and despite the fact that the Capetian kings often treated other princes more as enemies and allies than as subordinates, their royal title was often recognised yet not often respected. The royal authority
14319-549: The total of twelve peers: These twelve peerages are known as the ancient peerage or pairie ancienne , and the number twelve is sometimes said to have been chosen to mirror the 12 paladins of Charlemagne in the Chanson de geste (see below). Parallels may also be seen with mythical Knights of the Round Table under King Arthur . So popular was this notion, that for a long time people thought peerage had originated in
14448-484: The traitors! They wish to deliver me to the enemy!" The king then drew his sword, spurred his mount, and attacked his own knights before one of his chamberlains 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, but then fell into a coma; as a temporary measure, he was taken to the castle of Creil , where it was hoped that good air and pleasant surroundings might bring him to his senses. The king had killed
14577-402: The transformation of fiefs into hereditary holdings, the nature of the system came to be seen as a form of "politics of land" (an expression used by the historian Marc Bloch ). The 11th century in France saw what has been called by historians a "feudal revolution" or "mutation" and a "fragmentation of powers" (Bloch) that was unlike the development of feudalism in England or Italy or Germany in
14706-414: The various advisers and officials Charles had appointed. On the death of Philip the Bold in April 1404, his son John the Fearless took over the political aims of his father, and the feud with Orléans escalated. In 1407, Orléans was murdered in the rue Vieille du Temple in Paris. John the Fearless did not deny responsibility, claiming that Orléans was a tyrant who squandered money. Orléans' son Charles ,
14835-400: The war became unemployed, and turned to plundering. Charles V also had a score to settle with Pedro the Cruel , King of Castile, who married his sister-in-law, Blanche of Bourbon , and had her poisoned. Charles V ordered Du Guesclin to lead these bands to Castile to depose Pedro the Cruel. The Castilian Civil War ensued. Du Guesclin succeeded in his object; Henry of Trastámara was placed on
14964-564: The war. Despite papal involvement in peace conferences throughout the 14th century, no settlement was ever reached, in part because the papacy was not influential enough to impose one. France in the Middle Ages The Kingdom of France in the Middle Ages (roughly, from the 10th century to the middle of the 15th century) was marked by the fragmentation of the Carolingian Empire and West Francia (843–987);
15093-585: The war. In addition, Jean III de Grailly, Captal de Buch , a Gascon fighting for the English who had filled the gap left by Chandos, was captured in the fighting around La Rochelle. Despite pleas from his own knights, Charles refused to ransom the Captal , arguing he was too dangerous to release, and kept him in prison where he died in 1376. The English responded with a series of destructive military expeditions into French territory called chevauchées , hoping to bring du Guesclin to battle. The most significant of these
15222-494: The weak and unfortunate Carolingian kings. The Carolingian kings had nothing more than a royal title when the Capetian kings added their principality to that title. The Capetians, in a way, held a dual status of King and Prince; as king they held the Crown of Charlemagne and as Count of Paris they held their personal fiefdom, best known as Île-de-France . The fact that the Capetians both held lands as Prince as well as in
15351-482: Was Saint George and that his coat of arms was a lion with a sword thrust through it. At this time, he recognized all the officers of his household, but did not know his wife nor his children. Sometimes the king ran wildly through the corridors of the Hôtel Saint-Pol, and to keep him inside, the entrances were walled up. In 1405, he refused to bathe or change his clothes for five months. Charles's later psychotic episodes were not described in detail, perhaps because of
15480-544: Was a blatant act against the interests of the French aristocracy , supported by the Duke of Burgundy. The Dauphin, who had declared himself regent for his father when the Duke of Burgundy invaded Paris and captured the king, had established a court at Bourges . Charles VI died on 21 October 1422 in Paris, at the Hôtel Saint-Pol. He was interred in Saint Denis Basilica , where his wife Isabeau would join him after her death in September 1435. Henry V died just
15609-476: Was also a period of urban building: the extension of walls around the entirety of the urban space, the vast construction of Gothic cathedrals (starting in the 12th century), urban fortresses, castles (such as Philip II Augustus' Louvre around 1200) and bridges. In the Carolingian period, the "aristocracy" ( nobilis in the Latin documents) was by no means a legally defined category. With traditions going back to
15738-460: Was at hand. On his deathbed, Charles V repealed the royal taxation necessary to fund the war effort. As the regents attempted to reimpose the taxation, a popular revolt known as the Harelle broke out in Rouen . As tax collectors arrived at other French cities, the revolt spread and violence broke out in Paris and most of France's other northern cities. The regency was forced to repeal the taxes to calm
15867-573: Was led by John of Gaunt in 1373; launched between two bouts of the Black Death in 1369 and 1375, the plague had a devastating economic impact, making it difficult for him to fund the campaign. According to chronicler Jean Froissart , the Chevauchée had been planned for three years. The English were known for their capability in this type of warfare. The English plan involved marching from Calais through Champagne and Burgundy into Aquitaine,
15996-430: Was not however systematic throughout France, and in certain counties (such as Flanders, Normandy, Anjou, Toulouse), counts were able to maintain control of their lands into the 12th century or later. Thus, in some regions (like Normandy and Flanders), the vassal/feudal system was an effective tool for ducal and comital control, linking vassals to their lords; but in other regions, the system led to significant confusion, all
16125-423: Was ruled by Charles's uncles as regents . Although the royal age of majority was 14 (the " age of accountability " under Roman Catholic canon law ), Charles terminated the regency at the age of 21. The regents were Philip the Bold, Duke of Burgundy , Louis I, Duke of Anjou , and John, Duke of Berry – all brothers of Charles V – along with Louis II, Duke of Bourbon , Charles VI's maternal uncle. Philip took
16254-670: Was so weak in some remote places that bandits were the effective power. Some of the king's vassals would grow sufficiently powerful that they would become some of the strongest rulers of western Europe. The Normans , the Plantagenets , the Lusignans , the Hautevilles , the Ramnulfids , and the House of Toulouse successfully carved lands outside France for themselves. The most important of these conquests for French history
16383-604: Was the Norman Conquest by William the Conqueror , following the Battle of Hastings and immortalised in the Bayeux Tapestry , because it linked England to France through Normandy. Although the Normans were now both vassals of the French kings and their equals as kings of England, their zone of political activity remained centered in France. An important part of the French aristocracy also involved itself in
16512-563: Was the second phase of the Hundred Years' War between France and England , following the Edwardian War . It was so-named after Charles V of France , who resumed the war nine years after the Treaty of Brétigny (signed 1360). In this part of the conflict, the Crown of Castile emerges as a supporter of France. The Kingdom of France dominated this phase of the war. The Black Prince , eldest son and heir of Edward III of England , spent
16641-522: Was too old and the Black Prince an invalid, while in December 1370, John Chandos , the vastly experienced seneschal of Poitou , was killed in a skirmish near Lussac-les-Châteaux . On the advice of Bertrand du Guesclin, appointed Constable of France in November 1370, the French adopted an attritional strategy . Rather than seeking battle, the English were worn down by an incremental approach whereby
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