Marie d’Anjou: a model queen as wife of King Charles VII of France

Marie d’Anjou, who was a daughter of Louis II d’Anjou and his wife, Yolande of Aragon, was born on the 14th of October 1404.  Marie was betrothed to Charles de Valois for years: their betrothal agreement had first been signed when he had been the youngest son of Charles VI...

The Treaty of Arras of 1435: the end of the civil strife in France

The Treaty of Arras, signed on the 21st of September 1435, ended the enmity between King Charles VII of France and Philippe the Good, Duke of Burgundy.  It was a huge diplomatic victory for Charles VII: his Burgundian cousin finally recognized him as the rightful French monarch.  The alliance between...

Unfit to rule: the merry captivity of King Jean II of France after the 1356 Poitiers catastrophe

King Jean II of France, called the Good (le Bon), was the second Valois monarch, and, as some historians say, ‘The shame of France’.  How could the ruler who also has the nickname ‘the Good’ deserve such an epithet?  The clue to the understanding of this reasoning is in the...

Charles V of France: kingship based on clever governance and education

Born on the 21st of January 1338, King Charles V of France, known as the Wise (le Sage), died on the 16th of September 1380 at the age of 42 at Beauté-sur-Marne, France.  He was the eldest son of King Jean II of France, called the Good (le Bon), and...

A heroic death of John the Blind, King of Bohemia, at the Battle of Crécy

John (or Jean) the Blind, Count of Luxembourg from 1313 and King of Bohemia from 1310, heroically fell in the Battle of Crécy at the age of 50.  He commanded the left wing of the French forces together with Count Jean d’Aumale, Count Guy de Saint-Pol, and Jean de Hainault....

The Battle of Crécy: in the Footsteps of Edward III of England and Philippe VI of France

The Hundred Years’ War…  Doesn’t this sound daunting?  Frightening for everyone, indeed.  It lasted more than 100 years and was one of the most bloodthirsty and longest military conflicts in history.  Jean Froissart (a French-speaking medieval author from the Low Countries) became the most famed chronicler of this war, and...

King Charles VII: from the ‘King of Bourges’ to the King of France free from the English

King Charles VII of France, known as the Victorious (le Victorieux), died on the 22nd of July, 1461 at Mehun-sur-Yèvre at the age of 58.  His main legacy is the freedom of the French and the end of the Hundred Years’ War.  Nonetheless, Charles VII’s reign started in the atmosphere...