Assassination of Louis I, Duke of Orléans
Encyclopedia
The assassination of Louis I, Duke of Orléans took place on November 23, 1407 in Paris.
, French generals like Bertrand du Guesclin
had steadily regained ground previously lost to the English in the Hundred Years' War
. At the same time England was suffering from serious political disturbances and border threats at home. These two factors led to a truce being declared in 1389. The Hundred Years' War was paused. During the reign of Charles V of France
, the English begun to reconquest territory taken by valiant captains (as Bertrand du Guesclin
), and faced serious political unrest.
The new king of France, Charles VI
, had sunk into madness, and by 1392 France was being ruled by a regency council composed of the grandees of the kingdom and presided over by Queen Isabeau
. With the death of Philip the Bold
, Duke of Burgundy
, the power shifted away from his son, John the Fearless, in the hands of the king's brother, Louis of Orléans, who was rumoured to have had a relationship with the queen. Louis had the Burgundians expelled from the council and took the lion's share of the royal treasury, which he used to break up the Duke of Burgundy's territorial possessions of Flanders
and the Duchy of Burgundy
by purchasing the Duchy of Luxembourg.
Trapped and weakened, John the Fearless decided he must kill his rival.
Thomas de Courteheuse informed him that King Charles VI
awaited his urgent presence at the Hôtel Saint-Paul.
Upon his departure, he was stabbed by about fifteen masked thugs led by Raoulet d'Anquetonville, who was a henchman of the Duke of Burgundy. The valets and guards that escorted him were unable to protect him. The Duke of Burgundy had the support of the Parisian and University populations, which he had known how to win over by promising the establishment of an ordinance like that of 1357. Able to seize power, he could publicly confess to the assassination. Far from hiding it, John the Fearless had a eulogy of tyrannicide written by the theologian John the Small, an academic at the Sorbonne.
On April 15, 1410, in Gien
, during the nuptials of Charles, Duke of Orléans, the son of the assassinated duke, and Bonne d'Armagnac
, the powerful men of the kingdom present joined forces against the Duke of Burgundy. The Armagnac-Burgundian Civil War
that ensued went on for thirty years, until the signing of the Treaty of Arras
. John the Fearless was himself assassinated
by the Armagnacs in 1419.
Background
Under the reign of Charles VCharles V of France
Charles V , called the Wise, was King of France from 1364 to his death in 1380 and a member of the House of Valois...
, French generals like Bertrand du Guesclin
Bertrand du Guesclin
Bertrand du Guesclin , known as the Eagle of Brittany or the Black Dog of Brocéliande, was a Breton knight and French military commander during the Hundred Years' War. He was Constable of France from 1370 to his death...
had steadily regained ground previously lost to the English in the Hundred Years' War
Hundred Years' War
The Hundred Years' War was a series of separate wars waged from 1337 to 1453 by the House of Valois and the House of Plantagenet, also known as the House of Anjou, for the French throne, which had become vacant upon the extinction of the senior Capetian line of French kings...
. At the same time England was suffering from serious political disturbances and border threats at home. These two factors led to a truce being declared in 1389. The Hundred Years' War was paused. During the reign of Charles V of France
Charles V of France
Charles V , called the Wise, was King of France from 1364 to his death in 1380 and a member of the House of Valois...
, the English begun to reconquest territory taken by valiant captains (as Bertrand du Guesclin
Bertrand du Guesclin
Bertrand du Guesclin , known as the Eagle of Brittany or the Black Dog of Brocéliande, was a Breton knight and French military commander during the Hundred Years' War. He was Constable of France from 1370 to his death...
), and faced serious political unrest.
The new king of France, Charles VI
Charles VI of France
Charles VI , called the Beloved and the Mad , was the King of France from 1380 to 1422, as a member of the House of Valois. His bouts with madness, which seem to have begun in 1392, led to quarrels among the French royal family, which were exploited by the neighbouring powers of England and Burgundy...
, had sunk into madness, and by 1392 France was being ruled by a regency council composed of the grandees of the kingdom and presided over by Queen Isabeau
Isabeau of Bavaria
Isabeau of Bavaria was Queen consort of France as spouse of King Charles VI of France, a member of the Valois Dynasty...
. With the death of Philip the Bold
Philip the Bold
Philip the Bold , also Philip II, Duke of Burgundy , was the fourth and youngest son of King John II of France and his wife, Bonne of Luxembourg. By his marriage to Margaret III, Countess of Flanders, he also became Count Philip II of Flanders, Count Philip IV of Artois and Count-Palatine Philip IV...
, Duke of Burgundy
Duke of Burgundy
Duke of Burgundy was a title borne by the rulers of the Duchy of Burgundy, a small portion of traditional lands of Burgundians west of river Saône which in 843 was allotted to Charles the Bald's kingdom of West Franks...
, the power shifted away from his son, John the Fearless, in the hands of the king's brother, Louis of Orléans, who was rumoured to have had a relationship with the queen. Louis had the Burgundians expelled from the council and took the lion's share of the royal treasury, which he used to break up the Duke of Burgundy's territorial possessions of Flanders
Flanders
Flanders is the community of the Flemings but also one of the institutions in Belgium, and a geographical region located in parts of present-day Belgium, France and the Netherlands. "Flanders" can also refer to the northern part of Belgium that contains Brussels, Bruges, Ghent and Antwerp...
and the Duchy of Burgundy
Duchy of Burgundy
The Duchy of Burgundy , was heir to an ancient and prestigious reputation and a large division of the lands of the Second Kingdom of Burgundy and in its own right was one of the geographically larger ducal territories in the emergence of Early Modern Europe from Medieval Europe.Even in that...
by purchasing the Duchy of Luxembourg.
Trapped and weakened, John the Fearless decided he must kill his rival.
Course
On November 23, 1407, the Duke of Orleans went to visit Queen Isabeau, who had given birth a little earlier, at the Hôtel Barbette on the Rue Vieille-du-Temple, in Paris.Thomas de Courteheuse informed him that King Charles VI
Charles VI of France
Charles VI , called the Beloved and the Mad , was the King of France from 1380 to 1422, as a member of the House of Valois. His bouts with madness, which seem to have begun in 1392, led to quarrels among the French royal family, which were exploited by the neighbouring powers of England and Burgundy...
awaited his urgent presence at the Hôtel Saint-Paul.
Upon his departure, he was stabbed by about fifteen masked thugs led by Raoulet d'Anquetonville, who was a henchman of the Duke of Burgundy. The valets and guards that escorted him were unable to protect him. The Duke of Burgundy had the support of the Parisian and University populations, which he had known how to win over by promising the establishment of an ordinance like that of 1357. Able to seize power, he could publicly confess to the assassination. Far from hiding it, John the Fearless had a eulogy of tyrannicide written by the theologian John the Small, an academic at the Sorbonne.
Aftermath
In order to appease the combatants following the assassination, Charles VI, king of France, called the Duke of Burgundy and the children of the deceased to Chartres on February 28, 1409. He also charged Count William IV of Hainaut, the brother-in-law of John the Fearless, Duke of Burgundy to ensure, at the head of 400 men-at-arms and 100 archers, the protection of each of the delegations during their trip and to fight on the side of the attacked party if hostilities were to occur.On April 15, 1410, in Gien
Gien
Gien is a commune in the Loiret department in north-central France.Gien is on the Loire River, from Orléans. The town was bought for the royal property by Philip II of France. The town is twinned with Malmesbury in England.-Sights:*Faience de Gien...
, during the nuptials of Charles, Duke of Orléans, the son of the assassinated duke, and Bonne d'Armagnac
Bonne d'Armagnac
Bonne of Armagnac was the daughter of Bernard VII, Count of Armagnac and constable of France, and of Bonne of Berry.-Marriage:...
, the powerful men of the kingdom present joined forces against the Duke of Burgundy. The Armagnac-Burgundian Civil War
Armagnac-Burgundian Civil War
The Armagnac–Burgundian Civil War was a French civil war between the Armagnac and Burgundian factions from 1407 to 1435 AD. It occurred while France was already being ravaged by the Hundred Years' War against the English and the wars surrounding the Western Schism of the papacy.-Causes:The war's...
that ensued went on for thirty years, until the signing of the Treaty of Arras
Treaty of Arras
There have been several treaties of Arras:* the Treaty of Arras , between Charles VII of France and Philip the Good of Burgundy* the Treaty of Arras , between Louis XI of France and the governments of the Low Countries...
. John the Fearless was himself assassinated
Assassination of John the Fearless
John the Fearless, Duke of Burgundy, was assassinated on the bridge at Montereau on 10 September 1419 during a parley with the French dauphin , by Tanneguy du Chastel and Jean Louvet, the dauphin's close counsellors.- Context :...
by the Armagnacs in 1419.