Being born into royalty can seem like a pretty easy job.
King Charles VI of France started his reign being known as Charles the Beloved.
By the time of his passing, he was commonly known to his subjects as Charles the Mad.
Charles was king of one of the most powerful kingdoms in Europe at the time. He seemed to be
destined for the throne until his mind – and thus, his reign – grew darker and darker. The very King
meant to lead France almost caused the demise of the country. What happened in between? Keep
watching to find out. Welcome to Nutty History. Today we’ll be learning about Charles the Mad.
The Hundred Year war was raging when Charles was born on December 3, 1368. Already destined
for great things, Charles was born in the royal residence at the Hotel Saint-Poi. His parents,
King Charles V of the House of Bourbon, and Joanna of Bourbon were delighted with their new arrival.
Charles’ 3 older siblings had tragically passed away prior to his birth, leaving him the sole
heir to the French throne, with the title Dauphin of France. Charles Sr and Joanna were known for
their intelligence and cunning during the war. They managed to outsmart the English during every
battle, and it appeared that they were close to winning the war. The very war they thought they
were close to winning would be the one that lead their family to a tumultuous demise.
Charles’ father was killed during battle on September 16, 1380, leaving 11-year-old Charles
Jr to inherit the throne. His coronation took place 2 months later. No one in their right mine
wanted an 11-year-old preteen to rule, especially during a war, and so his uncles stepped in as his
regents until he was older. Even though the royal age of majority is a mere 14 years old in France,
his uncles continued to act as regents by his side until Charles himself terminated the regency at
age 21, giving him full power over the French kingdom. Charles’ uncles did not act with his
best interest in mind. Instead, the dukes took the money from France to build up their own
selfish interests, squandering Charles’ fortune. His father had worked tirelessly to help bring
France to the world stage and cement their role as a power player against the English.
But unfortunately, Charles V brothers, the preteen king’s uncles, had a different idea in mind.
The wasted almost every livre that Charles Sr had left to his son and the Kingdom.
As if that wasn’t bad enough, the Dukes continued to act without thinking things through.
With no money left in the Kingdom the Dukes decided to raise taxes. The problem? On his
deathbed, Charles V promised to abolish taxes and his citizens knew it! When the dukes announced
their new tax plan, the citizens revolted. While this wasn’t Charles VI's decision,
it definitely had an impact on him for when he would eventually take over the rule of the land.
While his uncles were out ruining the throne’s reputation, Charles was 17 years old, and was
the typical teenager. Charles IV grew into an attractive man, and while he may not have total
power, he was still the King of France by title. At the ripe age of 17, Charles attended a French
nobleman’s wedding in hopes of finding a wife. He spent the whole affair showing off and attracting
attention to himself. Not the politest wedding guest. He was the King of France! Everyone wanted
to be around him. A Bavarian Duke suggested his daughter to be Charles’ bride. The royal
advisors agreed, and Isabeau of Bavaria was sent to France to be officially ‘presented’ to Charles.
She might have thought she was the luckiest girl alive, but little did she know what was to come.
Charles and Isabeau were very much attracted to each other and wed three days after meeting. A
wedding guest wrote of the event saying the bride and groom were very beautiful and affectionate.
They might not have seen it coming but we know this isn’t a fairy tale. Charles would frequently
bestow upon her lavish and expensive gifts. He was a boy in love and all his attention went to
his new wife – not ruling France. As we already discussed, Charles terminated the regency at age
21, and now had the rule and reign of the French kingdom. Charles returned the kingdom to the way
his father had run France in the years prior and brought back some of his father’s advisors. Early
in his reign, the citizens named him “Charles the Beloved”. They were overjoyed that he got rid of
his nasty uncles and brough stability and reason back to France. Unfortunately, the story doesn’t
end there. The early successes were a great start, but what’s to come would be the downfall.
Charles’ maternal grandfather had a long history of severe mental illness.
His grandfather was well known for debilitating mental breakdowns. His mother, Joanna,
would also suffer from the same breakdowns. The advisors had closely watched Charles throughout
his life to see if he would inherit the same ill-fated illness. They felt confident that he
had not displayed any warning signs up until now. A few years after he 21, Charles stated
to display some dark warning signs. Charles the Beloved was now known as Charles the Mad.
Charles went though periods of clear headedness following by debilitating breakdowns.
Those around him were never sure which King they would get – the Beloved or the Mad. During his
episodes, Charles couldn’t even remember his name, let alone the fact that he was the King of France.
Charles would run wildly through the halls of his Palace in the French capital in various
states of undress. At one point, his advisors had to board up the entrances and exits to the palace
so Charles couldn’t escape half naked in the streets. All while this is going on, the Hundred
Year War is still being fought. The progress from Charles’ father is being lost each and every day.
There were times that Charles’ would refuse to bathe or even change his clothes
for 5 months. He would still insist on carrying out his royal duties while clothed in dirty,
smelly robes. That’s not exactly a King you would instill confidence in, is it? Each time Charles
slipped into an episode, he would fall deeper and deeper. During his reign Charles started to
believe that he was made of glass. He truly believed he could shatter at any point. He
became obsessed with protecting himself and what to believed to be his fragile body. He went as
far as demanded the royal tailor to sew iron rods into his clothing to give his body more support.
In 1393, when Charles was 25 years old, Isabeau planned an extravagant ball to honor her ladies
in waiting. Charles was already experiencing many episodes of mental illness at this point. An idea
was presented that Charles and five other royal lords should dress as mythical figures who live
in the woods - “wild men”. Charles and the men loved the idea and went headfirst into designing
their costumes. They gathered swaths of linen cloth that was soaked in resin with tiny, airy
wisps of hemp. They truly appeared to be wild men from the forest! But the materials also made them
very flammable. The group was advised to keep away from the lit torches at the center of the room.
Charles’ brother Louis arrived fashionably late to the party and missed the important information.
The costumes were so good that with all the shag hanging over the men’s faces; Louis couldn’t tell
who was underneath. He wanted to find his brother! Louis grabbed one of the torches and walked toward
the men to get a closer look. The split-second decision was all it took for the flames to rise.
The flames jumped from costume to costume and quickly made their way around the party goers.
Screams and panic filled the room as the smell of burning filled the air. This night became know as
the Bal des Ardents or the Ball of the Burning Men. Four of the lords tragically died during
the incident. One saved himself by jumping into a dishwasher tub. Charles had a special woman to
thank for her act of bravery. The Duchess of Berry picked up her massive skirt and threw it over
the king to protect him from the fire. Charles walked away relatively unhurt from the disaster.
The people of Paris were already aware of Charles’ shortcomings and failures as King.
After the Burning Men Ball the citizens were ready to revolt. There were shocked that the King and
his brother could be so dimwitted. Even though the Ball technically had nothing to do with Charles’
illness, the fatal consequence did not help his public image. The Ball had a detrimental effect
on his deteriorating mental state. Months later, Charles fell into another episode that rendered
him virtually useless for six months. One of his doctors wrote, “no medicine will help him”.
All his advisors and family could do was wait for his mind to return. He would frequently
slip into patterns of level headedness and madness. For the following three decades,
he would suffer severe breakdowns that would render him useless as King for months at a time.
Isabeau was shocked at the state of her husband, and its far comparison from the man she once
married. The couple had three children together, which is enough work, but now Isabeau also had to
worry about the wellbeing of her husband. She set up a regency council to run the Kingdom
for Charles while he was unable to. She continued to hope that one day her husband would return to
being the powerful King he once was. Despite all her effects and devotion, there is one shocking
revelation that would be a downfall. When Isabeau went to the palace to see Charles, she came to
find out that he didn’t even recognize her. As she stood in front of him, he leaned to an advisor and
whispered “Who is this woman obstructing my view? Find out what she wants and stop her from annoying
and bothering me.” Isabeau must have been devasted after she worked so hard to save her marriage and
the kingdom. Charles was seemingly repulsed by Isabeau and didn’t want her to be around.
Yet, his eye caught a new companion – Odette de Champdivers, the daughter of a horse trader.
News of their relationship spread quickly around the kingdom and people were calling Odette “the
little queen”, even though he was still married to Isabeau. Furious with her husband’s behaviour,
Isabeau decided to retaliate…with his brother, Louis. Rumors spread all over
that Isabeau was having an affair with the man that started the fire at the Burning Man Ball.
Even though there was no solid evidence of the two people together, the rumors had already
done damage. John the Fearless, the Duke of Burgundy, was outraged at the rumored affair
with the greedy Louis and decimated him in the streets of Paris. Historians believe that John
wanted the throne for himself and was trying to get Louis out of the way.
Charles continued to make bad decisions all throughout his reign. France was still at war
with England, ruled by King Henry V. Henry took advantage of the inept French King and pushed
his armies into France until they finally won at the Battle of Agincourt. Even though the French
army had twice as many men, things were disastrous under Charles’ leadership. Following the Battle,
Henry spent many years reclaiming all the land that Charles’ father had previously ruled.
In 1420, Henry forced Charles to sign the Treaty of Troyes, which changed history forever.
The Treaty disregarded Charles’ son, and instead, named Henry as the heir to the French throne.
Charles son, appropriately named Charles VII, escaped from Henry, and declared his father
unfit for the throne. Charles VII started a rival court in Bourges, to the south of Paris.
Charles continued to waste away throughout the years and passed away in 1422 as a result of
decades of deteriorating health. After all the dramatic battles the years before and the Treaty,
the country to the north of Loire, France was now under British rule while southern France
remained loyal to his son. A tumultuous life and a tumultuous death following Charles the Mad. He
had quite a journey from the Beloved to becoming the Mad King. Were you shocked at anything that
happened during Charles’ life? Let us know in the comments below. We hoped you’ve enjoyed this video
and learning about Charles the Mad. We’ll see you next time for another Nutty History video!