Before discovering this chronicle, we invite you to discover the chronicle of Pépite: The Valois: dynasty of the Loire Valley – Act 1
Philippe VI, Jean II the good and Charles V the wise, fought to preserve France in its entirety. The thing is difficult in view of the English power used.
The resumption of the Hundred Years War
The year of grace 1380 sees the death of the King of France Charles V the wise. It leaves a territory where peace reigns, but the fiscal pressure linked to the strengthening of defenses is felt in the provinces.
Charles VI succeeds his father when he was only twelve years old. A Regency Council will therefore be formed of his uncles: Louis d’Anjou, Jean de Berry and Philippe de Bourgogne. The uncles will regard the royal finances as their own and will be problematic. Philippe de Bourgogne will indeed attempt an English invasion which will end in failure and which will put the royal finances in great difficulty.
However, the calm continues as the England of Richard II is in the grip of civil war linked to a deep economic crisis due to the losses of French territories.
King Charles VI, aware of the harmful government of his uncles, took the reins of power in 1388, he was 20 years old. If the new reign seemed very popular, it was also marked by the beginning of the monarch’s crises of insanity which were not without consequences for the country: the Queen took control of a Council of Regency with the King’s uncles … each one there. is in its interests and the big loser is France which is on the razor’s edge.
Henri V, King of England decides at this time to assert his rights over the crown of France and he proclaims himself King of France in 1415. His goal will be to take Normandy, he will fail there because of dysentery in his army …
But the two French parties (Armagnacs and Bourguignons) are still vying for power and the armies are fighting, leaving free rein to Henry V who took Rouen in 1419 and Paris the same year.
The Burgundians stand alongside the English and manipulate the King who ends up signing the Treaty of Troyes in 1420: King Henri V marries the daughter of Charles VI and will become King of France upon the death of Charles VI.
“The English kicked out of France”
The son of Charles VI, future Charles VII, has no other choice but to flee to his duchy: Berry. He did not accept to be disinherited and, on the death of his father, was crowned King of France in Bourges Cathedral on October 30, 1422.
The new King inherits a catastrophic situation, the English have regained ground on all sides as well as a pseudo legitimacy linked to the Treaty of Troyes.
The weakened kingdom fell prey to new battles: in June 1428, the English laid siege to Orleans. At this moment, Joan of Arc enters the chessboard, who wants to be the envoy of God to save the Kingdom of France and meets the King in Chinon. Charles VII in difficulty leaves this young girl who thinks they will succeed in winning back. Thus, she entered the city on May 29 and a few days later the English retreated, a resounding victory which would herald more. Joan of Arc manages to revive the victorious machine and the reconquest is finally underway, as is hope in the French ranks until her capture in Compiègne in 1430.
In 1431, Charles VII took back part of his territory but it was not until 1453 for a total recovery of France from the English who were driven out once and for all.
The Valois, a fragile dynasty
The name of Valois is associated with some value in Europe. You have to walk through the Loire Valley to see them. Indeed, Paris was not considered safe at the time and it is therefore quite simply that the Royal House chose this hospitable region, with a mild climate and guaranteed loyalty to govern France and build the monarchical state there. , which will be the basis of the absolute monarchy desired by and for Louis XIV.
The Valois House will give 8 more Kings who will make the influence of France.
The son of Charles VII, Louis XI will be an outstanding diplomat who will bring the bureaucracy into the monarchy from his Château de Plessis-Lès-Tours.
Charles VIII will bring the Duchy of Brittany into the bosom of France by his marriage to Anne of Brittany, he will be born and die at the Château d’Amboise.
Louis XII, who will be born at the Château de Blois, will engage in the wars in Italy and in a major reform of taxes and justice.
François I will make France shine in all fields, whether military, literary, artistic, architectural with the construction of the Château de Chambord, …
Henri II will continue the work of his father and will marry Catherine de Medici, one of the most illustrious people of his generation.
François II will have for wife Marie Stuart, the Queen of Scots, but will reign only for a short time because of his health.
Charles IX will see under his reign religious disturbances flourish without being able to be controlled.
Henry III committed against the Protestants in a severe way without having the choice and will be assassinated by a monk, he will have no children, thus closing the Valois dynasty.
The Valois dynasty will therefore have marked the history of France by the construction of the monarchical state but it will also have marked the Loire Valley which will be developed there, and will keep an indelible mark there that are the castles like Chenonceau, but even more the great troubled and inexorable story that may have unfolded there.
Chronicle written by Nugget 1991
Discover the other chronicles of Pépite 1991.
–
