On November 14, 1380, eleven-year-old Charles VI was crowned as the King of France.
As a minor, Charles’s uncles, the Dukes of Anjou. Bourbon, Berry, and Burgundy served as a council of règents. During their regency, they plundered the treasury in order to fight the ongoing Hundred Years War between France and Britain. In 1388, Charles seized control from his uncles with the help of the Duke of Orlèans, and a year later began negotiating peace with England. One such attempt at peace occurred in 1396, when he gave his 7-year-old daughter, Isabella, to marry Richard II of England.
As early as 1392, King Charles VI had suffered from bouts of madness, earning him the epithet “The Mad King.” Some suspect that he was schizophrenic; others suspect his madness was caused by encephalitis. Whatever the cause, this madness would affect the rest of his reign. His lunacy would manifest itself at indiscriminate times, allowing any who were close to him to recognize it. At one time, a lance was dropped, clanging loudly against a steel helmet. This sent Charles into a maniacal rage; he drew his sword and began fighting his surrounding companions, killing four of them. He was finally subdued, but upon being so, lay in a state of catatonia for two days. He also believed he was made of glass and could break.
His insanity caused many struggles for the Crown, resulting in feuds that would last for generations. He eventually disinherited is own son, the fifth Dauphin, Charles, and betrothed his daughter Catherine to King Henry V of England. In 1420 he signed the Treaty of Troyes, which recognized his grandson Henry VI of England as his successor. Upon his death in 1422, both Henry VI and Charles VII, the fifth Dauphin, were named king. It wasn’t until 1429 when Jeanne d’Arc (Joan of Arc) inspired Charles VII to finally overthrow his nephew. France was again united under one king.
WHAT THIS MEANS FOR US:
The madness of the reign of Charles VI was felt for generations, even in America. His insanity was passed to his grandson, Henry VI of England, whose inability to govern caused the War of The Roses. This war resulted in the House of Tudor’s ascension to the English throne (Henry VIII and Queen Elizabeth I, who first chartered an English expedition to the New World). Another of Charles’s descendants was King George III of England, who also suffered from the same madness, even thinking he was made of glass. King George III conceded defeat in the American Colonies in 1783, which legitimized the United States of America.
