On a cloudy winter day on February 22, 1403, Paris was seized with fun - another prince was born in the royal family. This event, in itself not so rare, in this case was fateful for France, since its future king Charles 7, who went down in history with the title "Winner", was born. Here's just about who and at what cost he managed to defeat, the story will go in our article.
Young Dauphin - heir to the throne
His parents - the French king Charles VI the Mad, who fully justified the nickname given to him, and his wife, the incomparable Isabella of Bavaria, Karl was already the fifth son, but it so happened that all his predecessors died at an early age, thus freeing him the way to the throne.
According to contemporaries, in him from an early age the qualities inherent in a true monarch were manifested - fearlessness, thirst for power and cold prudence. It seemed that he himself was destined to command fate. However, the path to the throne is not always straightforward and easy. This fifteen-year-old Dauphin, the heir to the throne, had to make sure when supporters of the Duke of Burgundy, his father’s political opponent, captured Paris, forcing him to shamefully flee.
Barrier to the throne
The next blow of fate, Charles 7 received in 1421, when his parents unexpectedly intended to deprive him of the right to the crown, declaring him illegitimate. For this purpose, a version was published, according to which, he was the fruit of the secret love of his mother, Queen Isabella, and a certain womanizer, whose name, however, was not called.
This turn of events threatened with serious complications, turmoil and bloodshed, because in this case two more became candidates for the throne - the Duke of Orleans and the young son of the recently deceased King Henry V. Young and still inexperienced in political intrigues, Charles needed powerful support, and he received it , marrying the daughter of Yolanda of Aragon, who was the queen of four kingdoms at once - Naples, Jerusalem, Sicily and Aragon.
The phenomenon of the Orleans virgin
But, even with the patronage of such an extraordinary mother-in-law and remaining with her support the main contender for the throne, Karl was not able to solve the main problem - to expel the British, who had captured a significant part of the French kingdom by that time and tried to force their protector to be seated on the throne.
Not having the strength or determination to fight, the Dauphin limited himself to managing a small territory south of the Loire. It is possible that this land would have to be ceded, if not for a miracle. They became a young girl who lived in the village of Domremi on the border of Lorraine and believed in her highest destiny. Her name was Joan of Arc. She went down in history under the name of the Virgin of Orleans.
The long-awaited coronation
Having come to the local duke and told him that it was she who was chosen by God to save France, the girl demanded to help her get to the city of Chinon, where, as she knew, then was Charles 7. Not knowing how to react to such crazy words, the ruler all but he gave her protection and, in addition, provided the necessary papers.
Further is known, more likely, from legends than from documentary sources. But the rumor claims that, having learned about the arrival of such an unusual guest, the Dauphin decided to test it. To this end, he put one of the courtiers in his place, and he settled himself a little at a distance. How great was the general amazement when the country girl, who had never before seen Karl, spoke with him precisely, disregarding the rest of those present.
Regarding this as a sign from above, Charles 7 was noticeably encouraged. Expressing a desire to finally fulfill his destiny, he immediately went to Reims, where the ceremony of accession to the throne of the French monarchs was traditionally held. The coronation of Charles 7 was also committed there.
Death of Joan of Arc
Hundreds of volumes of historical research have been written about what happened next. They describe in detail how, inspired by Jeanne, the French liberated one city after another on the way to Reims, how Orleans was liberated, and how thanks to her Charles 7, king of France, finally ascended the throne. Her fame spread throughout the country, and her name became a banner under which the people drove the invaders from their land.
But there is a story in them about how, on May 23, 1430, in the battle for the city of Compiegne, the Orleans maiden was betrayed by her compatriots and ended up in the hands of the British hated by her. A week later, she was burned on charges of heresy. Many claim that since then the smoke of her fire has bitterly filled the air of France. The death of the girl became a curse that the entire dynasty of Charles 7 suffered. Having the opportunity to save Jeanne - the heavenly mission that granted him the crown and throne, he vilely left her in the hands of the executioners.
The fighting spirit that the Virgin of Orleans instilled in her people turned out to be indestructible even after her death. In the next four years, the French almost expelled the invaders from their land, and Charles 7, king of France, annexed his formerly hostile Burgundy to his possessions.
Under the burden of damnation
Thanks to the expulsion of the British and the pacification of the rebellious vassals, he went down in history as Charles VII the Victor. But the curse that he incurred on himself and his descendants was not slow to affect the last years of his life. No wonder it is said that evil begets evil. Having betrayed his savior, he himself became a victim of the betrayal of the person closest to him - the son and heir to the throne, the future king Louis XI.
Excessive thirst for power forced the young Dauphin to braid his father with a network of dirty intrigues, the purpose of which was his overthrow. Only the expulsion of Louis into the distant possession of Apanage saved the king from the inevitable bloody denouement. But there, Louis did not depart from his plan. Having fled from the place of his exile, he joined his father’s worst enemy, the Burgundian Duke Philip, who, ironically, was nicknamed “Good.”
Crazy king
For almost the whole of 1458, the king lay on the bed of a disease resulting from an infection that fell into the wound he received while pacifying the rebellious vassal of Jean d'Armagnac. At times, it seemed to the courtiers that he was close to death, but by the will of Providence the king lived for another three years, repeatedly sending letters to his son in which he prayed to return and promised forgiveness.
But Louis’s heart was petrified. In anticipation of the death of his father, he openly expressed his impatience, and even hired astrologers, from whom he hoped to find out her exact day and hour. This was reported to Karl, and his mind could not stand it. The king spent the last year of his life engulfed in a constant nightmare. Afraid of being poisoned by the order of his son, he barely touched the food, which is why he lost strength and melted in front of others. The obsession with the assassination attempt did not allow him to leave his own chambers. Fear of a hired killer turned the king into a prisoner, doomed to eternal retreat.
The end of life and the result of reign
In the middle of the summer of 1461, the king’s condition worsened. A clouding of the throat was added to the clouding of consciousness, which did not allow even the meager food that he allowed himself to be taken. As a result, on July 22, he died from complete exhaustion and was buried in the abbey of Saint-Denis, where the ashes of his parents rested.
Charles 7, whose brief biography formed the basis of this article, despite the shame associated with the death of Joan of Arc, went down in the history of France as a king who did a lot for her prosperity. In particular, under him, the country was centralized under the authority of a single monarch, and for the first time a regular army appeared in it, which included units of the gendarmerie - heavy knights, chained in a full set of armor.
It was he who became the founder of the University of Poitiers and the creator of the economic system, in which the standard of living of all segments of the population significantly increased. And today, no matter how researchers of that era may relate to his personality, they are forced to admit that after 32 years of reign (1429-1461), leaving this world, Charles left France in a better condition than he accepted.