Jump to content

Charles, Duke of Orléans

From Simple English Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Charles, Duke of Orléans
Cropped version of him as a
Knight of the Golden Fleece
Miniature from the southern Netherlands,
1473
Duke of Orléans, Count of Blois, and Beaumont-sur-Oise
Tenure23 November 1407 — 5 January 1465
PredecessorLouis I
SuccessorLouis II
Duke of Valois
Reign1406 — 1465
PredecessorLouis I (as Count of Valois)
SuccessorLouis
Born24 November 1394
Paris, France
Died5 January 1465 (aged 70)
Amboise, France
Burial
Saint Denis Basilica, France
Spouse
​
​
(m. 1406; died 1409)​

​
​
(m. 1410; died 1435)​

​
(m. 1440)​
IssueJoan, Duchess of Alençon
Marie, Viscountess of Narbonne
Louis XII of France
Anne, Abbess of Fontevraud
HouseValois-Orléans
FatherLouis I, Duke of Orléans
MotherValentina Visconti
Portrait
Full version

Charles, Duke of Orléans (French: Charles, duc d’Orléans; 24 November 1394 — 5 November 1465) was Duke of Orléans, Count of Blois and of Beaumont-sur-Ouse, and Lord of Coucy from 1407 after his father got murdered and Duke of Valois from 1406 until his death in 1465. He inherited Asti after his mother Valentina Visconti.

He is now remembered as an accomplished medieval poet, owing to the more than five hundred poems he produced, written in both French and English, during his 25 years spent as a prisoner of war (POW) and after his return to France.

Life

[change | change source]

Accession

[change | change source]

Charles was born in Paris in 1394 to Louis I, Duke of Orléans (son of Charles V of France) and Valentina Visconti, daughter of Gian Galeazzo Visconti, Duke of Milan.[1] He became the Duke at the age of thirteen after his father had been assassinated on the orders of Duke John the Fearless of Burgundy.[2] Charles was expected to carry on his father's leadership against the Burgundians, a French faction which supported the Duke of Burgundy. The latter was never punished for his role in Louis' assassination, and Charles had to watch as his grief-stricken mother Valentina Visconti could fight to the illness for long afterwards. At her mother's deathbed, Charles and the other boys of the family were made to swear the traditional oath of vengeance (revenge) for their father's murder.

During the early years of his reign as duke, the orphaned Charles was heavily influenced by the guidance of his father-in-law, Bernard VII, Count of Armagnac, for which reason Charles' faction came to be known as the Armagnacs.

Even before his father's death, he received a pension of 12,000 livres from King Charles VI, his uncle, in 1403. In addition, his first marriage, to Isabella of Valois, widow of Richard II of England, may have brought him a dowry of 500,000 francs.[3]

Issue

[change | change source]
Mother Name Birth Death Spouse More
Isabella of Valois[a] • Joan
Duchess of Alençon 		13 September 1409 19 May 1432
(aged 22) 		John II, Duke of Alençon [b]
Marie of Cleves • Marie
Viscountess of Narbonne 		19 December/September 1457 1493 John of Foix, Viscount of Narbonne [c]
• Louis XII
King of France 		27 June 1462 1 January 1515 • Saint Joan of Valois (1476–1498)
• Anne, Duchess of Brittany (1499–1514)
• Mary Tudor (from 1514) 		[d]
Anne
Abbess of Fontevraud 		1464 1491 None
Notes [e]

References and Notes

[change | change source]
  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Goodrich 1967, p. 11.
  2. ↑ Vaughan 2002, p. 44–46.
  3. ↑ Saintsbury 1911, pp. 282–283.
  1. ↑ Isabella of Valois was the daughter of Charles VI of France and widow of Richard II of England[1]
  2. ↑ Secondly, Charles married Bonne of Armagnac,[1] the daughter of Bernard VII, Count of Armagnac, in 1410. Bonne died before he returned from captivity. The couple had no children.
  3. ↑ Had children (Germaine of Foix (married Ferdinand II of Aragon) and Gaston of Foix, Duke of Nemours)
  4. ↑ Had 2 children (Claude of France and Renée of France) with Anne; 1 illegitimate child
  5. ↑ b, c, and d are Issue (more) notes
Retrieved from "https://simple.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Charles,_Duke_of_Orléans&oldid=10122284"