Charles VI of France

King of France from 1380 to 1422

Charles VI

Contemporary depiction of Charles VI from the Dialogues of Pierre Salmon, 1415

King of France

(more...)

Reign| 16 September 1380 – 21 October 1422
Coronation| 4 November 1380
Predecessor| Charles V
Successor| Charles VII or Henry VI (disputed)
Regents|

See

*     * Philip II, Duke of Burgundy
* John, Duke of Berry
* Louis I, Duke of Anjou
* Louis II, Duke of Bourbon
* Louis I, Duke of Orléans
* John, Duke of Burgundy
* Henry V, King of England
* Isabeau, Queen of France

Born| 3 December 1368
Paris, France
Died| 21 October 1422 (aged 53)
Paris, France
Burial| 11 November 1422

Saint Denis Basilica

Spouse|

Isabeau of Bavaria

(m. 1385)​

Issue
among others...|

* Isabella, Queen of England
* Joan, Duchess of Brittany
* Marie, Prioress of Poissy
* Michelle, Duchess of Burgundy
* Louis, Dauphin of France
* John, Dauphin of France
* Catherine, Queen of England
* Charles VII, King of France
* Marguerite, Lady of Belleville (ill.)

House| Valois
Father| Charles V of France
Mother| Joanna of Bourbon
Signature|

Charles VI (3 December 1368 - 21 October 1422), nicknamed the Beloved (French: le Bien-Aimé) and in the 19th century,[1] the Mad (French: le Fol or le Fou), was King of France from 1380 until his death in 1422. He is known for his mental illness and psychotic episodes that plagued him throughout his life.

Charles ascended the throne at age 11, his father Charles V leaving behind a favorable military situation, marked by the reconquest of most of the English possessions in France. Charles VI was placed under the regency of his uncles: Philip II, Duke of Burgundy; Louis I, Duke of Anjou; John, Duke of Berry; and Louis II, Duke of Bourbon. He decided in 1388, aged 20, to emancipate himself. In 1392, while leading a military expedition against the Duchy of Brittany, the king had his first attack of delirium, during which he attacked his own men in the forest of Le Mans. A few months later, following the Bal des Ardents (January 1393) where he narrowly escaped death from burning, Charles was again placed under the regency of his uncles, the Dukes of Berry and Burgundy.

From then on, and until his death, Charles alternated between periods of mental instability and lucidity. Power was held by his influential uncles and by his wife, Queen Isabeau. His younger brother, Louis I, Duke of Orléans, also aspired to the regency and saw his influence grow. The enmity between the Duke of Orléans and his cousin John the Fearless, successor of Philip the Bold as Duke of Burgundy, plunged France into the Armagnac–Burgundian Civil War of 1407–1435, during which the king found himself successively controlled by one or the other of the two parties.

In 1415, Charles's army was crushed by the English at the Battle of Agincourt. The king subsequently signed the Treaty of Troyes, which entirely disinherited his son, the Dauphin and future Charles VII, in favour of Henry V of England. Henry was thus made regent and heir to the throne of France, and Charles married his daughter Catherine to Henry. However, Henry died shortly before Charles, which gave the House of Valois the chance to continue the fight against the House of Lancaster, leading to eventual Valois victory and the end of the Hundred Years' War in 1453. Charles was succeeded in law by his grandson (Henry V's son), the infant Henry VI of England, but Charles's own son was crowned first in Reims Cathedral and was widely regarded even before his coronation as the true heir by the French people.

## Early life

[edit]

Charles VI was born in Paris, in the royal residence of the Hôtel Saint-Pol, on 3 December 1368, the son of King Charles V of the House of Valois and of Joanna of Bourbon.[2] As the eldest son of the king, Charles was heir to the French throne and held the title Dauphin of France.

## King of France

[edit]

### Regency

[edit]

At his father's death on 16 September 1380, Charles inherited the throne of France. His coronation took place on 4 November at Reims Cathedral.[3] Charles was only eleven years old when he was crowned king. During his minority, France was ruled by Charles's uncles as regents. Although the royal age of majority was 14 (the "age of accountability" under Roman Catholic canon law), Charles was 21 when he formally terminated the regency.

The regents were Philip the Bold, Duke of Burgundy, Louis I, Duke of Anjou, and John, Duke of Berry – all brothers of Charles V – along with Louis II, Duke of Bourbon, Charles VI's maternal uncle. Philip took the dominant role during the regency. Louis of Anjou was fighting for his claim to the Kingdom of Naples after 1382, dying in 1384; John of Berry was concerned only with his interests in Languedoc,[4] and not particularly enthusiastic with royal politics; and Louis of Bourbon was a largely unimportant figure, owing to his eccentric personality (showing signs of mental illness) and comparatively low status (he was from a junior branch of the royal bloodline).

During the regency, the financial resources of the kingdom, painstakingly built up by Charles V, were squandered for the personal profit of the dukes, whose interests were frequently divergent or even opposing. The new royal administration took steps to centralize power by usurping control of political offices and reimposing several unpopular taxes. The latter policy represented a reversal of the deathbed decision by Charles V to repeal them, and led to tax revolts, known as the Harelle.[5] The dukes also engaged in state capture; for instance, the Battle of Roosebeke (1382) was fought solely for Philip's benefit.

Charles VI finally stripped his corrupt uncles of their positions in 1388. To guide his rule, he restored to office the highly competent advisors of Charles V, known as the Marmousets,[6] who ushered in a new period of high esteem for the crown. Charles VI was initially referred to as Charles the Beloved by his subjects.[citation needed]

The coronation of Charles VI

Charles seized by madness in the forest near Le Mans

### Mental illness

[edit]

A coin of Charles VI, a "double d'or", minted in La Rochelle in 1420

Charles VI's early successes with the Marmousets as his counselors quickly dissipated as a result of the bouts of psychosis he experienced from his mid-twenties. Mental illness may have been passed on for several generations through his mother, Joanna of Bourbon with familial schizophrenia syndrome.[7] Some mental illnesses Charles VI of France might have suffered from are familial schizophrenia syndrome, typhus, bipolar disorder, and arsenic poisoning, though arsenic poisoning has symptoms more physical than psychological. Typhus could explain his skin plaque or rashes along with his fits of delirium.[8] Although still called by his subjects Charles the Beloved, he became known also as Charles the Mad.

Charles's first known episode occurred in 1392 when his friend and advisor, Olivier de Clisson, was the victim of an attempted murder. Although Clisson survived, the king was determined to punish the would-be assassin, Pierre de Craon, who had taken refuge in Brittany. John V, Duke of Brittany, was unwilling to hand him over, so Charles prepared a military expedition.

Contemporaries reported that Charles appeared to be in a "fever" to begin the campaign and was disconnected in his speech. He set off with an army on 1 July 1392. The progress of the army was slow, driving Charles into a frenzy of impatience. As the king and his escort were traveling through the forest near Le Mans on a hot August morning, a barefoot leper dressed in rags rushed up to the king's horse and grabbed his bridle. "Ride no further, noble King!" he yelled: "Turn back! You are betrayed!" The king's escorts beat the man back but did not arrest him, and he followed the procession for half an hour, repeating his cries.[9]

After the company emerged from the forest at noon, a page who was drowsy from the sun dropped the king's lance, which clanged loudly against a steel helmet carried by another page. Charles shuddered, drew his sword and yelled, "Forward against the traitors! They wish to deliver me to the enemy!" The king then drew his sword, spurred his mount, and attacked his own knights before one of his chamberlains and a group of soldiers were able to grab him from his mount and lay him on the ground. He lay still and did not react, but then fell into a coma; as a temporary measure, he was taken to the castle of Creil,[10] where it was hoped that good air and pleasant surroundings might bring him to his senses. The king had killed a knight known as "the Bastard of Polignac" and several other men during the attack.[11]

Periods of mental illness continued throughout Charles's life. During one episode in 1393, he could not remember his name and did not know he was king. When his wife came to visit, he asked his servants who she was and ordered them to help her so he would be left alone.[12] During another episode in 1395–96, the king claimed he was Saint George and that his coat of arms was a lion with a sword thrust through it.[13] At this time, he recognized all the officers of his household, but did not know his wife nor his children. At times, the king ran wildly through the corridors of the Hôtel Saint-Pol, and to keep him inside, the entrances were walled up. In 1405, he refused to bathe or change his clothes for five months.[14]

Charles's later psychotic episodes were not described in detail, perhaps because of the similarity of his behavior and delusions. Pope Pius II, who was born during the reign of Charles VI, wrote in his Commentaries that there were times when Charles thought that he was made of glass, and thus tried to protect himself in various ways so that he would not break. He reportedly had iron rods sewn into his clothes so that he would not shatter if he came into contact with another person.[15] This condition has come to be known as glass delusion.

Charles's secretary, Pierre Salmon, spent much time in discussions with the king while he was intermittently psychotic. In an effort to find a cure for his illness, stabilize the turbulent political situation and secure his own future, Salmon supervised the production of two distinct versions of the beautifully illuminated guidebooks to good kingship known as his Dialogues.[16]

### Bal des Ardents

[edit]

The Bal des Ardents, miniature of 1450–80 showing the dancers' costumes on fire

On 29 January 1393, a masked ball, which later became known as the Bal des Ardents ("Ball of the Burning Men"), was organized by Isabeau of Bavaria to celebrate the wedding of one of her ladies-in-waiting at the Hôtel Saint-Pol. At the suggestion of Huguet de Guisay, the king and four other lords[17] dressed up as wild men and performed a dance while dressed "in costumes of linen cloth sewn onto their bodies and soaked in resinous wax or pitch to hold a covering of frazzled hemp, so that they appeared shaggy & hairy from head to foot."[18]

At the suggestion of one Yvain de Foix, the king commanded that the torch-bearers were to stand at the side of the room. Nonetheless, the king's younger brother Louis I, Duke of Orléans, who had arrived late, approached with a lighted torch to discover the identity of the dancers, and accidentally set one of them on fire. There was panic as the flames spread. The Duchess of Berry threw the train of her gown over the king to protect him.[19] Several knights who tried to put out the flames were severely burned. Four of the dancers perished: Charles de Poitiers, son of the Count of Valentinois; Huguet de Guisay; Yvain de Foix; and the Count of Joigny. Another – Jean, son of the Lord of Nantouillet – saved himself by jumping into a dishwater tub.[20]

### Expulsion of the Jews, 1394

[edit]

On 17 September 1394, Charles suddenly published an ordinance in which he declared, in substance, that for a long time he had been taking note of the many complaints provoked by the excesses and misdemeanors of the Jews against Christians, and that the prosecutors had made several investigations and discovered that the Jews broke the agreement with the king on many occasions.[citation needed] Therefore, the king decreed, as an irrevocable law and statute, that no Jew would dwell in his domains ("Ordonnances", vii. 675). According to the Monk of St. Denis, the king signed this decree at the insistence of Isabeau ("Chron. de Charles VI." ii. 119).[21] The decree was not immediately enforced, a respite being granted to the Jews so that they have enough time to sell their property and pay their debts. Those indebted to them were enjoined to redeem their obligations within a set time; otherwise their pledges held in pawn were to be sold by the Jews. The provost was to escort the Jews to the frontier of the kingdom. Subsequently, the king released Christians from their debts.

### Struggles for power

[edit]

With Charles mentally ill, from 1393 his wife Isabeau presided over a regency council, on which sat the grandees of the kingdom. Philip the Bold, who acted as regent during the king's minority (from 1380 to 1388), was initially a great influence on the queen. However, influence progressively shifted to Orléans, the king's brother, who was not only another contender for power, but, it was suspected, the queen's lover as well.[22] Charles's other uncles were less influential during the regency, but John of Berry served as a mediator between the Orléans party (what would become the Armagnacs) and the Burgundy party (Bourguignons). The rivalry would increase bit by bit and eventually result in outright civil war.

The new regents dismissed the various advisers and officials Charles had appointed. On the death of Philip the Bold in April 1404, his son John the Fearless took over the political aims of his father, and the feud with Orléans escalated.

### Wars with Burgundy and England

[edit]

In 1407, Orléans was murdered in the rue Vieille du Temple in Paris. John the Fearless did not deny responsibility, claiming that Orléans was a tyrant who squandered money. Orléans' son Charles, the new Duke of Orléans, turned to his father-in-law, Bernard VII, Count of Armagnac, for support against John the Fearless. This resulted in the Armagnac–Burgundian Civil War, which lasted from 1407 until 1435, beyond Charles's reign, though the war with the English was still in progress.

With the English taking over much of France, John the Fearless sought to end the feud with the royal family by negotiating with the Dauphin Charles VII, the king's heir. They met at the bridge at Montereau on 10 September 1419, but during the meeting, John the Fearless was killed by Tanneguy du Chastel, a follower of the Dauphin. His successor, Philip the Good, the new Duke of Burgundy, threw in his lot with the English.

### English invasion and death

[edit]

Charles VI's reign was marked by the continuing conflict with the English, known as the Hundred Years' War. An early attempt at peace occurred in 1396 when his daughter, the almost seven-year-old Isabella of Valois, married the 29-year-old Richard II of England. By 1415, however, the feud between the French royal family and the House of Burgundy led to chaos and anarchy throughout France, a situation that Henry V of England was eager to take advantage of. Henry led an invasion that culminated in the defeat of the French army at the Battle of Agincourt in October.

On 21 May 1420, Henry V and Charles VI signed the Treaty of Troyes, which named Henry as Charles's successor and stipulated that Henry's heirs would succeed him on the throne of France. It disinherited the Dauphin Charles, then only aged 17. (In 1421, it was implied in Burgundian propaganda that the young Charles was illegitimate.) The treaty also betrothed Charles VI's daughter, Catherine of Valois, to Henry. Disinheriting the Dauphin in favor of Henry was a blatant act against the interests of the French aristocracy, supported by the Duke of Burgundy. The Dauphin, who had declared himself regent for his father when the Duke of Burgundy invaded Paris and captured the king, had established a court at Bourges.[23]

Charles VI died on 21 October 1422 in Paris, at the Hôtel Saint-Pol.[24] He was interred in Saint Denis Basilica, where his wife Isabeau would join him after her death in September 1435.

Henry V died just a few weeks before Charles, in August 1422, leaving an infant son, who became King Henry VI of England. Therefore, according to the Treaty of Troyes, with the death of Charles VI, Henry VI became King of France. His coronation as such was in Paris (held by the English since 1418) at the cathedral of Notre Dame de Paris on 26 December 1431.

The son disinherited by Charles VI, the Dauphin Charles, continued the fight to regain his kingdom. In 1429, Joan of Arc led his forces to victory against the English and took him to be crowned in Reims Cathedral as King Charles VII on 17 July 1429. He became known as "Charles the Victorious" and was able to restore the French line to the throne of France by defeating the English in 1450.[25]

## Marriage and issue

[edit]

Charles VI married Isabeau of Bavaria (c. 1371 – 24 September 1435) on 17 July 1385. They had:

Name | Birth | Death | Notes

|
|
|

Charles, Dauphin | 25 September 1386 | 28 December 1386 | Died young. First Dauphin.
Jeanne | 14 June 1388 | 1390 | Died young.
Isabella | 9 November 1389 | 13 September 1409 | Married (1) Richard II, King of England, in 1396. No issue.[26]
Married (2) Charles, Duke of Orléans, in 1406. Had issue.
Jeanne | 24 January 1391 | 27 September 1433 | Married John V, Duke of Brittany, in 1396. Had issue.
Charles, Dauphin | 6 February 1392 | 13 January 1401 | Died young. Second Dauphin. Engaged to Margaret of Burgundy after his birth.
Marie | 22 August 1393 | 19 August 1438 | Never married – became an abbess. No issue. Died of the Plague
Michelle | 11 January 1395 | 8 July 1422 | Married Philip the Good, Duke of Burgundy, in 1409.[27] Had no surviving issue.
Louis, Dauphin | 22 January 1397 | 18 December 1415 | Married Margaret of Burgundy. No issue. Third Dauphin.
John, Dauphin | 31 August 1398 | 5 April 1417 | Married Jacqueline, Countess of Hainaut, in 1415. No issue. Fourth Dauphin.
Catherine | 27 October 1401 | 3 January 1437 | Married (1) Henry V, King of England, in 1420. Had issue.
Married (?) (2) Owen Tudor. Had issue.
Charles VII of France | 22 February 1403 | 21 July 1461 | The fifth Dauphin became Charles VII, King of France, after his father's death.
Married Marie of Anjou in 1422. Had issue.
Philip | 10 November 1407 | November 1407 | Died young.

Charles had a mistress, Odette de Champdivers.[28] They had:

* Marguerite, bâtarde de France (d. c. 1458).[29]

Charles VI Family

## Ancestry

[edit]

Ancestors of Charles VI of France

|  |  |  |  |  |  |  | 8\. Philip VI of France[30]

|
|
|
|
|
|
|

| 4\. John II of France[30]|

|  |  |
| 9\. Joan of Burgundy

| 2\. Charles V of France|

|  |  |  |  |
| 10\. John of Bohemia

| 5\. Bonne of Luxembourg[30]|

|  |  |
| 11\. Elizabeth of Bohemia

| 1\. Charles VI of France |
|  |  |  |  |  |  |
| 12\. Louis I, Duke of Bourbon

| 6\. Peter I, Duke of Bourbon|

|  |  |
| 13\. Mary of Avesnes

| 3\. Joanna of Bourbon|

|  |  |  |  |
| 14\. Charles I, Count of Valois[31]

| 7\. Isabella of Valois|

|  |  |
| 15\. Mahaut of Châtillon

|  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |

## Films and television

[edit]

* Harcourt Williams in Henry V (1944)
* Paul Scofield in Henry V (1989)
* Lambert Wilson in The Hollow Crown (2012)
* Thibault de Montalembert in The King (2019)
* Alex Lawther in The Last Duel (2021)

## See also

[edit]

* Henry of Marle (died 1418)
* Journal d'un bourgeois de Paris

## Notes

[edit]

## References

[edit]

1. ^ Autrand, Françoise; Gauvard, Claude; Moeglin, Jean-Marie (1999). Saint-Denis et la royauté: études offertes à Bernard Guenée (in French). Publications de la Sorbonne. p. 13\. ISBN 978-2-85944-383-2.
2. ^ Roux 2009, p. 244.
3. ^ Sumption 2009, p. 397.
4. ^ Vaughan, 40–41 [title missing]
5. ^ Sumption 2009, p. 441-43.
6. ^ Vaughn, 42.[title missing]
7. ^ Earenfight 2013, p. 196.
8. ^ Ashrafian, Hutan (23 December 2016). "Charles VI of France and Henry VI of England: Familial Sarcoidosis in the Hundred Years' War". Sarcoidosis, Vasculitis and Diffuse Lung Diseases. 33 (4): 416–417\. ISSN 2532-179X.
9. ^ W. H. Jervis, A History of France: from the Earliest Times to the Fall of the Second Empire in 1870, (London: John Murray, 1884), 228, §5; Jean Juvenal des Ursins, Histoire de Charles VI, Roy de France, (Paris: A. Desrez, 1841), 377; Michaud, J. F and L. G., Biographie universelle, ancienne et moderne, 85 vols., (Paris: L. G. Michaud, 1813), 8:114 sub Charles VI.
10. ^ Adams 2014, p. 36.
11. ^ Denieul-Cormier 1980, p. 195.
12. ^ R. C. Famiglietti, Royal Intrigue: Crisis at the Court of Charles VI, 1392–1420, New York, 1986, p. 4, citing the chronicle of the Religieux de Saint-Denis, ed. Bellaguet, II, pp. 86–88.
13. ^ R. C. Famiglietti, Royal Intrigue: Crisis at the Court of Charles VI, 1392–1420, New York, 1986, p. 5, citing the chronicle of the Religieux de Saint-Denis, ed. Bellaguet, II, pp. 404–05.
14. ^ R. C. Famiglietti, Royal Intrigue: Crisis at the Court of Charles VI, 1392–1420, New York, 1986, p. 6, citing the chronicle of the Religieux de Saint-Denis, ed. Bellaguet, III, p. 348
15. ^ Enea Silvio Piccolomini (Papa Pio II), I Commentarii, ed. L. Totaro, Milano, 1984, I, p. 1056.
16. ^ "Pierre Salmon's Dialogues – Wikicommons".
17. ^ Froissart's Chronicles, ed. T. Johnes, II (1855), p. 550
18. ^ Tuchman, Barbara (1978). A Distant Mirror. Alfred A Knopf. See the chronicle of the Religieux de Saint-Denis, ed. Bellaguet, II, pp. 64–71, where the squire's name is given correctly as "de Guisay".
19. ^ Froissart's Chronicles, ed. T. Johnes, II (1855), pp. 550–52
20. ^ Froissart's Chronicles, ed. T. Johnes, II (1855), p. 550. Note that Froissart and the Religieux de Saint-Denis differ as to when the four men died. Huguet de Guisay had held the office of cupbearer of the king.
21. ^ History of the reign of Charles VI, titled Chronique de Religieux de Saint-Denys, contenant le regne de Charles VI de 1380 a 1422, encompasses the king's full reign in six volumes. Originally written in Latin, the work was translated to French in six volumes by L. Bellaguet between 1839 and 1852.
22. ^ Alban Dignat, 23 novembre 1407: Assassinat dans la rue Vieille du Temple, herodote.net Archived 11 December 2006 at the Wayback Machine
23. ^ R.C. Famiglietti, Royal Intrigue: Crisis at the Court of Charles VI, 1392–1420, New York, 1986, Chapter X.
24. ^ William W. Kibler; Grover A. Zinn (1995). Medieval France: An Encyclopedia. Psychology Press. p. 379\. ISBN 978-0-8240-4444-2.
25. ^ Chartier, Jean, Chronique de Charles VII, Roi de France, publié avec notes par Vallet de Viriville, Paris 1858
26. ^ Jeffrey Hamilton, The Plantagenets: History of a Dynasty, (Continuum, 2010), 205.
27. ^ Jonathan Sumption, Cursed Kings: The Hundred Years War IV, (Faber and Faber Ltd., 2015), 103.
28. ^ Gaude-Ferragu 2016, p. 34.
29. ^ de Viriville 1859, p. 176.
30. ^ a b c Autrand 1994, pp. 15.
31. ^ Henneman 1971, p. xvii.

## Sources

[edit]

* Adams, Tracy (2014). Christine de Pizan and the Fight for France. Penn State University Press.
* Autrand, Françoise (1994). Charles V le Sage (in French). Paris: Fayard.
* Denieul-Cormier, Anne (1980). Wise and Foolish Kings: The First House of Valois, 1328–1498. Doubleday.
* Earenfight, Theresa (2013). Queenship in Medieval Europe. Palgrave Macmillan.
* Famiglietti, R.C. (1986). Royal Intrigue: Crisis at the Court of Charles VI, 1392–1420. AMS Press.
* 
- (1992). Tales of the Marriage Bed from Medieval France (1300–1500). Picardy Press.
* Gaude-Ferragu, Murielle (2016). Queenship in Medieval France, 1300–1500. Translated by Krieger, Angela. Palgrave Macmillan.
* Henneman, John Bell (1971). Royal taxation in Fourteenth Century France, The Development of War Financing 1322–1356. Princeton University Press. doi:10.1515/9781400869435. ISBN 9781400869435.
* Roux, Simone (2009). Paris in the Middle Ages. Translated by McNamara, Jo Ann. University of Pennsylvania Press.
* Sumption, Jonathan (2009). The Hundred Years War: Divided Houses. Vol. III. University of Pennsylvania Press.
* de Viriville, Vallet (1859). "Odette ou Odinette de Champdivers Était-elle fille d'un Marchand de Chevaux? Notes historiques sur ce personnage". Bibliothèque de l'École des chartes. Quatrième Série (in French). 5. Librairie Droz: 171–81.

## External links

[edit]

* "Biography of Charles VI the mad of France (1368–1422)". guusbeltman.nl. Retrieved 6 November 2015.
* Britannica, ed. (20 July 1998). "Charles VI king of France". Encyclopædia Britannica.
* "Charles VI". Shakespeareandhistory.com.
* Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Charles VI." . Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 5 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. pp. 919–920.

Charles VI of France

House of Valois

Cadet branch of the Capetian dynasty

Born: 3 December 1368 Died: 21 October 1422

Regnal titles
Preceded by

Charles V

|  King of France
16 September 1380 – 21 October 1422  | Succeeded by

Charles VII
contested by Henry II

Dauphin of Viennois
3 December 1368 – 26 September 1386  | Succeeded by

Charles III

Preceded by

Charles III

|  Dauphin of Viennois
28 December 1386 – 6 February 1392  | Succeeded by

Charles IV

* v
* t
* e

Monarchs of France

* Detailed family tree
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* List of Frankish kings
* List of French monarchs

Merovingians (509–751)|

* Clovis I
* Childebert I
* Chlothar I
* Charibert I
* Guntram
* Chilperic I
* Sigebert I
* Childebert II
* Chlothar II
* Dagobert I
* Sigebert II
* Clovis II
* Chlothar III
* Childeric II
* Theuderic III
* Clovis IV
* Childebert III
* Dagobert III
* Chilperic II
* Chlothar IV
* Theuderic IV
* Childeric III

Carolingians,
Robertians and Bosonids (751–987)|

* Pepin the Short
* Carloman I
* Charlemagne (Charles I)
* Louis I
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* Louis II
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* Carloman II
* Charles the Fat
* OdoR
* Charles III
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House of Capet (987–1328)|

* Hugh Capet
* Robert II
* Henry I
* Philip I
* Louis VI
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* Philip II
* Louis VIII
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* Philip IV
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* John I
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House of Valois (1328–1589)|

* Philip VI
* John II
* Charles V
* Charles VI
* Charles VII
* Louis XI
* Charles VIII
* Louis XII
* Francis I
* Henry II
* Francis II
* Charles IX
* Henry III

House of Lancaster (1422–1453)|

* Henry VI of England

House of Bourbon (1589–1792)|

* Henry IV
* Louis XIII
* Louis XIV
* Louis XV
* Louis XVI
* Louis XVII

House of Bonaparte (1804–1814; 1815)|

* Napoleon I
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House of Bourbon (1814–1815; 1815–1830)|

* Louis XVIII
* Charles X
* Louis XIX
* Henry V

House of Orléans (1830–1848)|

* Louis Philippe I
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House of Bonaparte (1852–1870)|

* Napoleon III

Debatable or disputed rulers are in italics.

* v
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Dauphins of France

House of Valois|

* Charles V
* Charles VI
* Charles
* Charles
* Louis
* John
* Charles VII
* Louis XI
* François
* Charles VIII
* Charles Orlando
* Charles
* François
* François
* Henry II
* Francis II

House of Bourbon|

* Louis XIII
* Louis XIV
* Louis, Le Grand Dauphin
* Louis, Le Petit Dauphin
* Louis
* Louis XV
* Louis
* Louis XVI
* Louis Joseph
* Louis XVII
* Louis XIX

* v
* t
* e

William Shakespeare's Henriad (c. 1595–1599)

* Richard II
* Henry IV, Part 1
* Henry IV, Part 2
* Henry V

Characters|

* Ancient Pistol
* Bardolph
* Charles VI
* Corporal Nym
* Doll Tearsheet
* Falstaff
* Fluellen
* Henry IV
* Henry V
* Prince Hal
* Owain Glyndŵr
* Owen Glendower
* Poins
* Nell Quickly
* Richard II
* Robert Shallow

Sources|

* Holinshed's Chronicles
* The Famous Victories of Henry V (c. 1585)
* Thomas of Woodstock (c. 1593)

Related plays|

* The Merry Wives of Windsor (c. 1597)
* Sir John Oldcastle (1599)
* Falstaff's Wedding (1760)

On screen|

| Richard II|

* King Richard II (1954; TV)
* An Age of Kings (1960; TV)
* The Life and Death of King Richard II (1960; TV)
* King Richard the Second (1979; TV)
* Richard the Second (2001)
* The Hollow Crown: Richard II (2012; TV)

|

Henry IV, Part 1|

* An Age of Kings (1960; TV)
* Chimes at Midnight (1966)
* Henry the Fourth, Part I (1979; TV)
* The Hollow Crown: Henry IV, Part 1 (2012; TV)
* The King (2019)

Henry IV, Part 2|

* An Age of Kings (1960; TV)
* Chimes at Midnight (1966)
* Henry the Fourth, Part II (1979; TV)
* The Hollow Crown: Henry IV, Part 2 (2012)
* The King (2019)

Henry V|

* Henry V (1944)
* An Age of Kings (1960; TV)
* Chimes at Midnight (1966)
* Henry the Fifth (1979; TV)
* Henry V (1989)
* The Hollow Crown: Henry V (2012)
* The King (2019)

Related music|

* Falstaff (1913)
* At the Boar's Head (1925)
* Suite from Henry V (1963)

Authority control databases

International|

* ISNI
* VIAF
* FAST
* WorldCat

National|

* Germany
* United States
* France
* BnF data
* Italy
* Australia
* Czech Republic
* Spain
* Netherlands
* Greece
* Sweden
* Poland
* Vatican
* Israel
* Catalonia

Artists|

* ULAN

People|

* Trove
* Deutsche Biographie
* DDB

Other|

* IdRef

Portal:

* Biography

*[m.]: married
*[c.]: circa
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