In the month of August, 1392, Charles, King of France, went mad, the first instance of a

mental illness that would plague him for the remainder of his life. Froissart, a historian described

as the “Herodotus of his age,”1 recounts this story in his Chronicles: how the king, after hearing

of betrayal, attacked his own men and had to be confined for months while he slowly regained

his sanity. The momentous events that led up to Charles’s attack shed a light on the possible

reasons for the king’s mental state.

It is this event—the day Charles went mad—that Froissart chronicles. While the royal

party was travelling through the forest of Le Mans, a mysterious man stopped the king and

warned him that he had been betrayed. The king’s troops chased the man away, and he was never

seen again. Later that same day, a pageboy accidentally knocked a lance against another’s

helmet. Fearing an attack, the king thought he had been betrayed and for no particular reason

started to attack those in his party, including his brother, the Duke of Orleans, whom Charles

attacked. The king eventually exhausted himself and was disarmed. The dukes took Charles back

to Le Mans; there they sent for doctors and questioned those close to the king, looking for the

cause of the strange illness. As the story spread, people assigned different causes; the two popes

both proposed different reasons for the king’s madness. People across the country prayed for

Charles’s recovery. Enguerrand de Coucy, a confidant of the king who witnessed the events at

Le Mans, suggested that his doctor, Guillaume de Harsigny, examine the king. Harsigny treated

Charles at Creil, and under his care, Charles returned to health.

Why did the king go mad? It is helpful to explore the events of 14th-century France, as

well as Charles’s own life, to discuss the potential harm they caused on the young king’s mental

state. In doing so, we can see that the stresses of ruling a war-torn country divided both

politically and religiously likely overburdened a young ruler to the point that he just snapped.

1 Tuchman 192

The backdrop of the 14th century was the Hundred Years’ War between France and

England. It began the way many conflicts between France and England began: The King of

France, in this case Edward III, had a claim to the French throne and tried to take it.2 Edward’s

connection to the French throne was through his mother, Isabel, the daughter of Philip the Fair,

whose three brothers all died without male heirs.3 Philip of Valois, the old king’s nephew, took

the throne, but, despite Edward’s vows of loyalty for the lands he held in France,4 the English

king was still after power on the Continent, where he still held Guienne (Aquitaine) against

French forces.5 The territory, which had been part of English holdings since Eleanor of Aquitaine

married King Henry II,6 was important to English economy: In addition to being a market for

exported cloth and wool, it was the “greatest wine-exporting region in the world.”7 Though the

French kings disliked the English foothold in the region, it was an important source of wealth for

England; Edward, as well as his predecessors, was loathe to lose it. He was willing to battle

France in order to keep the territory in England’s possession, and he used his claim to the throne

of France as an excuse for battle. In 1338, Philip tried to retake Guienne, and thus the Hundred

Years’ War began.8

This war between Edward and the kings of France continued for decades. The war started

before Charles VI was born and continued after he died, and the goals remained the same: for

England, to take the throne; for France, to keep it. It is important to understand the beginning of

the war to understand why it went on for so long—and to understand why Charles was willing to

continue what his predecessors had begun.

2 Tuchman 463 Tuchman 454 Tuchman 455 Tuchman 466 Tuchman 727 Tuchman 728 Tuchman 46

One main reason for the prolonged war was intertwined succession disputes.9 Not only

was Edward fighting for Guienne—and the crown on France, though whether he would have

been content to stop with shoring up his hold on certain territories on the Continent is debatable

—but the English also had a stake in other areas, namely Flanders, Brittany, Castile, and the

papacy.10 Each crisis drew the English further into the battles; by the time the papacy split in

1378, the war had already been going for decades.

The English used the Welsh longbow, which Edward I had used to beat the Scots into

submission, to bear against the French.11 The English used their superior weaponry to make up

for their inferior numbers and succeeded in taking control of the Channel,12 a blow for France.

More were to come as Edward gained the loyalty of some French vassals, and thus an easy

foothold on the mainland. Using his claim to the throne of France, lords in Brittany and

Normandy switched their allegiance.13 Civil wars in Brittany aided the chaos of the conflict, with

each claimant siding with one country or the other.14 Similar conflicts in Flanders, a great

importer of English wool, threatened France’s hold on the territory.15

This was just the beginning of the conflict, which was largely fought on French soil. In

1346,16 the two armies met at Crecy in a battle that claimed the lives of 4,000 men, including

Count Louis de Nevers of Flanders and King John the Blind of Bohemia.17 The English forces

later took Calais. But this campaign did not end the war. Through the next three decades, the two

sides continued to fight on and off, with campaigns broken by periods of truce and outside

9 Palmer, J. J. N. England, France and Christendom, 1377-99. London: Routledge and K. Paul, 1972. Print.10 Palmer 1611 Tuchman 7012 Tuchman 7013 Tuchman 7314 Tuchman 7515 Tuchman 7716 Tuchman 8617 Tuchman 88

influences, such as the Black Plague. Other rulers, such as Charles of Navarre,18 were drawn into

the conflict. In addition to the Black Plague, the French suffered from political strife, the

disastrous King Jean II (who was eventually captured by the English at the Battle of Poitiers),19

and the revolt of Etienne Marcel and the Jacqueie.

In “one of the darkest [hours] in French history,”20 Jean signed half his kingdom over to

Edward, though his heir rejected the treaty.21 Even so, Edward was not able to take the French

crown. He was unable to enter the city of Reims,22 where the French kings were traditionally

crowned, and was again turned away from Paris.23

During this period and following, France was practically in ruins. With an ineffective and

at times captive king, not to mention that the bulk on the fighting had been on French soil, much

of the countryside was uncontrolled. Some brigands, called the Free Companies, roamed the

Continent, pillaging at will.24 At times, they were employed by kings; they often proved useful

since, unlike knights, who wanted honor and personal glory, the brigands worked together and

followed orders.25 Some of these mercenaries joined bands for profit; others joined because, in

the chaos of war, they had lost their previous positions or their land had been torn apart.26 Some

were even fallen members of the nobility. “Unable to live adequately off ruined lands, they

joined the mercenaries rather than follow a life without the sword.”27 Even though they were

extortionists and outlaws, and were excommunicated by the pope in 1364,28 they were integrated

18 Tuchman 13519 Tuchman 15120 Tuchman 18521 Tuchman 18522 Tuchman 18723 Tuchman 18824 Tuchman 22225 Tuchman 22226 Tuchman 22227 Tuchman 22328 Tuchman 223

into the structure of society. They dealt with lawyers, they had bankers to manage their finances,

they married, and in some cases, such as that of “Archpriest” Arnaut de Cervole, they were

advisers to high-ranking aristocrats.29 These “sons on iniquity” pillaged throughout northwestern

Europe, held only by the necessity of absolution, which they often extorted from priests.30

Though the kings and other nobility were sometimes able to hire the mercenary groups, they did

not control the brigands. Even though the French had not lost—even during Jean’s capture in

England, his family still held the throne—and they were making strides toward pushing the

English off the Continent, they were not winning. Between the English and the outlaws, the

French countryside was ravaged, and the king was running out of money. When Charles V died,

France lost a great leader, and it, like England, was left in the hands of a boy.

But the Hundred Years’ War was not the only crisis plaguing Europe during the 14th

century. The Papal Schism also divided the continent, intertwining with the war; alliances and

papal allegiance were often one and the same.

By the start of the war, the popes had already left Rome for Avignon in France. There

they remained for decades, a period referred to as the “Babylonian Exile.” Though the popes

resided in France, they did not necessarily side with that country. In fact, Pope Benedict XII tried

to dissuade Philip VI from retaking Guienne;31 however, his efforts to stave off war were futile.

Though Benedict worked for peace, he and his fellows—the seven popes who reigned at

Avignon between 1305 and 1378—were seen as being under the thumb of the French, which did

not please the English.32 Benedict was one of five Avignon popes during the war; though they

were often condemned for their “Francophile” leanings and seen as French popes, Benedict

29 Tuchman 22330 Tuchman 22431 Gruber, John. “The Peace Negotiations of the Avignon Popes.” The Catholic Historical Review 19.2 (1933): 190-199. JSTOR. Web. 18 Feb. 2011. <http://www.jstor.org// >.32 O’Malley, John W. A History of the Popes: From Peter to the Present. Lanham, MD: Sheed & Ward, 2010. Print.

attempted to intercede for the better.33 He would have preferred to see French and English forces

united in the goal of Crusade; in fact, he urged them to unite, saying,

“Who can doubt that these constant bickering and conflicts among Christian rulers enable the enemies of Christianity to possess themselves of Christian lands and even strive to wipe out the name of religion itself. Experience proves that their audacity grows even greater as they perceive discord among rulers of Christendom. Knowing this, will not the infidel be inclined to conceive even more bold and pernicious plans for the subversion of our princes and people?”34

Benedict’s plans did not come to pass; war could not be stopped.

Two of the pope’s successors, Urban V and Gregory XI, tried to deal with the intricacies

of Italian politics from Avignon, but to no avail.35 When Catherine of Siena pleaded with

Gregory to return the papacy to the Italian peninsula, he was swayed by her words and did as she

asked, but he died just 15 months after his return.36 This left a vacancy in the papacy, one that

was filled by the election of Bartolomeo Prignano, Archbishop of Bari, as Urban VI—a Roman

who would not return the papacy to Avignon.37 Above all, the Italians feared that the cardinals,

many of whom were French, would elect another French pope who would return the papacy to

Avignon.38 Their fears were allayed when the cardinals elected Urban; the French cardinals, who

were divided between the Limousins and the northern French, did not put another Frenchman on

the papal throne.39

33 Gruber 19034 Gruber 19135 Tuchman 32836 Tuchman 32837 Tuchman 32938 O’Malley 14939 Rollo-Koster, Joelle. A Companion to the Great Western Schism (1378-1417).      Google Books. Google, 2009. Web. 1 May 2011. <http://books.google.com/      books?id=mgnaIRVSx44C&printsec=frontcover&dq=A+Companion+to+the+Great+Western+Sch      ism+(1378%E2%80%931417).&source=bl&ots=qllHRmXeLE&sig=fP241NKQT9aT9S2WPiMBKk24qJ4      &hl=en&ei=xOK9Taz2M8u4twf6hYW9BQ&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=2&ved=0CCEQ      6AEwAQ#v=onepage&q&f=false>.

However, the cardinals’ plans control the new pope failed. Urban had experience at the

papal court in Avignon, but he decided to do things differently than his predecessors.40 Unlike

other candidates the cardinals considered, Urban had not been one of them, and while he had

experience, he did not have the tact necessary to deal with the men who had chosen him.41 Urban

tried to do away with simony, the selling of indulgences, and the cardinals’ luxurious lifestyles.42

He went beyond attempts to reform the church, often flying into fits of rage, accusing the

cardinals of accepting bribes, and meddling in secular affairs of state.43 The cardinals, in a unique

move for their time, wanted to be rid of Urban before his death, but they were not sure how to go

about this. They asked Urban to step down, calling him the “anti-Christ, demon, apostate,

tyrant.”44 Urban refused. The solution the cardinals decided on was to invalidate the election,

claiming that fear of mob violence had forced them to pick Urban.45 The conclave had also been

quicker than usual; expecting trouble, Gregory had written before his death that the cardinals

were to dispense with many traditions, such as forming a quorum, in order to have a new pope as

soon as possible.46 They chose another candidate, Robert of Geneva—known to many as the

“Butcher of Cesena”—as Clement VII,47 largely because of his relation to the French monarchy

and the German royal family.48 Urban refused to bow to their whims; instead, he created 25 new

cardinals, all loyal to him.49 He maintained power in Rome while Clement ruled in Avignon,50

the latter unable to force the former out of Italy.51

40 O’Malley 14741 Rollo-Koster 1142 Tuchman 33043 Tuchman 33044 O’Malley 14745 Tuchman 33146 Rollo-Koster 1947 Tuchman 33248 O’Malley 14949 O’Malley 14750 Tuchman 33351 O’Malley 149

It was left for the countries of Europe to choose sides. Charles V in France supported

Clement, who resided in Avignon; England, in opposition to France, went to Urban, and

Scotland, in opposition to England, went to Clement.52 The new Holy Roman Emperor,

Wenceslas, declared for Urban, to Charles’s consternation; he had hoped that Wenceslas would

side with him.53 Flanders, allied with England, was for Rome; Hainault and Brabant, allied with

France, were for Avignon.54 Juan I of Castile originally planned to remain neutral, but political

pressure eventually forced the Iberian kings to choose Clement.55 Thus, the major powers of

Europe were divided not only politically, but also religiously.

The countryside in each territory was also divided, which the people unsure of which

pope to follow. Both popes conducted excommunications, appointed bishops, blessed holy oil,

and condemned the other side.56 The rift also had an economic effect: Each pope received less

revenue, which, rather than restraining such practices as simony, actually redoubled it.57

Politically, the papacy no longer worked for peace; rather, each side supported its allies,

further adding to the conflict.58 Charles V of France was a major contributor to this. It was his

support of Clement that led others to follow in his wake; without France’s support, Clement

would have floundered and been unable to significantly oppose Urban.59 However, even though

the king supported Clement, the University of Paris did not. The University originally supported

Clement because of pressure from the crown, but it later tried to work for an end to the schism,

to no avail.60 Both popes refused attempted solutions; rather, they excommunicated each other.61

52 Tuchman 33353 Tuchman 33354 Tuchman 33355 Tuchman 33456 Tuchman 33557 Tuchman 33558 Tuchman 33659 Tuchman 33660 Tuchman 33861 O’Malley 150

Without their cooperation, a resolution could not be found. Additionally, this situation was

unique; never before had the same set of cardinals elected two different popes.62 “For every

reason found favoring the validity of Urban, a reason could be found favoring the validity of

Clement.”63 There was not a judicial or historical precedence that could solve the matter.64 The

schism lasted 40 years.65

This was the situation in France when, in autumn 1380, Jean’s son, Charles V, King of

France, died, leaving the throne to his 12-year-old son.66

The newly crowned Charles VI was not alone in the predicament of being a minor and

having to contend with regents. In England, Edward III died, leaving his throne to his young

grandson, Richard II. “Both nations under boy kings now suffered the rule of ambitious and

contending uncles who, wearing now crown, exercised power without responsibility.”67 The

regencies made it hard to declare war or peace; because the kings were too young to sign treaties,

any created were generally worthless.68 War was no longer foremost on everyone’s minds; the

stress of internal pressures took precedence. Decades of harsh taxation soured the mood in

Picardy, Compiegne, and other towns.69 With the death of the king, Charles VI’s uncles had

control of the realm, but none of them used their power for good. Anjou, the eldest, held the title

of regent, but he robbed the Treasury to finance his own interests in Italy.70 Burgundy and

Bourbon were Charles’s guardians, but Burgundy was interested in Flanders, and Bourbon, a

maternal rather than paternal uncle, was not royal and thus did not have much power.71 Berry, the

62 O’Malley 15063 O’Malley 15064 O’Malley 15065 Tuchman 33966 Tuchman 36467 Tuchman 36468 Palmer 2569 Tuchman 36770 Tuchman 36771 Tuchman 367

third paternal uncle, spent his time with his collections and was not very interested in governing

the realm.72 “Pulled apart by their separate interests . . . the paternal uncles had no common

interest in the integrity of the realm. Their only cohesion was in the desire to remove the hands

of the late King’s ministers from the controls.”73 Their brother, the late Charles V, had predicted

this chaos, so he left instructions that the regency was to end when Charles turned 14; however,

there were still two more years to go after Charles V died.74

Though the uncles did not work as a cohesive unit, they still had to deal with the

problems of the realm until Charles came of age. Anjou, fearing a mass revolt, arranged for an

abolition of taxes; in response, the lower classes attacked the Jewish quarter in Paris; the

pogroms later spread to other cities, such as Chartres.75 But the government was bankrupt and in

desperate need of funds, and the Third Estate was not inclined to grant any.76 Meanwhile, the

uncles managed to push out of office Charles V’s favorite ministers, including Riviere and

Mercier; in fact, Riviere, whom Charles V had loved dearly, was accused of treason, and only

Constable Clisson’s challenge was able to save him.77 Even Enguerrand de Coucy, whom the

uncles all trusted, was unable to stop them from running wild; in February 1382, Anjou made

plans for an invasion of Italy, and France rioted.78 In Paris, a crowd broke into the Hotel de Ville

and seized 3,000 police mallets, thus leading to their name “Maillotins.”79 The bourgeois sought

to control the rebellion, but the crown refused to give in to the masses; the dukes were able to

raise taxes, and they extended royal power by cancelling town charters.80 After the dukes tried to

72 Tuchman 36773 Tuchman 36774 Tuchman 36775 Tuchman 36976 Tuchman 37077 Tuchman 37178 Tuchman 37879 Tuchman 38080 Tuchman 382

trick the Maillotins with an insincere pardon, their credibility was almost shattered; only trust in

the anointed king kept negotiations alive.81

The nobility was eventually able to put down this unrest in France. The uncles benefitted;

much of the taxes went into their pockets—a considerable sum of money, considering that Paris

alone delivered 400,000 francs.82 The working class gained little and lost much; the town of

Amiens lost its charter, and Beauvais, Orleans, Laon and other towns were also forced to pay.83

This cessation of hostilities left Anjou free to pursue his own interests in Italy, where he died in

September 1384,84 leaving Burgundy and Berry as Charles’s only remaining paternal uncles.

Meanwhile, Charles was married to Isabeau of Bavaria, a Wittlesbach and a

granddaughter of the Italian Viscontis.85 Charles was a warrior-king, encouraged by his uncles

because of their own interests.86 Though he seemed healthy, Charles had to deal with other

factors: His mother, Queen Jeanne, had suffered from insanity; his ancestors had intermarried

often; and most of his sisters had died young.87 Nonetheless, Charles was not inept; in 1388, at

age 20, Charles dismissed his uncles from positions of power and took control himself.88

Charles’s younger brother, Louis of Orleans, vied with the uncles for power in a feud that was to

end his life decades later.89 Charles reinstated his father’s ministers, such as Riviere and Mercier,

and together the councilors tried to reform the financial system.90 Charles made plans for a peace

with England and a crusade.91

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However, the parlay did not go as planned. The French and English both named sums

they believed were owed by the other side and dithered over the proper ownership of Calais.92

The two sides managed to extend the truce by a year but did little else.93 During the proceedings,

Charles fell ill for unknown reasons, “suffering from high fever and transports of delirium.”94 He

was taken from Amiens and recovered at Beauvais, then resumed his previous activities.95

Whether this was a random event or a portent of things to come remains unknown.

The king had plenty of internal issues to deal with. Olivier de Clisson, the Constable, was

hated by the uncles and the Duke of Brittany.96 Clisson, a Breton, was involved in the power

battles in the region and opposed Brittany and Montfort;97 he had also been a supporter of

Charles V’s ministers,98 whom the uncles chased from power. Brittany used Pierre de Craon,

who also hated Clisson, as a weapon; the latter attacked Clisson, wounding but not killing him;99

he recovered a few weeks after being wounded.100 Craon fled to Brittany, who refused to turn

him over to Charles.101 Though the uncles, who did not like Clisson and were possibly in league

with Brittany, tried to stop the king; there is even the possibility that Berry knew of the planned

attack on Clisson and could have prevented it.102 Charles and his brother disagreed with their

uncles and pushed for war,103 and despite the uncles’ objections to the plan, they joined the

king’s forces.104 Despite the king’s fervor, he was still weak from his illness at Amiens; “Charles

92 Tuchman 49393 Tuchman 49394 Tuchman 49395 Tuchman 49396 Tuchman 49497 Palmer 1998 Palmer 1999 Tuchman 496100 Henneman, John Bull. Olivier de Clisson and Political Society in France Under Charles V and Charles VI. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 1996. Print.

101 Tuchman 496102 Henneman 155103 Tuchman 497104 Henneman 157

appeared often distraught and disconnected in speech.”105 Charles was still recovering, and his ill

health forced the army to stop many times along the campaign, but he refused to leave. In

addition to Craon’s treason for attacking the Constable of France,106 Charles considered the

attack on the Clisson an attack on himself,107 and he wanted to make a statement by force to

discourse future attacks.108 The king’s physicians said that he was “feverish and unfit to ride,” but

he refused to wait.109

So it was on that hot, fateful August day when Charles rode into the forest of Mans.110

So what did cause the king to go mad? The theories have been documented: a family

illness passed down from his mother, too many generations of inbreeding, an earlier illness, the

wrath of God for Charles’s support for Pope Clement, stresses of rulership during the tumultuous

period, or perhaps something else entirely. In fact, it is likely a combination of stress and

genetics, not helped by potential overheating on that particular day as well as residue weakness

from the earlier illness. However, the true reason remains unknown.

Whatever the cause, Charles’s illness had a significant effect on his country. His inability

to lead his kingdom was “disastrous” for France.111 The uncles, particularly Burgundy, took

control of the kingdom, further intensifying the difficulties between him and Louis of Orleans.112

The uncles arrested the advisers they had originally removed during the regency, and they

stripped Clisson of his title as Constable, partially in anger over his will, in which he claimed to

have amassed a fortune of more than 1.7 million francs.113 Charles did not return to the affairs of

105 Tuchman 497106 Henneman 155107 Tuchman 497108 Henneman 155109 Tuchman 497110 Tuchman 497111 Henneman 158112 Henneman 158113 Henneman 158

state; Harsigny recommended that he not, and the uncles supported his verdict.114 He was ill for

much of the rest of his life.

Thus, Charles VI became the Mad King of France.

114 Tuchman 502