Victim or monster: what was Queen Isabella of Bavaria of France. French Queen Isabella of Bavaria - whore and monster or victim of intrigue Isabella of Bavaria
french queen Isabella of Bavaria- a very controversial personality, like many other people who left their mark on history. On the one hand, they say that she regularly tried to fulfill the functions of the king's wife. She gave birth to children for him and tried to reconcile the French, German and English parties that fought for power.
Others believe that this woman plunged headlong into promiscuity and various intrigues, including the murder of her own children. Today we will try to tell her story, and you decide for yourself which camp to join.
early marriage
In the XIV century, the situation in Europe was very tense, so the king of France, Charles VI, was looking for a wife who would be beneficial to the state in the first place. True, he was also given a choice: the artists were sent to several eminent families. Of the portraits received, the groom liked Isabella the most.
Contemporaries claim that she was a very sweet girl, but did not correspond to the canons of beauty of the Middle Ages: she had a large mouth, small stature and swarthy delicate skin (although court artists painted her in accordance with the rules of that time).
Despite this, at the age of 15, Isabella became the bride, and soon the wife of Charles VI. It is said that the king was so impressed with the appearance of the girl that he ordered the wedding to take place a few days after her arrival. So the future queen did not have any luxurious dress, they simply did not have time to sew it.
Life at court
The first years of the royal couple's life together took place in a series of feasts and other holidays. One of the reasons, oddly enough, was the quick death of the couple's first child. To cheer up his wife, Karl regularly arranged various receptions.
As for the administration of the state, this duty did not greatly excite the king. The country was led by several guardian regents, whom Charles trusted and delegated his powers.
It was then that the role of the younger brother of King Louis, Duke of Orleans, intensified. It is said that the young queen had a relationship with him from the first years after her marriage. Louis himself was married to Valentina Visconti, who helped raise his illegitimate son. By the way, later this same bastard will become one of the main associates of Joan of Arc.
king disease
Today, historians argue over what caused the mental illness of Charles VI, the attacks of which began to occur in 1392. Some say that the whole thing is ordinary schizophrenia, others argue that the king suffered from systematic ergot poisoning, which Isabella's Italian relatives regularly used, which again casts a shadow on the queen.
One way or another, Charles's condition worsened after the incident that happened on January 28, 1393. Then, during a masquerade ball arranged by Isabella in honor of the wedding of her maid of honor, the king went out to the people, along with his companions, smeared with wax and with hemp glued on top.
At that time, the story about "wild people" was popular, which were portrayed by the king's companions. Louis d'Orleans allegedly wanted to take a closer look at the costumes by holding a torch. The hemp caught fire, several people died, and the king was saved by the young duchess, who threw her plume over him. The event went down in history as "Ball of the Flames".
After that, Karl's seizures became more frequent, he could not recognize his wife, throw himself at people with weapons, refuse food or clothes. Regretting what he had done, Louis ordered the construction of the Orleans Chapel at his own expense. Although the chance of what happened was immediately called into question, they say the queen, along with her lover, thus tried to get rid of the sick king.
From her insane husband, Isabella left for Barbette Palace. Interestingly, while she continued to give birth to his children. This is explained by the fact that during periods of the normal state of the king, the spouses maintained relations. But during this period of life, accusations of treason also rained down on Isabella.
Politics
Leaving the king, the woman began to engage in politics. At that time, a struggle broke out between the two parties, the so-called Armagnacs and Bourguignons. At first, Isabella supported the first, led by Louis of Orleans, but then went over to the leader of the Bourguignons, Jean the Fearless, who killed Louis.
In addition, the woman is accused of disliking her own children. In order for the Lord to help heal the king, Isabella sent her daughter Jeanne to a monastery when she was still young. Son Charles was expelled to marry Mary of Anjou when he was 10 years old. The boy was raised by his future mother-in-law.
The adventures of Isabella's children do not end there: the woman is accused of the death of another son of Charles, the Dauphin of Vienne (it is worth noting that most current historians are inclined to believe that Charles died of tuberculosis). But the daughter Michelle, married to the son of Jean the Fearless, was allegedly poisoned by her mother for not following her instructions.
Home guilt and loss of power
Most of all, the French are unhappy with the fact that Isabella took part in the signing of the treaty at Troyes. According to this document, France practically lost its independence. Charles VI's heir was King Henry V of England.
Subsequently, Charles VII had to fight for the crown with weapons. This is the same confrontation when the maiden of Orleans, Joan of Arc, helped the monarch to ascend the throne.
Isabella's husband dies in 1422. After that, she lost all influence and ceased to be of interest to political groups. The Queen spent the rest of her life alone, lacking the basic means of subsistence and having to contend with various illnesses.
As you can see, passions were in full swing at the court at all times, and not only in France. For example, earlier we wrote about a story that happened in the 14th century in Portugal.
Article author
Ruslan Holovatyuk
The most attentive and observant editor of the team, a man of intellect. It can simultaneously effectively perform several tasks, remembers everything to the smallest detail, and not a single detail will escape from its vigilant gaze. Everything in his articles is clear, concise and on the shelves. And Ruslan understands sports as well as professionals, so articles in the corresponding section are everything.
Isabella of Bavaria (Elizabeth, Isabeau) Queen of France, wife of Charles VI, only daughter of the Bavarian Duke Stephen of Ingolstadt and Taddei Visconti. Thanks to a meeting arranged by her relatives with the young King of France Charles VI on a pilgrimage, on July 18, 1385, Isabella became Queen of France. The first years of marriage, Isabella did not show interest in politics, hitting the court entertainment. In August 1389 she was crowned in Paris, and on this occasion wonderful mysteries were played in the capital. However, after the first bout of madness of Charles (August 1392), the queen was forced to support the policy of the Duke of Burgundy, who actually arranged her marriage. Isabella had twelve children, six of whom were born after 1392 (among them Isabella - Queen of England, wife of Richard II, Jeanne - Duchess of Brittany, wife of Jean de Montfort, Michel - Duchess of Burgundy, wife of Philip the Good, Catherine - Queen of England, wife Henry V, Karl VII, three of her children died as babies (Charles (+1386), Jeanne (+1390) Philip (+1407), the second Charles died at the age of ten, two more Louis of Guienne and Jean Touraine - before the age of twenty).
A very mediocre appearance and mind, the queen was never able to really learn French, and in politics she proved to be narrow-minded and self-interested. Of the queen's passions, it is known about animals (she kept a large menagerie in Saint-Paul) and food, which very soon affected her disproportionate figure.
The content of the queen cost the treasury 150,000 gold francs annually, she, without hesitation, sent carts of gold and jewelry to her native Bavaria. After the death of Philip of Burgundy in 1404, Isabella supported her brother-in-law, Louis of Orleans. Later, she was accused of treason against the king with the Duke of Orleans, but this is not mentioned in modern sources. There is a hypothesis that the British came up with this bike to remove the Dauphin Charles from succession to the throne. After the assassination of Louis d'Orleans (1407) on the orders of Jean the Fearless, Isabella alternately pitted the Armagnacs and the Bourguignons against each other.
She successfully played on the political crisis of 1409 by appointing her supporters to key positions in the state. In 1417, after being accused of treason against the king with the nobleman Louis de Bois-Bourdon (who was drowned in the Seine after severe torture), the queen was imprisoned in Tours with the light hand of constable Bernard d'Armagnac. Freed with the help of the Duke of Burgundy, the queen joined the ranks of the Bourguignons. In May 1420, she arranged for the signing of a treaty in Troyes, according to which her only surviving son, Charles, was deprived of the right to inherit the French throne, and her son-in-law, Henry of England (husband of Catherine of Valois), was recognized as regent and heir to the throne of France. However, after the death of Henry (August 1422) and Charles VI (October 1422) she lost all political influence. The physically helpless, fat queen in the last years of her life could not even move without outside help. During the Paris coronation of her grandson Henry VI, no one even remembered her.
The queen was very limited in funds, the treasury allocated her only a few deniers a day, so Isabella was forced to sell her things. On September 20, 1435, she died at her Barbette mansion and was buried without honors at Saint-Denis.
Isabella of Bavaria, or Isabeau, is an ambiguous personality. On the one hand, this woman from her youth regularly performed the functions of the wife of the French king, gave birth to his children, tried to reconcile the clans of the English, French and German parties in the struggle for state power. On the other hand, she became the object of the most serious accusations, from countless love affairs to the collapse of France and the murder of her own children. Why is Isabella of Bavaria so unpopular in the country where she has lived most of her life - is it not because the French have always been inclined to blame women for the troubles of their kingdom?
Isabella's marriage and life at court
Isabella was born in Munich in 1370, during the Hundred Years' War between England and France. Due to the tense political situation of the young French king Charles VI, the guardians were looking for the “right” bride, primarily from the point of view of benefits for the state. True, the choice was still given to the groom, sending artists to several eminent families of Europe, who returned with portraits of candidates for the heart of the king, and the image of Isabella seemed to be the most attractive to Charles.
Contemporaries described her as a rather pretty girl, however, not quite corresponding to the ideals of beauty of the Middle Ages. Isabella was not tall, her eyes, nose and mouth were large, her forehead was high, her skin was swarthy and very delicate, her hair was dark. Her father was Duke Stephen III the Magnificent, and her mother was Taddea Visconti, from a family of Milanese rulers.
So, at the age of fifteen, Isabella was the bride, and then the wife of the French king. By the standards of her native Bavaria, she was quite wealthy, at first she was lost in the magnificence of the French court, feeling ashamed of her outfits. However, the bride did not succeed in sewing a real wedding dress - the king, impressed by the appearance of Isabella, insisted that the wedding take place in a few days, in Amiens, where the young people first met.
The first years after her marriage, Isabella spent in a series of festivities, feasts and entertainment. The first child, born in 1386, died after only a few months of life, and the king spared no expense to amuse the queen with New Year's balls, tournaments and weddings. During the queen's second pregnancy, a special tax was introduced - the "queen's belt" - which provided additional funds for the leisure of the crowned couple. Charles VI did not aspire to govern the state - from childhood he enjoyed the rights of the king without the burden of his duties, while France was ruled by several of his guardian regents, and therefore power in the kingdom was now distributed among different politicians, including the Marmouzet party, which the king entrusted a number of powers to govern the state.
During this period, the influence of the younger brother of King Louis, the Duke of Orleans, increased. Evil tongues said that his relationship with the young queen began in the early years of her marriage. He himself was married to Valentina Visconti, the daughter of the French princess and the Duke of Milan, who was loved and respected at court, raised her husband's illegitimate son, the "bastard Dunois", who years later became Joan of Arc's main ally.
Mad King
The main factor that determined the policy and fate of Charles VI was his mental illness, the attacks of which he was prone to from 1392. The tragic event on January 28, 1393, called the "ball of the flames" aggravated the king's condition. Faithful to her passion for entertainment, Isabella arranged a masquerade ball in honor of the wedding of her maid of honor, to which the king appeared, smeared with wax with hemp glued on top, along with his companions. Everyone, except the king, was chained together and portrayed the "wild people" popular in medieval mythology.
As the story goes, Louis of Orleans, in order to see the mummers, brought a torch too close to them, and the hemp flared up, causing a fire, panic began, and several people died. The king was saved by the young Duchess of Berry, who threw her train over him. After the incident, the mind of Charles VI was confused for several days, he did not recognize his wife and demanded to send her away, and henceforth until his death, the king was increasingly in the grip of seizures when he refused food, washing, clothes, could throw himself at people with weapons.
The “accident” of the incident was immediately called into question, seeing in what happened the desire of Louis, in company with Isabella, to get rid of the weak and already not quite healthy king. However, there is no evidence for these accusations, and the Duke of Orleans, in expiation for what he had done, ordered the erection of the Orleans chapel.
Isabella left her insane husband, settling in Barbette Palace, which, however, did not prevent her from continuing to bear and give birth to children - as it was announced, from the king, with whom she nevertheless maintained relations during periods of his clear mind. Nevertheless, Odette de Chamdiver was assigned to Charles VI at the behest of Isabella - as a nurse and concubine, and it was this woman who kept the king company for sixteen years, until his death, and gave birth to a daughter from him.
It is not surprising that on the basis of all these events, Isabella was accused of both adultery and the fact that the cause of the king's illnesses is some kind of ingenious poison, the use of which was famous for the Italian relatives of the queen.
Currently, scientists are putting forward two versions of the causes of Charles VI's illness, one of them is schizophrenia or another mental disorder, the other is systematic ergot poisoning, the queen was quite reasonably suspected of carrying out.
Isabella and politics
Leaving the king, Isabella plunged headlong into politics, intervening in the struggle of two parties - the so-called Armagnacs and Bourguignons. Initially supporting the former, led by Louis d'Orléans, she later went over to the side of his assassin, Jean the Fearless.
Isabella was also accused of disliking her own children. She sent her daughter Jeanne as a child to a monastery - in the name of the king's recovery. The unloved Charles was exiled at the age of ten to marry Mary of Anjou and was brought up by his mother-in-law, Yolande of Aragon. Isabella was blamed for the death of another son of Charles, the Dauphin of Vienne (now believed to have died of tuberculosis), and daughter Michel, married to the son of Jean the Fearless, is believed to have been poisoned by her mother because of her failure to follow her orders.
Isabella's main fault before the French was her participation in the conclusion of a "shameful" treaty with England in Troyes. According to it, France actually lost its independence, the king of England, Henry V, was proclaimed the heir of the insane Charles VI, and the Dauphin Charles, the son of Isabella, was declared illegitimate and lost his right to the throne.
Subsequently, this treaty became a bone of contention between countries for centuries, and Charles VII had to fight for the crown with weapons in his hands, and his main inspirer and associate in this was the Virgin of Orleans, Joan of Arc.
After the death of her husband in 1422, Isabella lost her influence on the political life of France - she was already useless to all factions. The Queen Dowager spent the rest of her life alone, suffering from lack of funds and poor health.
There are more negative memories of Queen Isabella of Bavaria. Nevertheless, there is an opinion among historians that she was still a faithful wife and attentive mother, and her "reputation" was created by political opponents, as well as popular rumor, which did not forgive the queen for an agreement with the British. Isabella stood on a par with Marie Antoinette, prone to excessive luxury and thus causing dislike of ordinary Frenchmen. And like Marie Antoinette, she became famous for innovations in fashion - thanks to Isabella, a dress appeared with a deep neckline and completely covering her hair, the beauty of which, as they say, the queen could not boast.
And also Isabella, daughter of Juan I of Castile. The duke was also alarmed by some of the overly free customs of the French court. So, he knew that before marriage, it was customary to undress the bride in front of the ladies of the court so that they could thoroughly examine her and make a judgment about the ability of the future queen to bear children.
Isabella arrived in Amiens on July 14, not knowing the real purpose of her trip. The French set the condition for the "review" of the intended bride. She was immediately brought before the king (dressed again, this time in a dress provided by the French, as her wardrobe seemed too modest). Froissart described this meeting and Karl's love for Isabella that broke out at first sight:
The day after the wedding, Charles was forced to leave for his troops, who were fighting against the British, who had captured the port of Damme. Then Isabella also left Amiens, having previously donated to the cathedral a large silver dish adorned with precious stones, according to legend, brought from Constantinople, and until Christmas she remained in the castle of Creil under the tutelage of Blanca of France, the widow of Philip of Orleans. She devoted this time to studying the French language and the history of France. The young couple spent the Christmas holidays in Paris, and Isabella, having entered the royal residence - the Saint-Paul Hotel, occupied the apartment that previously belonged to Jeanne of Bourbon, the mother of the king. That same winter, the queen's pregnancy was announced. At the beginning of the following year, the queen, along with her husband, attended the wedding of her sister-in-law, Catherine of France, who at the age of eight married Jean de Montpellier.
Later, the young couple settled in the castle of Bothe-sur-Marne, which Charles VI chose as his permanent residence. Charles, who was preparing an invasion of England, departed for the English Channel, while the pregnant queen was forced to return to the castle, where on September 26, 1386 she gave birth to her first child, named Charles in honor of his father. On the occasion of the baptism of the Dauphin, magnificent festivities were arranged, Count Karl de Dammartin became his godfather from the font, but the child died in December of the same year. To entertain his wife, Charles arranged incredibly magnificent festivities in honor of the next year 1387. On January 1, a ball was given at the Saint-Paul Hotel in Paris, which was attended by the king's brother Louis of Orleans and his uncle, Philip of Burgundy, who brought the queen "a golden table studded with precious stones".
Delacroix. "Louis d'Orléans demonstrating the charms of one of his mistresses."
At the same time, several townspeople brought confusion into the procession, trying to break into the first rows of spectators, however, the law enforcement officers quickly restored calm, rewarding the violators with stick blows. Later, the cheerful young king admitted that these violators were himself and several close associates, and their backs were hurt for a long time. The next day, Isabella was solemnly crowned in the Sainte-Chapelle in the presence of the king and courtiers. Her wedding and entry into Paris are the most documented episodes of her life; in most chronicles, only the dates of birth of her 12 children are indicated in the same detail. Historians agree that if not for the tragedy of her husband's insanity, Isabella would have spent the rest of her life in quiet anonymity, like most medieval queens.
In November of the same year, the third child was born - Princess Isabella, the future Queen of England. Later, the queen accompanied her husband on his inspection trip to the south of France and made a pilgrimage to the Cistercian abbey of Maubuisson and further to Melun, where on January 24, 1391 she gave birth to her fourth child, Princess Jeanne.
The first fit of madness seized Charles VI on August 5, 1392 near Mance, in the forest through which he moved with his army, chasing Pierre Craon, who attempted on the life of the constable of France. The king's condition worsened all the time. By this time, the queen was 22 years old, and she was already the mother of three children. For some time after that, it seemed that the king had fully recovered, only his developed "laziness" in state affairs and increased irritability were noted. In January 1393, the queen held a feast to mark the third marriage of her court lady, the German Catherine de Fastovrin. There was an accident with fire at the festival, from which the king was seriously injured, after which the situation became completely deplorable. The attacks of madness became regular, interspersed with enlightenments, however, the latter became shorter over time, and the former, respectively, heavier and longer. In the darkening of his mind, the king ceased to recognize his wife; in the chronicle of the Benedictine monk Michel Pentoine, unpleasant details were preserved, in particular, about how the king demanded “to remove from him this woman who shamelessly stares at him” or loudly shouted: “Find out what she needs and let her go to bed, there is nothing to go for on my heels!” . He also claimed that he had no children and had never been married, and even renounced his own surname and coat of arms.
The queen began to live separately from her husband, in the Barbette Palace (fr. Porte barbette), where she "was not afraid to be beaten to a pulp by Charles VI". According to rumors, the king's brother Louis d'Orleans advised her to flee to Bavaria, taking her children with her. But still, it is believed that in moments of enlightenment, Isabella was close to her husband. So, there was a record for 1407 that "this time the king spent the night with the queen." Her next child, Charles (the second Dauphin), was born in 1392, followed by daughter Mary, whom, according to the custom of that time, the queen “dedicated to God” even before birth, that is, she made a vow that a girl aged 4-5 years would leave to the monastery for the recovery of his father. In total, she bore him 12 children, although the paternity of some of them (starting with the fourth) is often questioned. Meanwhile, the king's health was deteriorating, and there was less and less hope for his cure. After the doctors were finally forced to admit their impotence, the queen turned to the services of healers and charlatans, and finally, on her orders, numerous religious processions were staged in Paris, Jews were expelled from the city.
Over time, they say, Isabella began to lead a dissolute lifestyle. She assigned Odinette de Shamdiver to her husband, who became his nurse-lover. In the castle in the Bois de Vincennes, where the queen settled with her court, according to the unequivocal remark of Juvenal des Yourcins, “La Trimouille, de Giac, Borrodon [approx. i.e. Bois-Bourdon] and others". The queen's ladies-in-waiting were accused of a wasteful and luxurious lifestyle, their excesses in outfits reached such an extent that the lady in ennen was not able to get through the door and squatted at the entrance. At the same time, for excessive influence on Charles, the queen expelled the more noble Valentina Visconti, the wife of the Duke of Orleans. However, modern researchers, who believe that the reputation of a libertine and ambitious woman developed solely under the influence of gossip, believe that Valentina left herself, "so as not to produce more rumors."
Delacroix. "Charles VI and Odette de Chamdiver" - one of the attacks of the king's madness
Once in a country with a mad king, Isabella was doomed to take the side of one of the feudal factions fighting for power in the kingdom. Isabella assumed a leading role in managing public affairs in a catastrophic situation in the later years of her husband's reign [ ] .
In the same year, Stephen the Magnificent, the father of the queen, visited Paris, who began to fuss about marriage between him and Isabella of Lorraine, but this plan was not carried out, among other things, due to the opposition of Louis of Orleans, who at that time had the greatest influence on the sick king . Then it was announced to him that of the two rival popes, France was giving its support to Clement VII, who kept his court in Avignon, as opposed to Boniface IX, the Roman. Frustrated by this decision, Philip the Bold came to Paris at the head of the army, but this time the queen managed to persuade her uncle and nephew, thus delaying the start of the civil war. In October of the same year, the queen gave birth to another daughter - the future wife of Henry V of England and Owen Tudor, whose grandson, Henry Tudor, seized the throne as a result of a coup d'état and became the founder of a new dynasty.
Coat of arms of Queen Isabella of Bavaria. The oval shape is characteristic of the coat of arms of a married woman. The left part corresponds to the coat of arms of the spouse (French lilies on an azure background), the right part corresponds to the heraldic image of Bavaria
The queen at this time began to rapidly lose popularity with her subjects. She was accused of endless extortion, which she was engaged in in alliance with the Duke of Orleans, excessive luxury and extravagance (which is true - the Treasury records of the payment of 57 thousand francs were preserved, which, by order of the queen, were transported to Bavaria, another hundred thousand were received by her brother Louis after the wedding , in addition, the golden image of the Madonna and Child and the gold, enameled image of a horse worth 25 thousand francs were transferred to the Bavarians from the royal treasury [ ]). At the same time, the queen began to be accused of indulgence and lack of will in regard to Louis of Bavaria, despite the fact that the issue of adultery was not raised. According to Michel Pentoine, a Benedictine monk from Saint-Denis, these rumors were spread by John the Fearless in order to discredit his political opponents in this way:
It was also alleged that she left her husband to the mercy of fate, who was forced to drag out a miserable existence, lonely, unwashed, hungry and ragged. This also corresponded to the truth, but we should not forget that the king was very aggressive towards his wife and, during bouts of insanity, tore to shreds and soiled his clothes (accounts of the royal treasurer for "replacing the royal dress spoiled by the urine of the named seigneur" have been preserved), refused food and did not allow barbers and servants to approach him. Ultimately, hefty lackeys were assigned to perform hygiene procedures, putting on cuirasses under liveries. They also assured that the queen left her own children to the mercy of fate, and when asked when he last saw his mother, Louis of Guienne allegedly answered - “that is three months old”. It is worth noting, however, that numerous invoices for clothes and utensils for royal children have been preserved. Louis of Orleans was also accused of frequently visiting brothels. The royal treasury was so empty that Princess Jeanne, at the age of six, betrothed to Jean de Montfort, Duke of Brittany, married to him in 1405, was not able to bring with her the dowry expected by the groom. 50 thousand francs were required to be paid in installments, for which the queen asked for forgiveness in a letter. Finally, on Ascension Day 1405, the Augustinian monk Jean Legrand preached at the royal court and, in the presence of the queen, the Duke of Orleans and his wife, spoke of the contempt that those in power arouse in the people. The same Legrand, once bursting into the queen’s chambers, accused her of the extravagance and licentiousness of the ladies of the court, which again corresponded to the truth, according to the documents of that time.
Jean the Fearless, having secured the support of the townspeople and the University of Paris, gradually began to seize power. Worried about this, the Duke of Berry on December 1 of the same year entered into an alliance with the queen and Louis of Orleans, but this could no longer change the situation. On January 23 of the following year, 1406, Jean the Fearless achieved his goal by formally obtaining by royal order all the rights and positions that belonged to his late father. Louis of Orleans was absent at that time, but after his return to Paris, Jean the Fearless invited the rival to his place and gave him an order appointing the king's brother as viceroy of Guienne - probably in an attempt to force him to accept what had happened [ ] .
In March of the same year, the wedding of Princess Michel, daughter of the king, and Philip, son of Jean the Fearless (future Duke Philip III the Good) was magnificently celebrated. Jean Petit, the representative of the Duke of Burgundy, who accused the murdered of "lèse majesty", was favorably listened to, and on May 9, 1409, a formal treaty was signed in Chartres, with both parties attending the ceremony accompanied by an impressive armed escort. There is an opinion that Isabella was largely to blame for what happened, alternately setting Armagnacs and Bourguignons against each other. "She successfully played on the political crisis of 1409 by appointing her supporters to key posts in the state."
Later that year, another wedding took place - the heir to the throne married Margaret of Burgundy, the daughter of the duke. It is believed that at this time the queen made a choice in favor of the Bourguignons, resorted to the help of the Duke of Burgundy, who occupied Paris. At this time, it is believed, against her wishes, her adviser Jean de Montagu, a supporter of the Armagnac party, was arrested and executed, and Jean de Niel, a protege of Jean the Fearless, was appointed in his place. The queen at this time preferred to stay in the Château de Vincennes. At this time, the first skirmishes began between the Armagnacs and the Bourguignons, with both sides alternately calling for the help of the English king, which is believed to have provoked a new round of the Hundred Years War. Subsequently, Isabella shared with her new ally the brunt of the Cabochine rebellion, which lasted from the spring of 1413 until early September, when the Armagnacs managed to capture Paris, while Jean the Fearless fled with the leader of the rebellion Simon Caboche.
After Paris opened the gates to Bernard d'Armagnac and his army, on December 18, 1413, the queen married her youngest son, who was then ten years old, to Mary of Anjou, daughter of Louis II of Naples and Yolande of Aragon. Then she agreed that her youngest son was taken away from Paris. According to researchers who share a hostile attitude towards Queen Isabella, she was trying to get rid of her unloved son in this way. At the same time, defenders of her reputation believe that she was driven by the desire to protect her youngest son from the dangers that could lie in wait for him in rebellious Paris. Then the Comte d'Armagnac received the title of constable of France. However, neither the Queen nor the Dauphin Louis could find a common language with the imperious, intolerant of objections, Bernard d'Armagnac. Louis unsuccessfully tried to organize his own party, equally hostile to both sides [ ] .
On the other hand, there is an assumption that the arrest of Bois-Bourdon was nothing more than an intrigue behind which stood Bernard d'Armagnac, who wanted to get rid of the queen in this way in order to completely seize power in his own hands, gradually influencing the decisions of a weak-willed and easily yielding dauphin's slander to others. That is why Bois-Bourdon was executed secretly, and officially his "crimes" were never named - for the complete absence of such. At the same time, moods hostile to the queen intensified among the people, rumors circulated in Paris accusing her not only of endless love affairs, but even of poisoning her husband, whom she allegedly deliberately drove mad. It is interesting that at the present time there are adherents of this hypothesis, who even call the poison - LSD, contained in excess in ergot, the so-called. "rye horns". Ergot poisoning - ergotism - was indeed quite common in the Middle Ages, but mainly manifested itself in the lower classes, who were forced to eat affected rye in famine years. However, this point of view does not have a large number of adherents [ ] .
One way or another, Isabella was ordered to leave Paris, first to Blois, then to Tours, where she was kept almost in the position of an arrest. Isabella had no choice but to ask for help from her former enemy Jean the Fearless, which he took advantage of. Historians disagree about who had the idea of kidnapping the queen and her court ladies from the local cathedral, where she indulged in prayer - John or herself. In any case, the case was crowned with success, Isabella joined the ranks of the Bourguignons, Jean the Fearless, they say, became her lover. Together they established a government in Chartres, then in Troyes, which competed with that of Paris. "In 1418, when Jean the Fearless took revenge, she triumphantly entered Paris with him, where her presence gave the appearance of legitimacy to the Anglo-Burgundian negotiations." At the same time, the main opponent of the Burgundian party, Bernard d'Armagnac, was killed, while the Dauphin Charles miraculously managed to escape from the city. The population accepted Isabella kindly - the Parisians hoped that the reconciliation of former enemies would finally lead to an end to the endless chain of civil strife and the ruin of the country.
During this time, the Queen was in active correspondence with her son, believed to be trying to persuade him to make peace with the Burgundian party. These letters have not been preserved, but fragments from the response messages of the Dauphin were found in the documents of that time, in which he calls his mother a “highly honored lady” and undertakes to obey her orders. It is not known whether Charles wanted a genuine reconciliation or from the very beginning hatched a plan to get rid of a rival and thereby regain power over the country. It is also assumed that the weak-willed Dauphin himself did not know how a possible meeting would turn out, and acted under the influence of the moment. One way or another, the rivals agreed to meet on the bridge at Montro on September 10, 1419. This meeting turned into a quarrel. As the Dauphin assured later, Jean the Fearless drew his sword in vehemence, and Charles had no choice but to call for help from the guards. Tanguy du Châtel struck the duke in the face with an ax first, the dauphin's guards completed the rest. The Burgundian party, for its part, was of the opinion that the Duke, who knelt before the Dauphin, had been treacherously killed from behind. The Dauphin sent letters to the cities of the country, where he justified himself by saying that the murdered man "promised, but did not wage war against the British" [ ] .
The death of John the Fearless, contrary to the hopes of the Dauphin and his party, only worsened their situation. His son, Philip the Good, took the place of the murdered man. The queen, taken by surprise by what happened, accused the Dauphin Charles of betrayal. Having brought such an accusation against her son, at a time when the Burgundian group was the most significant in France, she was sure that she would be able to raise almost the entire kingdom against the Dauphin.
For the royal family, this turned into a new tragedy - in 1422, the daughter of Charles and Isabella Michelle, the wife of Philip the Good, died suddenly. It is believed [ ], the cause of her death was the "melancholy" caused by the death of her father-in-law at the hands of her own brother and Philip's enmity towards her. There were rumors among the people blaming the queen for the death of her daughter, that Michelle was trying to persuade her husband to a truce, which was by no means part of Isabella's plans, and she ordered one of the court ladies Michelle (German Ursula Shpatskeren, wife of Jacques de Vieville, royal squire and butler, who was sent by the queen to Burgundy to accompany Michelle after her wedding) to bring a fast-acting poison. Georges Chastalin wrote in his chronicle:
The official history of these rumors are considered unfounded. So, Marie-Veronica Clan notes in her monograph on the history of Queen Isabella that "Ursula's only fault was her Bavarian origin." A popular account of the story reads: “In order to preserve her income and out of hatred, Isabella publicly disowned her son, the Dauphin Charles, declaring him illegitimate”, however, there is not a word in the contract about the illegitimacy of the Dauphin. The Treaty of Troyes, in fact, united the crowns of England and France. France lost its independence and became part of the united Anglo-French kingdom. Isabella passed the French crown to her son-in-law Georges Chuffard troops under the command of Jeanne to take the city by storm (September married to Jean V, Duke of Brittany. Thus, out of the twelve children she had born, only five remained alive. September 24, 1435, shortly before midnight, she died in his mansion Barbette (according to other sources - in the Hotel Saint-Paul) and was buried in Saint-Denis without honors... Georges Chuffard wrote in his diary:
According to modern data, the bailiffs of the Parisian parliament accompanied the stretcher with the body of the queen, and the foremen carried them on their own shoulders. The abbey of Saint-Denis assumed the expenses for the funeral, since the 80 livres left by the queen for this purpose (a very modest amount) could not be enough for the funeral to be arranged according to custom. From the treasury of Saint-Denis were taken for this purpose a crown, a scepter and other regalia, put to her by rank. The burial was attended by the Chancellor of France, Louis of Luxembourg, the Parisian Bishop Jacques Chatelier, the British Scales and Willoughby, and several other nobles. After listening to the funeral mass, the four foremen of Parliament again lifted the stretcher with the body of the queen on their shoulders and delivered them to the port of Saint-Landry, where the ship was waiting for them, on which Isabella of Bavaria was to be delivered to her final resting place, in the abbey of Saint-Denis. Until the end, she was accompanied by two executors - her confessor and the chancellor of the queen's personal court. The funeral took place on October 13, 1435 in the abbey in Saint-Denis - next to her husband. Five months after her death, Paris surrendered to the constable of Richemont, and Charles VII was finally able to freely enter his capital.
The role of Isabella of Bavaria in the history of France has been interpreted ambiguously by a number of historians over the centuries. This is mainly due to her important role in the negotiations with England that led to the Treaty of Troyes, as well as rumors of her adultery. These rumors arose in Paris in 1422-1429 during the English occupation, and were an attempt to cast a shadow on the origin of King Charles VII, her son, who at that time was fighting with the British. Rumors found expression in a poem pastoralet, quite popular at the time. A common idea about the queen is as follows: “Very mediocre in appearance and mind, the queen could not really learn French, and in politics she proved to be narrow-minded and mercenary. Of the queen's passions, it is known about animals (she kept a large menagerie in Saint-Paul) and food, which very soon affected her disproportionate figure. ] .
In the people's memory, she forever remained "the woman who ruined France." The French chroniclers of those times often mentioned the legendary prophecy (the so-called prophecy of Merlin) that "France, ruined by a dissolute woman (Wife), will be saved by a virgin (Virgin)", where the virgin was meant. Documents show that back in 1413 the queen enjoyed an impeccable reputation. Rumor called Louis of Orleans the first in a series of her lovers. This rumor was based on indications from two sources - the Burgundian verse pamphlet Pastoralet and a remark dropped by Jean Chartier, the royal historiographer, after 1437. An anonymous author of a poetic pamphlet described the monarchs of this time as shepherds and shepherdesses under false names, appending a glossary at the end with the correlation of names. He claimed that his writing was a true record of the events that led to the assassination of Jean the Fearless, Duke of Burgundy, but rather he was engaged in his glorification. The verses claimed that Louis of Orleans was indeed killed on the orders of the Duke of Burgundy, but the latter was only following the order of the king. In the poem, Charles learned about the affair between his wife and brother and swore revenge, Jean the Fearless promised to take care of it. The theme of adultery was actively emphasized, since it was the only excuse for the murder. And Jean Chartier, noting in his notes the day of the queen's death in 1435, uttered that the British shortened her life by declaring that her son was illegitimate. He wrote that after hearing this rumor, she was so upset that she was never happy again [ ] . (It is curious that the written records of the peace at Troyes really only date back to 1435, and there is no mention of Charles's origin as a reason for disinheriting him [ ]).
Even full of scandalous details Chronicle of Tramecourt, written shortly after 1420, do not allow hints about the queen. Thus, some scholars conclude that Isabella's reputation as a "libertine", attributing to her as lovers all those with whom she conducted political affairs, etc., is largely the fruit of Burgundian and English propaganda, which sought to discredit her son - king. It is also pointed out that accusations of adultery, setting opposing sides against each other, and trying to get rid of rivals with poison were the standard accusations made by the hostile party against any of the queens who showed themselves in the political arena - such accusations, in particular, did not escape Blanc Castilian, mother of Saint Louis, and his wife Margaret of Provence.
The “defenders” of the reputation of Isabella of Bavaria from among modern researchers depict her as a kind, but very narrow-minded woman, brought up for a reclusive life dedicated to children and festivities, which was supposed to be led at that time by a noble lady. Forced by circumstances to intervene in politics, for which she was not ready either by upbringing or by temperament, the queen rushed between the two parties, trying to please both, and naturally she lost, which they put her in "blame" before history. “Opponents”, taking on faith the rumors that have arisen about the queen since the time of her husband’s madness, believe her to be insidious and smart, who knew how to subdue male ambition and did not achieve her goals only because circumstances turned out to be stronger. The question of the paternity of her children is not completely clear. If, according to the official version, they were all born of King Charles VI, the "opponents" of Queen Isabella believe that this applies only to the first five, while the father of Mary and Michel could be the "gentleman" de Bois-Bourdon, the rest - Louis Orleans. Unfortunately, the primary sources relating to this period of French history speak extremely sparingly about the queen, noting only external events, despite the fact that their behind-the-scenes springs remain in the shadows, and this incompleteness in many ways allows us to draw completely opposite conclusions [ ] .
Even the Burgundian pamphlet admitted that Isabella was pretty, noting, however, that the queen did not correspond to the medieval ideal of beauty - she was short, with a high forehead, large eyes, a broad face, sharp features, a large nose with open nostrils, with a large sensual expressive mouth , round, full chin, with very dark hair and swarthy complexion. According to legend, she bathed in donkey milk and covered her face with a cream of boar brains, crocodile musk glands, and bird blood. Isabella was the first to bring into fashion huge caps that completely hid her hair, and this fashion soon took root in the Netherlands, Germany and England. At the court of Isabella, the custom subsequently arose to shave the eyebrows and hair on the forehead so that the latter seemed higher. When, over time, French fashion freed itself from the influence of Burgundy, the custom of hiding hair still continued to exist. It is also pointed out that when, in the 14th century, women suddenly began to wear dresses with such a low neckline that almost half of the chest could be seen, in high society, Queen Isabella of Bavaria introduced "dresses with a large neckline" into fashion. The introduction of the ennen headdress into fashion in 1395 is associated with her name.
Isabella is said to have led an extremely luxurious lifestyle. In particular, historians have calculated that the expenses of the queen’s personal court, which amounted to 30 thousand livres under Jeanne of Bourbon, increased to 60 under Isabella. court physician. She also made a vow to make a pilgrimage to Avignon, but sent a runner there as her deputy. An interesting expense item is known from court accounts: in 1417, the queen paid one person 9 livres and 6 sous for fasting instead of her for 36 days. The "opponents" of the queen from among modern researchers compare her with Catherine de Medici, while the "supporters" - with Marie Antoinette. The Queen and her daughter-in-law Valentina Visconti (wife of Louis d'Orléans) were the recipients Epistre Othea Christina of Pisa and generally were in correspondence with this writer, patronizing her [ ] .
One of the enviable advantages of the historian, this lord of bygone eras, is that, surveying his possessions, it is enough for him to touch the ancient ruins and decayed corpses with a pen, and palaces already appear before his eyes and the dead are resurrected: as if obeying the voice of God, according to his will naked skeletons are again covered with living flesh and dressed in elegant clothes in the boundless expanses of human history, numbering three millennia. It is enough for him, at his own whim, to identify his chosen ones, to call them by their names, and they immediately raise the gravestones, throw off their shroud, responding, like Lazarus, to the call of Christ: “I am here, Lord, what do You want from me?”
Of course, one must have a firm step in order not to be afraid to descend into the depths of history; in a commanding voice to question the shadows of the past; confident hand to write down what they dictate. For the dead sometimes keep terrible secrets, which the gravedigger buried with them in the grave. Dante's hair turned gray while he listened to the story of Count Ugolino, and his eyes became so gloomy, his cheeks were covered with such a deathly pallor that, when Virgil again brought him out of hell to earth, the Florentine women, guessing where this strange traveler was returning from, told their children , pointing at him with his finger: "Look at this gloomy, mourning man - he descended into the underworld."
Leaving aside the genius of Dante and Virgil, we can well compare ourselves with them, for the gate that leads to the tomb of the abbey of Saint-Denis and is about to open before us is in many ways like the gates of hell: and above them could stand the same the very inscription. So, if we had Dante's torch in our hands, and Virgil our guide, we would not have long to wander among the tombs of the three reigning families, buried in the crypts of the ancient abbey, to find the grave of a murderer whose crime would be as heinous as the crime of the Archbishop Ruggieri , or the grave of the victim, whose fate is as deplorable as the fate of the prisoner of the Leaning Tower of Pisa.
In this vast cemetery, in a niche on the left, there is a modest tomb, near which I always bow my head in thought. On its black marble, two statues are carved next to each other - a man and a woman. For four centuries they have been resting here with their hands folded in prayer: a man asks the Almighty how he angered Him, and a woman asks for forgiveness for her betrayal. These statues are statues of a madman and his unfaithful wife; for two whole decades, the insanity of one and the passions of love of the other served in France as the cause of bloody strife, and it is no coincidence that on the deathbed that connected them, after the words: “Here lie King Charles VI the Blessed and Queen Isabella of Bavaria, his wife” - the same hand inscribed: “ Pray for them."
Here, in Saint-Denis, we will begin leafing through the dark chronicle of this amazing reign, which, according to the poet, "passed under the sign of two mysterious ghosts - an old man and a shepherdess" - and left only a card game, this mocking and bitter symbol, as a legacy to posterity. the eternal precariousness of empires and the human condition.
In this book, the reader will find a few bright, joyful pages, but too many will bear red traces of blood and black traces of death. For God was pleased that everything in the world should be painted in these colors, so that he even turned them into the very symbol of human life, making it the motto of the word: "Innocence, passions and death."
And now let's open our book, as God opens the book of life, on its bright pages: blood-red and black pages await us ahead.
Sunday, August 20, 1389, crowds of people began to flock to the road from Saint-Denis to Paris from the very early morning. On this day, Princess Isabella, daughter of Duke Etienne of Bavaria and wife of King Charles VI, for the first time in the rank of Queen of France, made a solemn entry into the capital of the kingdom.
To justify the general curiosity, it must be said that extraordinary things were told about this princess: they said that already at the first meeting with her - it was on Friday July 15, 1385 - the king fell passionately in love with her and with great reluctance agreed with his uncle, the Duke of Burgundy postpone wedding preparations until Monday.
However, this marriage was looked upon in the kingdom with great hope; it was known that, dying, King Charles V expressed a desire that his son marry a Bavarian princess, in order to thereby equal the English king Richard, who married the sister of the German king. The flaming passion of the young prince corresponded in the best possible way to the last will of his father; in addition, the matrons of the court, who examined the bride, certified that she was able to give the crown an heir, and the birth of a son a year after the wedding only confirmed their experience. Not without sinister soothsayers, of course, who are at the beginning of any reign: they prophesied evil, because Friday is not a suitable day for matchmaking. However, nothing has yet confirmed their predictions, and the voices of these people, if they dared to speak aloud, would be drowned in joyful cries, which, on the day with which we begin our story, involuntarily burst from a thousand lips.
Since the main characters of this historical chronicle - by birthright or by their position at court - were next to the queen or followed in her retinue, we will now, with the reader's permission, move along with the solemn cortege, already ready to set off and waiting only for the Duke Louis of Touraine , the king's brother, whom some said about worrying about his toilet, or the night of love, others claimed, had already been delayed for half an hour. This way of getting to know people and events, although not new, is very convenient; moreover, in the picture that we will try to sketch, relying on old chronicles, other strokes, perhaps, will not be devoid of interest and originality.
We have already said that this Sunday, on the road from Saint-Denis to Paris, so many people gathered here, as if people had come here by order. The road was literally littered with people, they stood close to each other, like ears in a field, so that this mass of human bodies, so dense that the slightest shock experienced by any part of it was instantly transmitted to everyone else, began to sway, like the way a ripening field sways with a light breeze.
At eleven o'clock, loud screams resounding somewhere ahead and a trembling that ran through the crowd finally made it clear to the people, weary of expectation, that something important was about to happen. And indeed, a detachment of sergeants soon appeared, dispersing the crowd with sticks, and behind them followed Queen Joan and her daughter, the Duchess of Orleans, for whom the sergeants cleared the way among this human sea. To prevent its waves from closing behind high-ranking persons, they were followed by two rows of horse guards - one thousand two hundred horsemen, selected from among the most noble Parisian citizens. The riders who made up this honorary escort were dressed in long coats of green and scarlet silk, their heads were covered with caps, the ribbons of which fell to their shoulders or fluttered in the wind when its light gust refreshed the suddenly hot air, mixed with sand and dust raised by hooves. horses and walking feet. The people pushed back by the guards stretched out on both sides of the road, so that the liberated part of it was like a canal, bordered by two rows of citizens, and along this canal the royal cortege could move almost without interference, in any case, much easier than it could be. guess.
In those distant times, people went out to meet their king not out of simple curiosity: they had a feeling of respect and love for his person. And if the then monarchs sometimes condescended to the people, then the people even in their thoughts did not dare to rise to them. Such processions in our time are not complete without shouting, without scolding in the square and police intervention; here everyone tried to settle down as best they could, and since the road passed over the fields surrounding it, people tried with all their might to climb as high as possible so that it was more convenient to look. Instantly, they occupied all the trees and roofs in the area, so that there was not a single tree that, from the crown to the lower branches, would not be hung with outlandish fruits, and uninvited guests appeared in the houses, from the attic to the lower floor. Those who did not dare to climb so high settled themselves along the sides of the road; women stood on tiptoe, children climbed on the shoulders of their fathers - in a word, one way or another, but everyone found a place for himself and could see what was happening, either looking at him over the mounted guards, or modestly looking into the gaps between the legs of their horses. As soon as the uproar caused by the appearance of Queen Joan and the Duchess of Orleans, who were traveling to the palace where the king was waiting for them, had barely died down, at the turn of the main rue Saint-Denis, the long-awaited stretcher of Queen Isabella appeared. The people who came here, as already mentioned, really wanted to look at the young princess, who was not yet nineteen years old and with whom France pinned her hopes.
