Isabella of Bavaria. Translation from French by B. Weissman and R. Rodina

Plan
Introduction
1 Biography
1.1 Childhood
1.2 Preparing for marriage
1.3 Marriage
1.4 Early ("happy") period (1385-1392)
1.4.1 "Years of festivities"
1.4.2 Isabella's entry into Paris

1.5 1392-1402 The period of the struggle of parties under the mad king
1.5.1 Madness of Charles VI
1.5.2 Beginning of rivalry between the Orléans and Burgundian parties
1.5.3 Personal life
1.5.4 Beginning of Queen Isabella's political career

1.6 Intrigue and war (1403-1420)
1.6.1 Birth of an heir and defection to the party of Orléans
1.6.2 Loss of popular popularity
1.6.3 Dauphin kidnapping attempt
1.6.4 Victory of the Bourguignons and assassination of Louis d'Orléans
1.6.5 Queen's defection to the side of the Bourguignons
1.6.6 Orléanist victory and death of the Dauphin Louis
1.6.7 Death of Dauphin John and exile
1.6.8 Assassination of John the Fearless and Treaty of Troyes

1.7 End of life

2 Personality assessment and reputation as a harlot
3 Appearance and lifestyle
4 Children
5 In fiction
Bibliography Introduction Isabella of Bavaria (Elizabeth of Bavaria, Isabeau; French Isabeau de Bavière, German Elisabeth von Bayern, c. 1370, Munich - September 24, 1435, Paris) - Queen of France, wife of Charles VI the Mad, from 1403 periodically ruled the state. After Charles VI began to suffer from bouts of insanity and power, in fact, passed to the queen, she was unable to pursue a firm political line and rushed from one court group to another. Isabella was extremely unpopular with the people, especially because of her extravagance. In 1420, she signed a treaty with the British at Troyes, recognizing the English King Henry V as heir to the French crown. In fiction, she has a persistent reputation as a libertine, although modern researchers believe that in many ways such a reputation could be the result of propaganda. 1. Biography 1.1. Childhood Most likely, she was born in Munich, where she was baptized in the Church of Our Lady (the Romanesque cathedral on the site of the modern Frauenkirche) under the name "Elizabeth", traditional for German rulers since the time of St. Elizabeth of Hungary. The exact year of birth is unknown. The youngest of two children of Stephen III the Magnificent, Duke of Bavaria-Ingolstadt, and Taddei Visconti (granddaughter of the Duke of Milan Bernabò Visconti, deposed and executed by his nephew and co-ruler Gian Galeazzo Visconti). Little is known about the childhood of the future queen. It is established that she was educated at home, among other things, she was taught to read and write, Latin and received all the necessary skills for housekeeping in her future marriage. She lost her mother at the age of 11. It is believed that her father intended her for marriage with one of the minor German princes, so the proposal of the uncle of the French king, Philip the Bold, who asked for her hand for Charles VI, was a complete surprise. Isabella was fifteen at the time. 1.2. Preparing for marriage King Charles V the Wise before his death obliged the regents of his son to find him a "German" wife. Indeed, from a purely political point of view, France would seriously benefit if the German princes supported her struggle with England. The Bavarians also benefited from this marriage. Evran von Wildenberg noted in his "Chronicle of the Dukes of Bavaria" (German. "Chronik und der fürstliche Stamm der Durchlauchtigen Fürsten und Herren Pfalzgrafen bey Rhein und Herzoge in Baiern")

Despite these considerations, Isabella's father Stephen the Magnificent was very wary of his daughter's proposed marriage. Among other things, he was worried that the French king was also offered as a wife Constance, daughter of the Earl of Lancaster, daughter of the King of Scotland, as well as 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. But nevertheless, in 1385, the princess was engaged to the seventeen-year-old King of France, Charles VI at the suggestion of her uncle Frederick of Bavaria, who met with the French in Flanders in September 1383. The marriage had to be preceded by a "review", since the French king himself wanted to make a decision. Fearing rejection and the shame associated with it, Stephen sent his daughter to the French Amiens under the pretext of a pilgrimage to the relics of John the Baptist. Her uncle was to accompany her on the trip. Stefan's words, spoken to his brother before his departure, have been preserved: The motorcade's route to France ran through Brabant and Gennegau, where representatives of the younger branch of the Wittelsbach family ruled. Count of Gennegau Albert I of Bavaria gave the princess a magnificent reception in Brussels and offered his hospitality so that she could rest for a while before continuing her journey. His wife Margarita, sincerely attached to her cousin, during this time managed to give her several lessons in good manners and even completely update her wardrobe, which might seem too poor to the French king. Karl, who left Paris to meet on July 6 and arrived in Amiens the day before, was also agitated by what was happening and, according to the story of his valet La Riviere, did not let him sleep all night on the eve of the upcoming meeting, harassing him with the questions “What is she like?”, “When I will I see her?" etc. 1.3. Marriage Meeting of Charles and Isabella. "The Chronicles of Froissart" 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 the love of Charles for Isabella that broke out at first sight: on July 17, 1385, a wedding took place in Amiens. The young people were blessed by Bishop of Amiens Jean de Rollandy. A few weeks after the wedding, it was ordered to knock out a medal in memory of this, depicting two cupids with torches in their hands, supposed to symbolize the fire of love between two spouses. Early ("happy") period (1385-1392) "Festive Years" 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 Damm. Then Isabella also left Amiens, having previously donated to the cathedral a large silver dish adorned with precious stones, according to legend, delivered from Constantinople, and until Christmas she remained in the castle of Creil under the care 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. Early next year, the queen and her husband attended the wedding of her sister-in-law, Catherine of France, who married Jean de Montpellier at the age of eight. 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." On January 7 of the same year, Louis d'Orléans became engaged to Valentina, daughter of Gian Galeazzo Visconti. After the end of the festivities, the beginning of the royal boar hunt was announced, and Isabella, together with her court, accompanied her husband to Senlis, in July - to Val-de-Rei, and finally, in August - to Chartres, where she entered with great solemnity, in honor of the young queen staged an organ concert. At this time, in the words of Veronica Clan, Isabella's life was "an endless series of festivities." In autumn, the queen returned to Paris, where on November 28 she celebrated the marriage of one of her German ladies-in-waiting, Catherine de Fastovrin, to Jean Morel de Campreny with pomp. The dowry of the bride, amounting to 4 thousand rubles. livres, was fully paid by the queen, and 1 thousand of this amount went to pay off the groom's debts, the rest of the money was used to purchase land that became Catherine's own dowry. At the beginning of the next 1388, as Juvenal des Yursin noted in his chronicle, it was officially announced that Queen Isabella "carried in her womb" for the second time. To provide for the unborn child, a new tax was introduced by a special decree - the "Queen's belt", which brought about 4 thousand livres from the sale of 31 thousand barrels of wine. The pregnant queen had to stay in Paris in the castle of Saint-Ouen, which previously belonged to the Order of the Star, while the king continued to have fun hunting in the vicinity of Gisors, however, the couple constantly corresponded. On June 14, 1388, at ten o'clock in the morning, a girl named Jeanne was born, but she lived only two years. On May 1 of the following 1389, the queen, along with her husband, attended a magnificent ceremony of knighting the royal cousins ​​​​- Louis and Charles of Anjou. Festivities in honor of this event continued for six days, during which tournaments were replaced by religious ceremonies. Michel Pentoine, a Benedictine monk, wrote in his chronicle: . The names of the lovers Pentoine did not name, however, modern researchers are inclined to think that the queen and Louis of Orleans were meant. Indeed, the king's brother at that time enjoyed a reputation as a heartthrob and a dandy, in the contemptuous expression of Tom Bazin, he "neighed like a horse around beautiful ladies." There is another point of view - as if it was not about Isabella, but about Margaret of Bavaria, the wife of the Duke of Burgundy Jean the Fearless. It is also noted that the queen was four months pregnant during the festivities, and she endured her position quite hard - which already casts doubt on the assumption of adultery. Isabella's Entry into Paris Solemn entry of the queen into Paris on August 22, 1389 On August 22, 1389, it was decided to arrange a solemn entry of the queen into the capital of France. Isabella was already well acquainted with Paris, where she spent the winter for four years, but the king, who loved magnificent festivities and ceremonies, insisted on organizing a particularly solemn, theatrical procession. The queen, who was then six months pregnant, was carried in a stretcher, accompanied on horseback by Valentine, the wife of Louis of Orleans. Juvenal des Yursin, who left a detailed description of this day, wrote that Paris was richly decorated, wine fountains beat on the squares, from which cupbearers filled goblets, offering them to anyone who wished. At the building of the Tritite hotel, the minstrels presented the battle of the crusaders with the Arabs of Palestine, and Richard the Lionheart was at the head of the Christian army, who invited the king of France to join him to fight the "infidels". A young girl, representing Mary with a baby in her arms, greeted and blessed the queen, while the boys, representing angels, descended with the help of a theater machine from the height of the arch and placed a golden crown on Isabella's head. Later, the queen heard mass in Notre Dame de Paris and donated to the Virgin the crown presented to her by the "angels", while the Bureau de la Rivière and Jean Lemercier immediately placed an even more expensive crown on her head. At the same time, several citizens brought confusion into the procession, trying to break into the front rows of spectators, however, the guards 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 it were not for the tragedy of her husband's madness, 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 in Maubuisson and then to Melun, where on January 24, 1391 she gave birth to her fourth child, Princess Jeanne. 1.5. 1392-1402[&][#]160[;] The period of the struggle of parties under the mad king Madness of Charles VI “Ball in Flames”, medieval miniature The first fit of madness seized Charles VI on August 5, 1392 near Mance, in the forest through which he moved with his army, pursuing 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. At the festival, an accident occurred with fire, 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 refused his own surname and coat of arms. The queen began to live separately from her husband, in Barbette Palace (fr. Porte Barbette), where she "was not afraid of being 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 her daughter Maria, whom, according to the custom of that time, the queen “dedicated to God” even before birth, that is, she made a vow that the girl would leave at the age of 4-5 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. The beginning of the rivalry between the Orleans and the Burgundian parties Isabella of Bavaria,
sculpture in the Palace of Justice in Poitiers, 1390s Meanwhile, two court parties, led by the Duke of Orleans, brother of the king, and Philip the Bold, Duke of Burgundy, waged a fierce struggle for influence over the sick monarch, to the point that the king, during a fit of madness, succumbing to one of his rivals, during the next enlightenment canceled his own orders and gave new ones in favor of the second. At first, the brother and uncle of the king acted together, ordering the dissolution and partial arrest of the former government, made up of royal favorites - the so-called. "Marmouzets". But over time, disagreements arose between them, the more impatient and straightforward Louis tried to claim the French crown for himself under the pretext that "the king is incapable of ruling." The proposal ended in scandal, because, according to medieval law, the act of anointing is a sacrament that comes from God, which people are not able to cancel. However, according to the same laws, an incompetent king must be replaced by a regent, who was usually recognized by right as the heir to the throne. But Karl was still too young, and therefore he could only nominally play this role. Under such conditions, the struggle for influence over the queen and the dauphin inevitably began as the main condition for power. Isabella, on the other hand, rushed between the two parties, initially leaning towards the Burgundians, however, while trying to rely on her brother, Louis of Bavaria, which ultimately led to the fact that objectively the policy of the queen became the most beneficial to the Wittelsbach family. Personal life Over time, they say, Isabella began to lead a dissolute lifestyle. She assigned Odinette de Chamdiver 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 has 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 king's attacks of madnessCaught 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. On January 12, 1395, the seventh child, daughter Michelle, was born. In 1396, negotiations began on the marriage of the king's eldest daughter, seven-year-old Isabella, with King Richard II of England, which led to another aggravation of relations between uncle and nephew, since Louis of Orleans was sharply opposed to this marriage. But the queen again took the side of Philip the Bold, and the marriage became a reality, along with which a truce was concluded between France and England for 28 years. However, this marriage did not bring happiness to the princess, since soon the unpopular King Richard lost the throne, and his young wife, after long negotiations in 1401, returned to her mother. In 1397, the eighth child was born - Louis, Duke of Guyenne. On September 8 of the same year, fulfilling a vow given before her birth, Mary, the sixth daughter of the king, took monastic vows at Poissy Abbey. A few years later, seeing that the king’s condition was not improving, the queen suggested that she give up monasticism, especially since there was an applicant for Mary’s hand, but she refused and, eventually becoming the abbess of the abbey, lived there until she was 47 years old, when she died during an epidemic plague. In the next 1398, the fourth dauphin was born - John, Duke of Touraine. In 1399, the Dauphin Charles fell dangerously ill. As noted in the chronicles, there were persistent rumors in Paris that the dauphin was suffering from a slow-acting poison, the queen was accused of being unable or unwilling to help her son, several times the Parisian crowd forced her to take the child to the balcony in order to make sure that he still alive. Modern researchers believe that the Dauphin died of tuberculosis. He died on January 13, 1401 and was buried in the royal tomb of Saint-Denis. His younger brother became the heir. In the same year, Stephen the Magnificent, the father of the queen, visited Paris, who began to petition for a 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 held 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. The beginning of the political career of Queen Isabella Coat of arms of Queen Isabella of Bavaria. The oval shape is characteristic of the coat of arms of a married woman. The left side corresponds to the coat of arms of the spouse (French lilies on an azure background), the right side corresponds to the heraldic image of Bavaria from 1402, relying on her brother-in-law Duke Louis of Orleans (who became her constant companion and, allegedly, lover, although modern sources do not support this version), and brother Louis of Bavaria, Isabella began to take part in political intrigues. The beginning of Queen Isabella's political career seemed encouraging, on January 6 of the same year she managed to persuade both rival princes to peace. A few days later, both took an oath on the gospel that they would obey the decision of a council presided over by Queen Isabella, which included, among others, the King of Jerusalem and Sicily, the Dukes of Berry and Bourbon, Constable Louis de Sancerre, Chancellor Arnaud de Gambier, Patriarch of Alexandria and Admiral of France Renaud de Tri. Both rivals swore "from now on to be good, faithful and devoted friends, and to give good advice to the king regarding his person and the affairs of the kingdom." On January 15, to commemorate the reconciliation of rivals, Queen Isabella arranged a gala dinner at the Hotel de Nelle. The reconciliation turned out to be short-lived, already in April of the same year, Louis, taking advantage of another bout of madness of Charles VI, obtained for himself a paper transferring control of Languedoc to him and the right to introduce a new tax. In June, having waited for the enlightenment of the king, Philip the Bold achieved the cancellation of the previous decision and the transfer of power over Languedoc to him. For populist purposes, he also achieved the abolition of the already introduced tax. And finally, on July 1, Isabella obtained from the king an order by which she was given sole power over the state. In September, Louis of Bavaria again arrived in Paris, sent by the emperor of the Holy Roman Empire, with the aim of wooing the emperor Michelle of France. This marriage was not destined to take place, but the queen managed to arrange the marriage of her brother to Anne of Bourbon. True to her Bavarian sympathies, Isabella assigned her brother an annuity of 12 thousand francs and wished to make him constable of France, which was opposed by the king's brother, who in February of the following year managed to appoint his protege d'Albret to this post. Intrigue and war (1403-1420) The birth of an heir and the transition to the side of the Orleans party On February 22, 1403, Charles, Count of Ponthieu, was born, the eleventh child in the royal family, who was destined to become King Charles VII. In April 1403, Louis d'Orléans achieved the division of power. Isabella did not become the sole ruler during the "absence of the king", as his attacks were officially called, but the head of the state council. In 1404, she finally went over to the side of the Orleans party, after Philip the Bold died of the plague in Brabant on April 27, 1404. From now on, his son John the Fearless became the head of the Burgundians, who, having inherited his father's lust for power, did not at all possess his flexibility and diplomacy in achieving his goals. The situation was also aggravated by the fact that, according to medieval ideas, the king's cousin could not have the same degree of power and influence as his uncle, with which John the Fearless could not agree. However, at the first stage, he still could not compete on equal terms with the king's brother. Loss of popularity among the people 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 similarly discredit his political opponents: It was also alleged that she abandoned her husband, who was forced to drag out a miserable existence, lonely, unwashed, hungry and tattered. 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. And finally, the monk Jean Legrand, on the day of the Ascension of 1405, managed to break into the Saint-Paul hotel, where he threw accusations in the face of the queen of the extravagance and licentiousness that reigned among her court ladies, which again corresponded to the truth, according to the documents of that time. Attempted kidnapping of the Dauphin In July 1405, the Duke of Burgundy, John the Fearless, went to Paris at the head of a small detachment of 700 men at arms. There were rumors that his brother rushed to the rescue, leading several thousand armed men. Succumbing to panic, Isabella and Louis d'Orléans decided to flee, taking the Dauphin with them. On August 17, 1405, under the pretext of hunting in the forests near Melun, they hurriedly left the capital, leaving the dauphin in Paris, sick with a fever, under the supervision of Louis of Bavaria. The very next day, the Comte de Dammartin raised the sick man from his bed. Moving up the Seine, they managed to reach Vitry, where the journey had to be interrupted due to bad weather. At the same time, having learned about the flight of the royal family, John the Fearless set off in pursuit on horseback and intercepted the fugitives on the road near Juisy. This episode later became known as "the attempted kidnapping of the Dauphin by the Queen and Louis of Orléans". The queen preferred to stay in Melun until the end of September, later moved to Corbeil and finally returned to the capital on October 21, 1405. During her absence from Paris, a rumor arose and stubbornly persisted that she had taken the treasury with her. Victory of the Bourguignons and the assassination of Louis d'Orléans Paul Leuger. The murder of Louis of Orleans. John 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, John the Fearless achieved his goal by officially obtaining all the rights and positions that belonged to his late father by royal order. Louis of Orleans was absent at that time, but after his return to Paris, John the Fearless invited the rival to his place and gave him an order appointing the king's brother as viceroy of Guyenne - probably in an attempt to force him to accept what had happened. On June 26, 1406, the court went to Compiègne, where the wedding of the eldest daughter of the king Isabella and her cousin Charles of Orleans was celebrated. As noted in the chronicles, on this day, Louis d'Orleans was dressed in crimson upeland and black velvet purpuen with 700 pearls sewn on it. In order to recoup this costume, two silver goblets, a golden jug for washing and several images of saints were given to be melted down. The marriage was short-lived, three years later Isabella died during childbirth. In the same year, John of France, Duke of Touraine, married Jacobine of Bavaria and, at the insistence of his father-in-law, went to Gennegau, where he was to rule. On November 27, 1407, John the Fearless (Duke of Burgundy and cousin of the king, son of the previous regent) ordered the Duke to be killed Orleans. The assassination of Louis, in fact, led to a civil war, with both sides trying to control the queen and the dauphin. The Orleans party, contrary to the calculations of the Duke of Burgundy, was by no means destroyed. It was headed by the son of the deceased, Charles, the dukes of Berry and Bourbon, as well as the counts d'Eu, d'Alençon, de Vendome and de la Marche, united around him, but Bernard VII, Count d'Armagnac, by name whom the party eventually received the nickname "Armagnac", in contrast to their opponents "Bourguignons", that is, the Burgundians. The murderer fled Paris and went unpunished despite the fact that Valentine, the widow of Louis, received assurances from Charles VI of the future triumph of justice. But later, another fit of madness took possession of the king, and the princes at that moment preferred to end the matter in peace. In March of the same year, the wedding of Princess Michelle, daughter of the king, and Philip, son of John 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. Isabella was largely to blame for what happened, alternately setting the 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." The transition of the queen to the side of the Bourguignons Later that year, another wedding took place - the heir to the throne took Margaret of Burgundy, the daughter of the duke, as his wife. 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 John 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 John the Fearless fled with the leader of the rebellion Simon Caboche. Orléanist victory and the death of the Dauphin Louis After Paris opened the gates to Bernard d'Armagnac and his army, on December 18, 1413, the queen married her youngest son, who at that time was 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 July 30, 1415, the Armagnacs and the Bourguignons concluded another truce between themselves, while the British landed on the French coast. The meeting with them of the royal (in fact, "Armagnac") army ended in disaster at Agincourt, and the nominal head of the Armagnacs, Charles, was captured. In early December, the Dauphin caught a bad cold when he went to visit his mother. Severe dysentery became a complication, and on December 18, the Dauphin Louis died suddenly. Death of Dauphin John and exile After burying her son, Isabella wrote to the Gennegau court, demanding the return to Paris of her youngest son, John of Touraine, who from now on became the heir to the French throne. After long negotiations, he set off, but before reaching Paris, he died on April 4, 1417 in Senlis from a “swelling behind the ear” - it is believed that it was about mastoiditis. Having lost her second son, Isabella was forced to write to Yolanda of Aragon, at whose court Charles lived, now the Dauphin of the French kingdom. Yolanda allegedly answered very categorically: However, modern historians express doubts about the authenticity of this letter, pointing out that Charles lived at the Angevin court for a relatively short time, although until the end of his life he retained great respect for his mother-in-law, and also that the queen and later maintained a correspondence with Yolanda, which would be hard to imagine after such an unambiguous rebuke. In the same year, 1417, Isabella was exiled to Blois. The reason for this was the incident with the nobleman Louis de Bois-Bourdon. According to the official version of this incident, one evening the king was walking in the Bois de Vincennes. Louis de Bois-Bourdon (or as his surname is sometimes written - Boredon (fr. Bosredon )), one of the courtiers of Queen Isabella, rode past him on horseback, and instead of getting off his horse and bowing to the king, as etiquette prescribed, he only lazily greeted him with a wave of his hand. By order of the king, the servants, under the leadership of Tannegi Duchâtel, dragged Bourdon off his horse and escorted him to the Bastille, where he was immediately tortured by a “mare”, and they demanded confessions from the arrested person in an intimate relationship with the queen. However, nothing could be obtained from him, and the next morning Bourdon was strangled, his body sewn into a leather bag with the inscription "Road to the King's Justice" and drowned in the Seine. The official verdict was that Bourdon was executed for "many crimes". Some modern authors cite data that the queen tried to free Bourdon and was held by force on the orders of her husband, despite the fact that the source of such information is unknown, and this story itself has acquired many fictional details over time. On the other hand, there is an assumption that the arrest of Bois-Bourdon was nothing more than an intrigue behind which stood Bertrand d'Armagnac, who thus wanted to get rid of the queen in order to completely seize power in his own hands, gradually influencing the decisions of the weak-willed and easily succumbing to other people's slander Dauphin. 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 John 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, John 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 John 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. The assassination of John the Fearless and the Treaty of Troyes The Assassination of John the Fearless At this time, the queen corresponded actively with her son, it is believed that she was 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, John the Fearless drew his sword in vehemence, and Charles had no choice but to call for help from the guards. Tannegie Duchâtel struck the duke in the face first with an axe, 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, was treacherously killed from behind. 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 Michel, wife Philip the Good, died suddenly. It is believed that 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 caused by this. 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: These rumors are considered unfounded by official history. So, Marie-Veronica Clan notes in her monograph on the history of Queen Isabella that "Ursula's only fault was her Bavarian origin." Isabella's most serious political act was the treaty in Troyes (1420). It was initiated from the French side by Queen Isabella of Bavaria and the Duke of Burgundy, Philip the Good. A significant role in the preparation of this treaty was played by Bishop Pierre Cauchon, who later went down in history as the chief executioner of the Virgin of Orleans. In May 1420, Duke Philip and Isabella brought Charles VI to the Burgundian city of Troyes. "There the king signed a document, the meaning of which he hardly fully understood." 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 Henry V of England, who was recognized as heir as the husband of Princess Catherine of Valois. By agreement, until the end of their lives, Charles VI and Isabella of Bavaria retained the titles of King and Queen of France. With their death, the very concept of the French kingdom as an independent political unit disappeared. 1.7. End of life Tombstone of Isabella of Bavaria in Saint-DenisHowever, after the death of Henry (August 31, 1422) and Charles VI (October 21, 1422), the queen lost all political influence. “Despised and rejected even by the British,” she spent the rest of her life in Paris, in mourning for her husband, almost never leaving the palace, “as a widow was supposed to,” the Parisian bourgeois Georges Chuffard noted in his diary. “Physically helpless, overweight queen in the last years of her life could not even move without assistance. During the Paris coronation of her 10-month-old 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. , for others - indifferent. The queen was in Paris during the attempt of the troops under the command of Jeanne to take the city by storm (September 1429). The last time she managed to see her grandson and heir presumptive of the French kingdom during his solemn entry into Paris in 1431. The Queen Mother watched from the window as the solemn procession passed by, and, seeing her, the gallant boy took off his chaperon and bowed low. As the chroniclers of the time noted, the old queen could not hold back her tears. In 1433, she had to endure another loss - her daughter Jeanne died in Brittany, in 1396 she was married to John V, Duke of Brittany. Thus, of the twelve children she gave birth to, only five remained alive. On September 24, 1435, shortly before midnight, she died at her Barbette mansion (according to other sources, at the Saint-Paul Hotel) and was buried without honors in Saint-Denis. Georges Chuffard wrote in his diary: Item, Queen Isabelle of France, wife of the late Charles VI, died at the Hotel Saint-Paul on the 18th day of September 1313, XXXV, and remained there for three days, so that anyone could see her, after which her body was prepared for burial and decorated, as was due to such a noble lady, and preserved until October XIII [which day fell on Thursday], carried to Saint-Denis at the III hour of the afternoon, XIII trumpeters and a hundred torchbearers walked in front of the stretcher, and of the ladies-in-waiting, there was only one lady from Bavaria and, it seems, 40 more girls or so, which stretchers were carried on their shoulders by XVI men dressed in black, she was removed with such art that she seemed to be sleeping, and held in her right hand a royal scepter. According to modern data, the stretcher with the body of the queen was accompanied by bailiffs of the Parisian parliament, 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. 2. Evaluation of personality and reputation as a harlot Christina of Pisa presenting her book to Queen Isabella 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 Joan of Arc was meant by a virgin, and sometimes a whore meant queen. In addition, according to one of the legends, she gave birth to a brother-in-law, Louis of Orleans, an illegitimate child, who was Joan of Arc, that is, the Orleans virgin was a royal bastard (see Legendary and alternative versions of the fate of Joan of Arc). Nevertheless , modern historians write: "The story of Isabella of Bavaria has long been a fabricated mixture of rumors and propaganda, which were absorbed by historical tradition and repeated so often that legends became indistinguishable from facts." 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 John 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, Karl found out about the affair between his wife and brother and swore revenge, John 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 material about the peace at Troyes really only dates back to 1435, and there is no mention of the origin of Charles 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 Castile, mother of St. Louis, and his wife Margarita of Provence. The "defenders" of the reputation of Isabella of Bavaria from among modern researchers draw 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, while their behind-the-scenes springs remain in the shadows, and this incompleteness in many ways allows us to draw completely opposite conclusions. 3. Appearance and lifestyle 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 and dark-haired. 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. Her name is associated with the introduction of the ennen headdress into fashion. It is said that Isabella 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 in general were in correspondence with this writer, patronizing her. 4. Children

Charles(September 26, 1386 - December 28, 1386), Dauphin of Vienne in 1386 Jeanne(June 14, 1388-1390), born in Saint-Ouen, buried in the abbey of Montbillon. Isabel(1389-1409); 1st husband: from 1396 Richard II(1367-1400), King of England 1377-1399; 2nd husband: from 1406 Charles I(1394-1465), Duke of Orléans 1407-1465 Jeanne(January 24, 1391 - September 27, 1433); husband: Jean VI (V) Wise(1389-1442), Duke of Brittany from 1399. Charles(February 6, 1392 - January 13, 1401), Dauphin of Vienne, Duke of Brittany from 1392 Maria(August 24, 1393 – August 19, 1438), Prioress of Poissy, died in Paris of the plague. Michelle(January 11, 1395 - July 8, 1422); husband: from 1409 Philip III the Good(1396-1467), Duke of Burgundy Louis(January 22, 1397 - December 18, 1415), Dauphin from 1401, Duke of Guienne, nominal head of the Armagnac party, governor with his father. jean(August 31, 1398 - April 4, 1417), Duke of Touraine, Dauphin from 1415 Ekaterina(October 27, 1401 - January 3, 1438); 1st husband: from 2 June 1420 Henry V(1387-1422), King of England from 1413, heir to the French crown under the Treaty of Troyes (1420); 2nd husband: from 1429 Owen Tudor(c. 1385-1461). Her son from her first marriage is Henry VI (1421-1471), King of England in 1422-1461 and 1470-1471, the last of the Lancaster dynasty. Her grandson from her second marriage is Henry VII (1457-1509), King of England from 1485, founder of the Tudor dynasty. Charles VII(February 22, 1403 - July 22, 1461), Count of Pontier, Dauphin from 1417, head of the Armagnacs after the death of his older brothers, from 1422 King of France Philip(born and died November 10, 1407)

5. In fiction

Marquis de Sade, "The Secret History of Isabella of Bavaria, Queen of France" Alexandre Dumas, "Isabella of Bavaria" Juliette Benzoni, "Isabella of Bavaria, Wife of a Madman" (in the book "Night Secrets of Queens") Gerard de Nerval, "King of Jesters" Auguste Villiers de Lil-Adan. "Queen Isabeau" (from Cruel Tales)

Bibliography:

Name Isabeau was derogatory, the queen herself signed Isabel. Official documents where used Isabeau, are very few.
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Isabella of Bavaria. // Peples.ru, 14.09.2006. Choffel J. Le Duc Charles d "Orléans / ed. F. Lanore. - Paris: Nouvelles Éditions Debresse, 1968. - 326 p. - ISBN 9782851575920 La chronique d" Enguerran de Monstrelet. - Publications de la Société de l "Histoire de France., 1866. - T. 6. - 468 p. Baydachenko A. Yolande of Aragon (1380-1443). Hundred Years War. Alhoy M., Lurine L. Les Prisons de Paris. - Paris: Gustave Havard, 1846. - P. 186. - 556 p. Arnault A. J., de Pujol J. E. A. Histoire de la Bastille. - Marais: Dondey, 1844. - P. 105. - 370 p. Clin M.-V. Isabeau de Bavière la reine calomniee. - Paris: Perrin, 1999. - P. 155. - 269 p. - ISBN 2-262-00859-0 Guimard M. Jeanne la Pucelle. - Nantes: Publibook.com, 2007. - 101 p. - ISBN 2748333780 Absentis D. Christianity and ergot. 2004 . Œuvres de Georges Chastellin: Chronique. 1430-1431, 1452-1453. - F. Heussenaire, 1863. - 410 p. Clin M.-V. Isabeau de Bavière la reine calomniee. - Paris: Perrin, 1999. - P. 162. - 269 p. - ISBN 2-262-00859-0 Raitses V.I. The process of Jeanne d "Arc. - M.-L .: Nauka, 1964. Markale J. Isabeau de Baviere. - Paris: Payot, 1982. - P. 257. - 266 p. Journal d "un bourgeois de Paris, 1405-1449 / ed. A. Tuetey. - H. Champion, 1881. - 418 p. The era of the Crusades / Edited by E. Lavisse and A. Rambaud. - Smolensk: Rusich, 2002. - S. 352. - 663 pp. - ISBN 5-8138-0196-0 Mooney J. Ripley's Believe It or Not! Encyclopedia of the Bizarre: Amazing, Strange, Inexplicable, Weird and All True!. - 2004. Beginning of the Renaissance in Italy // RatiboR. Prugelknabe // Teatrum Ceremoniale. Edited by K. Green, CJ Mews , and J. Pinder: The Book of Peace by Christine de Pizan, Penn State University (2008).

Isabella of Bavaria (Elizabeth of Bavaria, Isabeau; fr. Isabeau de Bavire Elisabeth von Bayern, c. 1370, Munich - September 24, 1435, Paris) - Queen of France, wife of Charles VI the Mad, from 1403 periodically ruled the state.

After Charles VI began to suffer from bouts of insanity and power, in fact, passed to the queen, she was unable to pursue a firm political line and rushed from one court group to another. Isabella was extremely unpopular with the people, especially because of her extravagance. In 1420, she signed an agreement with the British in Troyes, recognizing the heir to the French crown of the English king Henry V. In fiction, she has a strong reputation as a libertine, although modern researchers believe that such a reputation could largely be the result of propaganda.

Biography

Childhood

Most likely, she was born in Munich, where she was baptized in the Church of Our Lady (the Romanesque cathedral on the site of the modern Frauenkirche) under the name "Elizabeth", traditional for German rulers since the time of St. Elizabeth of Hungary. The exact year of birth is unknown. The youngest of two children of Stephen III the Magnificent, Duke of Bavaria-Ingolstadt, and Taddei Visconti (granddaughter of the Duke of Milan Bernabò Visconti, deposed and executed by his nephew and co-ruler Gian Galeazzo Visconti). Little is known about the childhood of the future queen. It is established that she was educated at home, among other things, she was taught to read and write, Latin and received all the necessary skills for housekeeping in her future marriage. She lost her mother at the age of 11. It is believed that her father intended her for marriage with one of the minor German princes, so the proposal of the uncle of the French king, Philip the Bold, who asked for her hand for Charles VI, was a complete surprise. Isabella was fifteen at the time.

Preparing for marriage

King Charles V the Wise before his death obliged the regents of his son to find him a "German" wife. Indeed, from a purely political point of view, France would seriously benefit if the German princes supported her struggle with England. The Bavarians also benefited from this marriage. Evran von Wildenberg noted in his Chronicle of the Dukes of Bavaria

Despite these considerations, Isabella's father Stephen the Magnificent was very wary of his daughter's proposed marriage. Among other things, he was worried that the French king was also offered as a wife Constance, daughter of the Earl of Lancaster, daughter of the King of Scotland, as well as 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.

But still, in 1385, the princess was engaged to the seventeen-year-old king of France, Charles VI, at the suggestion of her uncle Frederick of Bavaria, who met with the French in Flanders in September 1383. The marriage had to be preceded by a "review", since the French king himself wanted to make a decision. Fearing rejection and the shame associated with it, Stephen sent his daughter to the French Amiens under the pretext of a pilgrimage to the relics of John the Baptist. Her uncle was to accompany her on the trip. Stefan's words, spoken to his brother before leaving, have been preserved.

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 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 flared up 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. Damm. Then Isabella also left Amiens, having previously donated to the cathedral a large silver dish adorned with precious stones, according to legend, delivered from Constantinople, and up to Christmas remained at Crey Castle under guardianship Letterhead French, widows 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 Joan of Bourbon- 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 Bothe-sur-Marne, which Charles VI chose as his permanent residence. Charles, who was preparing an invasion of England, departed for the coast English Channel, while the pregnant queen was forced to return to the castle, where September 26 1386 gave birth to her first child, named Karl 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, Karl arranged an incredibly magnificent festivities in honor of the next 1387. On January 1, a ball was given at the Hotel Saint-Paul in Paris, 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 presence of the king and courtiers in Sainte Chapelle. 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 Isabel, the future Queen of England. Subsequently, the queen accompanied her husband on his inspection trip to the south of France and made a pilgrimage to Cistercian abbey Maubuisson and further into Melun, where January 24 1391 gave birth to her fourth child, a princess Jeanne.

The first fit of madness seized Charles VI 5th of August 1392 under Mansom, in the forest through which he moved with his army, pursuing Pierre Craon, who attempted to kill 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 arranged a holiday to mark the third marriage of her court lady - the German Catherine de Fastovrin. Happened at the festival fire accident, 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 a Benedictine monk Michel Pentoine impartial details have been preserved, in particular, about how the king demanded “to remove this woman from him, who is shamelessly staring at him” or loudly shouted: “Find out what she needs and let her fail, there’s nothing to follow 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 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. Yes, there is 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 his daughter Maria, which, according to the custom of that time, the queen, even before her birth, “dedicated to God”, that is, she gave vow that a girl aged 4-5 will go to 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, they were expelled from the city Jews.

Over time, they say, Isabella began to lead a dissolute lifestyle. She was assigned to her husband Odinette de Chamdiver, 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 ennene was not able to go through the door and squatted at the entrance. At the same time, for excessive influence on Charles, the queen expelled a more noble Valentina Visconti 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 petition for a 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. At the same time, it was announced to them that of the two rival popes, France was giving up its support Clement VII who kept his yard in Avignon, a counterweight Boniface IX, 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 that year, the Queen gave birth to another daughter- future wife Henry V of England and Owen Tudor whose grandson, Henry Tudor, as a result of a coup d'état seized the throne and became the founder 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 golden, covered with enamel image of a horse worth 25 thousand francs [ ]). At the same time, the queen began to be accused of indulgence and lack of will in regard to Louis of Bavaria, moreover, the question of adultery did not rise. According to Michel Pentoin, Benedictine a 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 was also true, 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 lord" have been preserved), refused food and did not let him near him barbers and servants. Ultimately, hefty footmen who put 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, was betrothed for Jean de Montfort, duke Breton, v 1405 married to him, 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. And finally, the Augustinian monk Jean Legrand on the day ascension In 1405, he 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 cause among 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 University of Paris, gradually began to seize power. Worried about this, the Duke of Berry December 1 the same year he entered into an alliance with the queen and Louis of Orleans, but this could no longer change the situation. January 23 next, 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 opponent to him and gave him an order appointing the king's brother as governor hyena- probably trying in this way to make him accept what happened [ ] .

In March of the same year, the wedding of Princess Michel, daughter of the king, and Philippe, son of Jean the Fearless (the future Duke of Philip III the Good). Jean Petit, representative of the Duke of Burgundy, who accused the murdered man of "lese majesty", was favorably heard, and May 9 1409 v Chartres a formal treaty was signed, 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 - heir to the throne took to wife Margaret of Burgundy, daughter of a 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 Hundred Years War. Later, Isabella shared with her new ally the brunt of the rebellion. cabochons that has been going on since the spring 1413 until the beginning of September, when the Armagnacs managed to capture Paris, while Jean the Fearless fled with the leader of the rebellion Simon Kabosh.

After Paris opened the gates to Bernard d'Armagnac and his army, December 18 1413 the queen married her youngest son, who was ten years old at the time, to Mary of Anjou, daughters Louis II King 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 poison - LSD contained in excess in ergot, so-called "rye horns". Ergot poisoning - ergotism- indeed it was quite common in the Middle Ages, but it mainly manifested itself among 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 Tour, 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 the Parisian. "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 in Montro 10 September 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 daughter of Charles and Isabella Michelle, 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 accusing the queen of 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 ladies of the court Michelle (German Ursula Spatzkeren, 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 241435, shortly before midnight, she died in her Barbette mansion (according to other sources, at the Saint-Paul Hotel) and was buried in Saint-Denis without honors. Georges Chuffard wrote in his diary:

According to modern data, the stretcher with the body of the Queen was accompanied by bailiffs. parisian parliament, 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. Present at the burial Chancellor of France Louis of Luxembourg, Parisian Bishop Jacques Chatelier, the English 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 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. Constable 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, which led to treaty at 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 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, adding at the end glossary with matching 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, pitting opposing sides against each other, and trying to get rid of rivals with poison were standard accusations made by a hostile party against any of the queens who showed themselves in the political arena - such accusations, in particular, were not avoided Blanca of Castile, mother Saint Louis, and his wife Margarita 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 the milk of donkeys and covered her face with a cream from the brains of a boar, secret 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 shave eyebrows and forehead hair to make the latter appear taller. 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. Her name is associated with the introduction of a headdress in 1395. ennen.

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 Joan of Bourbon, increased to 60 under Isabella. She repeatedly used the services prugelknabe(a kind of "whipping boys", deputies): forced instead of herself to do the nine-day prayer of the 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. "Opponents" of the queen from among modern researchers compare her with Catherine de Medici, "supporters" - with Marie Antoinette. The Queen and her daughter-in-law Valentina Visconti(wife of Louis d'Orleans) were the recipients Epistre Othea Christina of Pisa and in general were in correspondence with this writer, patronizing her [ ] .