Background
Charles was born on February 22, 1403, in Paris, France, as the fifth son of Charles VI of France and Isabeau of Bavaria. His father was of an unsound mind and mentally unstable.
Portrait of the King Charles VII of France, 1445-1450. Artist: Jean Fouquet (1420-1481)
1420
Charles VII
Charles was born on February 22, 1403, in Paris, France, as the fifth son of Charles VI of France and Isabeau of Bavaria. His father was of an unsound mind and mentally unstable.
Charles VII was permanently marked by his childhood at the French court, where intrigue, luxury, a taste for the arts, extravagance, and profligacy all prevailed at the same time. Crises caused by his father’s insanity were frequent. In May 1413 rioting Parisians invaded the Hôtel Saint-Paul, where he lived. Toward the end of that year, he was betrothed to Mary of Anjou, the nine-year-old daughter of Louis II of Anjou, king of Naples, and his wife, Yolande of Aragon. Charles went to live in Anjou, where Yolande, energetic and accustomed to rule, established her influence over him. In 1416, he became captain-general of Paris and began to participate in the royal council, where Louis of Anjou played a prominent role.
On the death of his elder brother in April 1417, Charles became dauphin (heir to the throne) at the age of 14. He was named lieutenant general of the kingdom, but his mother left Paris and allied herself with John the Fearless, Duke of Burgundy. On May 29, 1418, the Burgundians occupied the capital, and Charles had to flee to Bourges. There he put himself at the head of the Armagnac party (rivals of the Burgundians) and at the end of 1418 assumed the title of regent for the deranged Charles VI. Faced with the threat of the English, who had invaded France, and the demands of the English king, Henry V, who claimed the French crown, Charles attempted to reconcile his differences with the Duke of Burgundy. They concluded a pact of friendship at Pouilly on July 2, 1419, but, in the course of another meeting at Montereau on September 10, the Duke was killed by the Armagnacs in Charles's presence. On December 24 the Duke's successor, Philip the Good, utilizing powers conferred on him by Charles VI, concluded a general truce with the English, excluding the Armagnacs and sealing the Anglo-Burgundian alliance. In 1420 the Treaty of Troyes recognized Henry V as heir to the French throne, excluding Charles. Charles's supporters, however, included not only the Armagnacs but also the "party of the King," which backed his claim to the succession. These people set up an administration in Poitiers and Bourges the jurisdiction of which extended over all of France south of the Loire River, except for the English part of Guyenne. In April of 1422, Charles celebrated his marriage at Bourges. He then resumed warfare, occupied La Charité, and threatened Burgundian territory, though still avoiding any major confrontation with the Anglo-Burgundian armies.
On the death of his father on October 21, 1422, Charles assumed the title of king of France. His worst difficulties were of a financial nature: the taxes voted by the States General (representative assembly) were insufficient for his needs; he mortgaged his lands and lived by borrowing from financiers and nobles, such as Georges de La Trémoille. His army was repulsed at Verneuil in August 1424, and he tried once again to effect a reconciliation with the Duke of Burgundy, but his efforts were frustrated by the memory of John the Fearless’ murder. In 1425, influenced by his mother-in-law, he dissociated himself from the Armagnacs. Arthur de Richemont, brother of John V, Duke of Brittany, and brother-in-law of the Duke of Burgundy, became constable of France; he endeavored to bring about peace, but the negotiators were still unable to come to an agreement in 1427. The English and the Burgundians revived the war and gained ground. Richemont was disgraced and replaced by La Trémoille, who sought only his own fortune. On October 12, 1428, the English laid siege to Orléans. Charles was 25 years old at this time. For 12 years he had known only war and the worst of intrigues. He could neither reconquer his kingdom nor conclude peace with the Burgundians. Discouraged, he thought of retiring to Spain or of ceding to English pressure. But the defense of Orléans became for the French a symbol of their struggle against the enemy. Joan of Arc, the visionary peasant girl from Lorraine, traveled across the country to fortify the King’s intentions to fight for France. He received her at Chinon in February 1429. She restored the French army’s confidence, and they liberated Orléans. On July 17, after a victorious journey with his army, Charles was crowned at Reims, in spite of his counselors' misgivings. Through the efforts of Yolande, La Trémoille was then forced out of the council, and Richemont was restored to favor. In 1435, after protracted negotiations, Philip of Burgundy concluded a separate peace with France at Arras: the King condemned the murder of Philip's father, and the Duke recognized Charles as his sovereign. A new phase then opened up in Charles's life. At the age of 32, he seemed to have achieved maturity. He worked regularly with his counselors. Between 1425 and 1439, he gradually acquired the permanent right to levy taxes that previously had to be approved by the States General, thus gaining financial independence. The merchant Jacques Coeur, court banker, master of the mint, and adviser to the king did much to expand French commerce in the Mediterranean before he fell from favor in 1451.
The administration of the realm was reorganized, and in 1438 Charles promulgated the Pragmatic Sanction of Bourges, limiting papal authority over the church in France. The Sanction also increased the King's control over the granting of ecclesiastical revenues. The discipline of the army was improved and methods of recruitment made more efficient by the ordinances of 1439, 1445, and 1448. In 1437 the King took command of his armies again for the first time since his coronation and returned to Paris, which had been liberated from the English the previous year. The power of the nobility was lessened by his reforms; encouraged by the Duke of Burgundy - and especially by Charles's son, the dauphin Louis (later King Louis XI) - they formed a coalition against the King (the Praguerie). Charles reacted skillfully and energetically, and the rebellion was put down (1440). To counter such intrigues, to end the destruction caused by the Écorcheurs (bands of mercenary soldiers then ravaging the country), and also because of a stalemate in diplomatic negotiations with England, Charles renewed the war in 1441 both north of Paris and in Guyenne, in the southwest. In 1444, negotiations finally brought a general truce, but no permanent peace was concluded, and hostilities were resumed in 1449; the King's cousin, Jean d'Orléans, Comte de Dunois, was placed in charge of operations. Charles campaigned successfully in Normandy and took possession of its capital, Rouen, on November 20, 1450. In 1453, after the victory of Castillon and the surrender of Bordeaux, Guyenne returned to France after having been associated with England for three centuries.
The King's last years were troubled. The reconquered areas were restive under the yoke of royal administration, and the princes still posed a dangerous threat to the royal power: the revolt of Jean V, Comte d'Armagnac, and the treason of Jean II, Duc d'Alençon, were severely repressed. Philip of Burgundy dreamed of dominating France, and the Dauphin, who was approaching 40, had difficulty in concealing his impatience to reign. The King died at Mehun-sur-Yèvre at the age of 58; he had reigned for 38 years and eight months.
Charles VII was the King of France from 1422 to 1461. He ascended to the throne during a period of great political turmoil in France. Even though his initial years as the King were marked by indecisiveness, his reign is considered to be an important one in French history as the Hundred Years' War that had been raging on for the past several decades was finally brought to an end during his reign.
Charles VII was a Catholic.
Charles's political skill was reflected in his policies. Encouraged by the higher French clergy, who had become increasingly independent of the papacy, he issued the Pragmatic Sanction of Bourges in 1438, which sharply limited papal control of the French Church. The Church in France, therefore, enjoyed greater freedom than any other national body of clergy, and more important to Charles, the papacy's role in French politics was severely curtailed.
But Charles's reign was not free of internal troubles. In 1437, 1440, and 1442, he suppressed internal revolts.
By 1449 Charles had created a standing army, and in 1449-1450 this force won back Normandy for the Crown. By the end of 1453, Charles had also recovered Gascony, the strongest English possession in France, and for all practical purposes, the Hundred Years War had ended. With the return of Normandy, Charles was able to survey the records of Joan of Arc's trial, and in 1456 he had her officially rehabilitated through the annulment of her sentence by the Church.
The last years of Charles's reign were spent in consolidating and strengthening royal authority. At the end of his reign, France was more stable than it had been in more than a century.
As a teenager, Charles was known for his bravery and fearlessness. He also displayed signs of developing into a capable military leader when he led an army against the English as a young man.
Physical Characteristics: Charles VII became ill in 1458 when a sore on his leg became infected and caused a serious fever. His health deteriorated considerably over the next two and a half years.
Charles was betrothed to Marie of Anjou in 1413 and married her in 1422. Marie was the daughter of Louis II of Anjou and Yolande of Aragon, titular Queen of Aragon. This marriage produced 14 children.
His favorite mistress was Agnès Sorel who exercised considerable influence over him. She bore him three daughters and is considered the first officially recognized royal mistress.
married 1422
