Charles VI of France

Charles VI
Contemporary depiction of Charles VI from the Dialogues of Pierre Salmon, 1415
King of France (more...)
Reign	16 September 1380 – 21 October 1422
Coronation	4 November 1380
Predecessor	Charles V
Successor	Charles VII[a]
Regents	See Philip II, Duke of Burgundy John, Duke of Berry Louis I, Duke of Anjou Louis II, Duke of Bourbon Louis I, Duke of Orléans John, Duke of Burgundy Henry V, King of England Isabeau, Queen of France
Born	3 December 1368 Paris, France
Died	21 October 1422 (aged 53) Paris, France
Burial	11 November 1422 Saint Denis Basilica
Spouse	Isabeau of Bavaria ​ (m. 1385)​
Issue among others...	Isabella, Queen of England Joan, Duchess of Brittany Marie, Prioress of Poissy Michelle, Duchess of Burgundy Louis, Dauphin of France John, Dauphin of France Catherine, Queen of England Charles VII, King of France Marguerite, bâtarde de France (ill.)
House	Valois
Father	Charles V of France
Mother	Joanna of Bourbon
Signature

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

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

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

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