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A Brief Introduction to the Life of Charles VII

Charles VII (loyal to duty) (French: Charles VII le Victorieux, February 22, 1403 – July 22, 1461), the fifth king of the French Valois dynasty (reigned from 1422 to 1461). Son of the mad Charles VI and Isabella of Bavaria. Because both the elder brother and younger brother died young,

The Treaty of Troyes signed in 1420 stripped him of his right to the throne and passed it to King Henry V of England. When his father, King Charles VI, died, King Henry VI of England (son of Henry V) was proclaimed King of France by the British. With the support of the Armagnac faction, Charles VII actually controlled the area south of the Loire, and northern France was completely under British rule.

After Joan of Arc’s decisive victory at the Battle of Orleans in 1429, Charles VII saw hope again. With the support of Joan of Arc, Charles VII was crowned on July 17, 1429 at the Cathedral of Reims, where successive monarchs of Capet and Valois were coronated.

However, after Joan of Arc was captured by the Burgundians, allies of England, troops were sent to Rouen, where Joan of Arc was captured. However, because Rouen was an important place in France, the British deployed a lot of troops, resulting in no effective progress in the attack on Rouen, and Joan of Arc was burned at the stake in 1431. Twenty-five years after her death, he, whose conscience was blamed, filed a retrial for Joan of Arc as the King of France, and was finally rehabilitated.

Charles VII carried out a series of major reforms, fixed the tax system, and established a standing army of cavalry and infantry (a policy later abandoned by his son Louis XI). After 1435, Charles VII no longer held regular councils of the Third Order. In 1438, Charles VII issued a state edict in Bourges, which made the French church obey the royal family to a certain extent. The decree of Orleans was issued in 1439 establishing a standing army. In 1440, Charles VII quelled the rebellion of the great nobles.

Charles VII ended the Hundred Years’ War in 1453.

Prince’s time

Charles VII was the eleventh child of the mad Charles VI and Isabella of Bavaria. He was named crown prince in 1417, and Charles, who was crown prince, could have ascended the throne a hundred years after his father. But God did not favor him. At this time, France was in the midst of internal and external troubles: the country was scrambled by the power struggle between the two nobles of the Armanian faction and the Burgundian faction; V’s ambitions for French territory.

The beginning of the civil war between the two factions can be traced back to the assassination of the Duke of Orleans by the Burgundian faction in 1407. The Count of Armania became the new leader, and the Orleans faction was renamed the Armania faction. In 1415, King Henry V of England led his troops to land in Normandy and defeated the French army at the Battle of Agincourt, occupying northern France and the capital Paris.

The Burgundian faction colluded with the British army and massacred Armania in Paris. group. In 1418, Charles, Prince of France, fled to Bourges with the Armanian faction.

In 1419, the fearless John, Duke of Burgundy, was stabbed at the Montero Bridge, where he had agreed to meet the Dauphin, causing his successor, the good Philip III, to fall completely into the arms of England, dashing any hope of reconciliation.

Under the influence of the Burgundians and the queen, the delirious Charles VI signed the Treaty of Troyes on May 24, 1420: “The English retain all conquests up to the Loire; denying Charles the Dauphin Heir and regent to King Henry V of England, and to marry Catherine of Valois, daughter of Charles VI, to Henry as his wife.”

Henry V and Charles VI died one after another in 1422. Henry V’s one-year-old son became King Henry VI, regent by his uncle, Duke of Bedford, and coronation was held at the Church of Saint-Denis in Paris. , Prince Charles, who fled to Bourges, also announced his succession to the throne, calling himself Charles VII.

“Three Frances have been made since then: one is the French of the English, with a border from Gienne to Calais, including Normandy, Wixen, Main, Pierre Cardy, Champagne, Ile-de-France; one is the France of Burgundy, In addition to the Duchy of Burgundy, including the Earl of Nevers, Flanders and Artois in the north, and soon Frieze and Brabant, which Jacqueline of Bavaria granted; the third is Charles the Prince France, the territory is limited to the area around Bourges.”

Reign

The first stage, the early reign (1422-1429)

In 1422, Charles VII became King of Bourges. But most scholars believe that “this is a timid, lazy and reckless 20-year-old young man who is not worthy of the title of king he claims.” In 1429, after Joan of Arc won a decisive victory at the Battle of Orleans, Charles VII saw hope again. With the support of Joan of Arc, Charles VII was crowned on July 17, 1429 at the Cathedral of Reims, where successive French kings were coronated.

The second stage, the reign after the coronation (1429-1461)

In 1435, Charles VII reconciled with Philip III, Duke of Burgundy (the good man), the leader of the Burgundian faction, and was given the opportunity to regain Paris. In 1436, Charles VII entered Paris. Charles VII carried out a series of major reforms, fixed the tax system, and established a standing army of cavalry and infantry (a policy later abandoned by his son Louis XI). After 1435, Charles VII no longer held regular councils of the Third Order.

In 1438, Charles VII issued a state edict in Bourges, which made the French church obey the royal family to a certain extent. The decree of Orleans was issued in 1439 establishing a standing army. In 1440, Charles VII quelled the rebellion of the great nobles.

(1) Charles VII established a taxation system and obtained the permanent right to levy taxes through the three-level conference (after 1439, Charles VII no longer held a three-level conference and monopolized the power). “The three taxes he prescribed were in force until the outbreak of the French Revolution in 1789: first, the excise tax; second, the salt tax; third, the tax on the harvest of crops and the amount of gold and silver owned.”

(2) Charles VII reformed the army, abolished the feudal conscription system and mercenaries, and established a regular army. “The first standing king’s army is composed of twenty selected cavalry companies, led by a company commander selected by the king; a cadre of paid troops is stationed in the garrison city; the self-organized organization established in the period of Charles V is the auxiliary Sexual freedom archers, placed under royal supervision and regional commanders, and formed artillery units.”

This not only enhanced combat effectiveness, but also improved the past looting at the end of the war, and the rampant villages, kidnappings and ransoms. The situation of the capture of the castle provided a guarantee for post-war reconstruction. No wonder Machiavelli thought: “France must be invincible if the legal system of King Charles develops or persists.”

(3) Culturally promoted the spread and development of printing. In 1458 Charles VII sent the royal mint Nicholas Jansen to Mainz to learn the new printing technique. Although he did not return to France, he founded the most famous printing house in the world in Venice. The exquisite Roman typeface he created was imitated all over Europe.

(4) In 1438, Charles VII promulgated the Bourges State Decree: “To determine that the Church Council is higher than the Pope; to abolish the system of paying the Pope’s annual salary for the first year; to stipulate that the Church Council shall be held once every ten years; isolated.”

(5) In 1440, Charles VII quelled the rebellion of the great nobles in Prague and relieved the factors of national instability; he reorganized the government, employed citizens as advisers, and established the High Court (established in Toulouse in 1443, Grenoble in 1456) established).

From this we can easily find the differences before and after the reign of Charles VII. Perhaps without Joan of Arc, there would be no victory in the defense of Orleans, but the later unification of France was strong, and Charles VII contributed greatly. In the early days of the reign of Charles VII, France was a secluded corner, and the material resources were not abundant. Orleans was the only big city on his territory.

“That’s why Charles VII is often sarcastically called King of Bourges by his enemies, implying that his territory has been small and never expanded since its establishment.”

In the face of a fragmented France, if Charles VII could not establish an effective rule, he would not be able to collect taxes and recruit soldiers. “The limitations of the prestige of the king are not only in the resistance and disobedience of his subjects, but also in the inability of the king to exercise his laws, appoint officials and financial officers in the fiefs of the princes.”

In the Bourbons and Burgundians In the eyes, the self-proclaimed Charles VII has no legitimacy at all and cannot be called the King of France.

It wasn’t until July 17, 1429, when Charles VII was crowned in Reims Cathedral, with the help of Joan of Arc, that he established legitimacy. “Its influence also extends from Languedoc and Dauphe in the south and east to Berry, Touhaine, Poitou and parts of Anjou in the north and west.” Charles VII ended the centenary in 1453 The war recaptured all British territories in France except Calais.