Chapter I: Charles VI de Valois - The Mad.
- I know not much about my grandfather's early exploits.... before the dawn of this century there are areas in which my memory very easily falters, and since I would rather not state that which I know not its veracity I will stay to those areas which I command with ease.
Back then our dynasty, the de Valois were ruling many feuds in France, and were also the ruling family in the Kingdom of Naples. My grandfather saw to it that our relatives' power would not be curtailed, and lent them assistance during the Neapolitan - Sicilian War. Sicily's ally, the King of Aragon tried to impede the enterprise, but my grandfather rushed to intercept the army that had crossed the Pyrenées and was marching through Auvergne, under the command of the King of Aragon, Martí I: At the head of 20000 soldiers collided with the 14000 strong Aragonese army. The battle of Auvergne saw more than three thousand French soldiers die at the hand of the Aragonese, but they paid their sin dearly: for their army was reduced to a meagre fighting force of more than 5 thousand... easily vanquished days later by the French forces.
This enabled our relative, the King of Naples to secure a favorable peace and gain Malta and Messina for them, it was quite a glorious day for the de Valois. -
The king stopped his tale for a moment, walked up to a wooden cabinet and after opening its lavishly decorated doors and taking out a bottle of Burgundian wine and two silver cups sat on a chair, in front of his protegé.
- I trust you are already acquainted with the finest wine from all of Europe... -
said the Monarch, while pouring a generous dose of the purple nectar in one of the silver cups - the Burgundian wine is renowned throughout all of Europe for its most unique flavor. -
- Indeed, my lord. -
replied the Grand Captain, while taking the cup the king tended to him - I must say this fine brew is even highly acclaimed kilometres from here, in Magdeburg my home town this is regarded as the most exquisite gift for the table of any Bishop or landlord with whom one seeks to congratiate. -
- Then I am sure it will be a fine partner for the remainder of my grandfather's tale. -
stated the king, while taking a sip from the cup - So... as I was saying:
Five years after the end of Neapolitan - Sicilian hostilities Charles the Sixth decided that it would be unwise not to pursue a more centralising policy with the French feuds. 'The existence of these principalities - he reasoned -may very well mean France's undoing in the long run': and so he sought to incorporate the duchy of Bourbonnais directly into the realm, which he accomplished the 29th of May in1409.
Sadly we now reach the not so likable part of this tale: as you know my grandfather Charles suffered from periods of.... hallucinations that curtailed his proper reasoning. This unfortunate disease earned him the sobriquet "The Mad". -
the Monarch gulped down sonorously, showing his disapproving of such epithet, and procceeded - one certain day of July he exhibited the typical symptoms that preceded his feats of madness: hallucinations, lone talking... -
He made a gesture with his right hand, as if this would be enough to make that turbulent past of his ancestor vanish into Oblivion - Now, a day came when he decided that the English had to relinquish their posession of Calais, and so without hesitation declared war on the Kingdom of the Normans: a decision that would cost dearly to France.
From 1409 to 1424 our armies collided with the Lancaster troops, pursuing any remnants still alive on French soil and occupying every English posession on the mainland. On 1420, at the height of the war the Neapolitan branch of our Royal house became extinct, and so Provence became independent from the Neapolitan crown. The wretched swines provided asylum for English troops that came to the mainland for pillaging and various other nefarious deeds; and so Anjou and Maine became a safe haven for the English troops... something my grandfather was not planning to allow, but how could he declare war on a Palatine Prince without invoking the rage of the Emperor himself? Well -
and he smirked with evident irony, his eyes lost somewhere amidst the various dots that covered the wooden table - grandpa wasn't one for giving things their due thought.
And so he declared war on Provence, invoking the wrath of Bohemia, Austria and Poland... and the next three years he would spend vanquishing the Habsburg troops and ensuring the safety of the realm. What he lacked in sanity he had in military prowess for his campaigns ushered in victory: Anjou and Maine were integrated into the Royal demesne, the Austrians were forced to return to the statu quo, and so did the rest of the Imperial alliance.
As for the English, well... after so many years of fighting they acquiesced and surrendered Calais to us, Munster, their ally that occupied by Naples was, he managed to force into vassalage with the realm and so ended that phase of the great war with the English.
But as I said previously, this war cost dearly to France: the currency was devalued, for heavy use of minting was needed to provide for improvements to the various provinces so as to use the profit taken to subsidize the troops needed to fend off the numerous enemies Charles had... He died two years later, leaving the state larger and more powerful than it was when he inherited the throne... but power comes not without a price, and many European princes that previously had cordial relationships with Paris publicly denounced the de Valois and our name was a synonym of heresy in some places, especially in the Habsburg lands, where the Austrians hated us deeply.
And so concludes the tale of my grandfather's reign, let us proceed onwards, with my inept father's rule! -
added the king, with a jovial laughter -
He did not try hard to quell his feelings for his late father, but who could blame him? His father had reigned for twelve years and was unsuccesful at almost everything he tried to accomplish, his diplomatical ineptitude led to France's involvement in the second war against the Empire, and he blatantly failed at supressing the unrest that plagued France... this, coupled with his first two sons death as well as his own untimely death led to the first Regency in years before finally Louis XI ascended to the throne.