Early-Fifteenth-Century France

The early fifteenth century saw a chaotic climate of politics and civil war. Charles VI was suffering bouts of insanity. During these times his brother and uncles vied for influence over Queen Isabeau who served as regent. Cultural power was a means of influence as powerful as the political. The founding of the Cour Amoureuse was one effort to control members of a wide spectrum of the court, the chancellery, and the bourgeoisie through the making of poetry to praise ladies. Jean the Fearless, the son of Philip of Burgundy, arranged the murder of the king’s brother Louis d’Orléans and the country sank into civil war between the Burgundians and the Armagnacs (Orléanists). When Jean the Fearless invaded Paris, the dauphin Charles and his supporters fled to Bourges. In a meeting to negotiate peace on the bridge of Montereau, Jean the Fearless was slain by supporters of the dauphin. In response, Charles VI disinherited the dauphin and in the Treaty of Troyes signed inheritance over to Henry V.