Gazette du monde en 1470 - In France
Last week, we left France in the reign of Charles VII, who was then only the "Gentil Dauphin"; today, 45 years later, we shall rediscover it in the reign of his son, Louis XI. But, to understand this son's reign, we must discuss the changes at the end of Charles VII's reign. Under Joan of Arc's aegis, the "Dauphin" became the "Gentil Dauphin" and, after having been called the "Pusillanimous One" he earned the epithet of "Victorious" which has been retained in today's history books. He died on July 22, 1461, before Botticelli had painted Fortitude, having accomplished a certain number of extremely important things: thanks to Joan of Arc, the English were ejected from France, and Charles had only to recreate the royal French domain. And he devoted himself to this for the 25 years of his effective reign.
The first of these things consisted of clearing up the royal domain, clearing up the properties, the fiefs which no longer knew whether they were French or English. Secondly: reconquer, one after the other, all the places where the English had remained, often with the complicity of French barons. All these places were retaken with the exception of one: Calais, which would later become famous for its Burghers. The third important thing for which we are in debt to Charles VII is the rebuilding of his army, which no longer existed. Joan of Arc's great Crusade, along with all the parallel Crusades which ran the English out of France were very expensive, and the army was practically nonexistent. Our history lessons tell us that, for the first time in Western military history, Charles VII forced his nobles to become foot soldiers, that is, to relinquish their knightly status; this would result in a large part of the French barony being arrayed against him. But he rebuilt a solid army with the help of some Barons who had remained loyal to him and were enthusiastic about getting France back on her feet. The fourth area into which the king courageously threw himself was that of finance, to reestablish property and salt taxes and to find someone to help him. Charles VII had fabulous luck, as he found the archetypal money man, the famous Jacques Coeur, who would become his money man and one of the most exciting characters of that period of history known as the Middle Ages. A man of genius, he would clean up the French financial situation, taking advantage - and this is completely normal - to clear up his own. Remember his slogan, that of his coat of arms: "A vaillant coeur, rien d'impossible [Nothing is impossible for a valiant heart]". And it should be noted that his accounts were as valiantly defended as those of France, which would cost him dearly later on.
This was all fine, the army, the taxes, the people and the territory, but there were also some problems. The nobility was totally opposed to the king's strange democratism, and it rose up against him. This rebellion, led by the nobility, has retained a name in history: the Praguerie. Charles VII put it down without pity, even after learning that his own son, the Dauphin, was a leader of this rebellion, second only to the most vociferous of the insurgents. This Dauphin was the future Louis XI, whom we shall see again soon. Then, there was the Church: the Pope had taken advantage of the English presence and, catastrophically, had managed to interfere with the affairs of its beloved daughter, France, and was assuming a more and more invasive stance. On July 7, 1438, in the Cathedral of Bourges, Charles VII reacted with extraordinary violence and signed the Pragmatic Sanction, an edict in his name: "I, the king of France, forbid Peter's successor, that is, the Pope, to interfere with the nomination of Bishops and, more generally, in French church affairs." This was the first time that such a text had been promulgated, and it nearly brought about Charles VII's excommunication, but he was on such a trail of glory, and his aura was so predominant in Europe, that the Pope decided to back down. The Pragmatic Sanction has remained in effect since 1438. These are significant achievements for one man, who still found the time to father many children, eleven, to be exact, with his wife and four with his mistress. This mistress must be noted, as she was the first royal mistress in the history of France, the famous Agnès Sorel, known as the "Dame de Beauté", not because she was beautiful but because of the castle given to her by the king, The Castle of Beauté-sur-Marne. She was one of the women who championed Italian refinement in the French Court.
Charles VII died and was succeeded by Louis XI. Talking about Charles VII at such length takes on a certain importance, as Louis XI would take advantage of the climate of total improvement which his father had not only undertaken but achieved: Louis XI inherited a healthy France, which was very significant. Louis XI also had to put down rebellions, including those of his erstwhile Praguerie accomplices. When one becomes slightly revolutionary, a conspirator, one is unable not to continue, even when one's cousin's castle and assets have been confiscated and he sent into exile, which happened to many of the nobles under Charles VII. One convinced oneself that one might perhaps succeed. The nobles continued hatching their devious plots under Louis XI's reign, and the names are the same as those of his accomplices in the Praguerie, replaced by their nephews. But Louis XI knew how these hidden rebellions were organized, he knew how to put them down and he struck viciously. Feeling well at home, in France, he turned to France's enemy, Burgundy, alternately an historic ally or enemy. Philip the Good had died, and his son had taken his place. He was 37 years old, ten years younger than Louis XI. Louis XI was ugly, while Charles the Bold, the Duke of Burgundy was as handsome as a Greek god. Louis XI detested the Duke of Burgundy, Burgundy and her influence and wealth, and he fought as best he could to limit Burgundian authority. Then, he had an absolutely stunning idea: he urged Burgundy's proprietary cities, Liege and Ghent, to revolt, and it worked. Somewhat panicked, Charles the Bold summoned him to talk about France's and Burgundy's future. Louis XI rushed to Péronne, sure that he would find a dejected Charles the Bold; instead, this turned into the Péronne incarceration, during which King Louis XI remained the Duke of Burgundy's prisoner until he signed all that Charles needed to remain the leading player in the West.
At the time that Botticelli was painting Fortitude, Louis XI had nearly become a great king but had lost a great deal of his advantages because of the foolishness of the Péronne meeting. In 1470, he had just gotten out of Péronne, and, still upset, he was skirting the issues, unable to accept what had been done to him; he retaliated by imprisoning all those people who, in one way or another, had dealt with Charles the Bold during his involuntary incarceration, including the Cardinal of Balue, who was the first to inhabit the prisons invented by Louis XI, sophisticated prisons known as "fillettes".
That's about it for France; it can be said that it was perhaps healthier than it was 45 years earlier, but it should have been much more so. Louis XI still had to learn "the tricks of the trade"; he was too greedy and too quick off the mark, and Charles the Bold pulled a great coup on him with the Péronne meeting.
