Isabeau of Bavaria(1370 — 1435)
Isabeau of Bavaria
France
6 min read
Queen of France through her marriage to Charles VI, Isabeau of Bavaria played a major political role during the king's bouts of madness. Regent and a central figure in the civil war between the Armagnacs and the Burgundians, she remains associated with the Treaty of Troyes of 1420.
Key Facts
- Born around 1370 in Munich, she married King Charles VI of France in 1385.
- From 1392 onward, during Charles VI's bouts of insanity, she took part in governing the kingdom and presided over councils.
- She was caught up in the civil war between the Armagnacs and the Burgundians that tore France apart from 1407 onward.
- In 1420, she was associated with the Treaty of Troyes, which recognized Henry V of England as heir to the throne, setting aside the dauphin Charles.
- Mother of Charles VII and Catherine of Valois, she died in Paris in 1435.
Works & Achievements
During Charles VI's bouts of madness, Isabeau took part in and then presided over the councils tasked with governing the kingdom in the king's name.
Charles VI officially entrusted her with the role of arbiter in the conflicts between the princes of the blood, granting her exceptional political power for a queen.
Her daughter Isabella married King Richard II of England, an alliance that sealed a truce in the Hundred Years' War.
Isabeau patronized Christine de Pizan and received a sumptuous illuminated collection of her works, a testament to royal patronage.
On behalf of the incapacitated king, she appeared among the signatories of the agreement that made Henry V the heir to the French crown and married her daughter Catherine to the English king.
The union of her daughter Catherine with Henry V of England, provided for by the Treaty of Troyes, would give birth to the future Henry VI, claimant to both crowns.
Anecdotes
In July 1385, Isabeau, a Bavarian princess of about fifteen, was presented to the young Charles VI at Amiens. According to the chronicler Froissart, the king fell in love with her at once and hastened the marriage, which was celebrated only three days after their meeting.
On 22 August 1389, Isabeau made her solemn entry into Paris for her coronation. The chroniclers describe a lavish procession: fountains flowing with wine, living tableaux, and tapestries hung along the streets. A man dressed as an angel descended from a scaffold by a mechanism to place a crown upon her head.
In January 1393, during the infamous "Ball of the Burning Men
(Bal des Ardents)
dancers disguised as wild men covered in flammable hair caught fire near Charles VI. The king was saved at the last moment by the Duchess of Berry
who threw her gown over him. Isabeau
terrified
believed her husband was dead.
In 1405, the writer Christine de Pizan addressed a famous letter to Isabeau, the "Epistle to the Queen
(Epistre à la reine)
imploring her to use her authority to reconcile the dukes of Orléans and Burgundy and to prevent civil war.
After her death, a "black legend" grew up around Isabeau, accusing her of debauchery and treason. Modern historians have shown that these accusations stem mostly from propaganda born of the civil war rather than from established facts.
Primary Sources
The abbey's official chronicler describes the queen's triumphal entry into Paris in 1389 and, later, the bouts of madness afflicting the king that threw the governance of the realm into turmoil.
“To the most high, most excellent and most revered lady, my lady Ysabel, by the grace of God queen of France” — the author implores the queen to act as a mediator for peace among the princes.
Froissart recounts the meeting at Amiens in 1385 and the dazzlement of the young Charles VI before Isabeau, as well as the splendour of her joyous entry into Paris.
The agreement stipulates that King Henry V of England will marry Catherine of France and become heir and regent of the realm, excluding the Dauphin Charles from the succession.
The Burgundian chronicler reports the episodes of the civil war between the Armagnacs and the Burgundians, the queen's exile to Tours in 1417 and her rallying to the Burgundian party.
Key Places
Isabeau's birthplace, at the heart of the Duchy of Bavaria-Ingolstadt ruled by her family.
The city where Isabeau met Charles VI and married him in 1385.
The royal Parisian residence where the court of Charles VI and Isabeau lived; she died in Paris in 1435.
The city where Isabeau was exiled and kept away from power by the Armagnacs in 1417.
Where the 1420 treaty was signed, in which Isabeau and the Burgundians recognized Henry V as heir to the throne.
The necropolis of the kings of France where Isabeau was buried after her death in 1435.