Charles VII of France

Charles was betrothed to Marie of Anjou in 1413 and married her in 1422. Marie was the daughter of Louis II of Anjou and Yolande of Aragon, titular Queen of Aragon. This marriage produced 14 children. Charles VII received a great deal of support from his wife’s family during the Hundred Years’ War.

His favorite mistress was Agnès Sorel who exercised considerable influence over him. She bore him three daughters and is considered the first officially recognized royal mistress.

His later years were marked by strained relations with his son, the heir to the throne, Louis, who he sent into exile.

Charles was born as the fifth son of Charles VI of France and Isabeau of Bavaria on 22 February 1403 in Paris, France. His father was of an unsound mind and mentally unstable.

All of his four elder brothers died young and Charles was named the Dauphin (heir to the throne) at the age of 14 in 1417. He was also made lieutenant general of the kingdom.

He faced threats to his life from the time he was named the Dauphin. The soldiers of Duke John the Fearless of Burgundy attempted to capture the city in 1418, forcing Charles to flee to Bourges. By the next year, Charles had established his own court in Bourges and a Parliament in Poitiers.

As a teenager Charles was known for his bravery and fearlessness. He also displayed signs of developing into a capable military leader when he led an army against the English as a young man.

In 1420, his father disinherited Charles stating that he was his mother’s illegitimate son, and recognized Henry V of England and his heirs as the legitimate successors of the French crown instead. Humiliated, Charles fled to Southern France.

King Charles VI died in 1422 in Paris and the succession was cast into doubt. According to the Treaty of Troyes, signed by Charles VI in 1420, the heir to the throne was the infant King Henry VI of England, the son of the recently deceased Henry V. However, many regarded the treaty as invalid on basis on Charles VI’s insanity and considered Dauphin Charles to be the legal heir.

Charles claimed the title of King of France for himself but made no attempts to expel the English from northern France. He remained in southern France where he maintained a court in the Loire Valley. The initial years of his reign were marked by indecisiveness and inaction, and several years passed without him being officially proclaimed the King.

In February 1429, he was approached by a young peasant girl named Joan of Arc who claimed that she had visions of angels and saints who gave her the divine mission of driving out the English forces and helping the Dauphin get crowned.

Skeptical of the girl’s claims at first, Charles eventually came to believe her when she revealed to him some secrets that he had voiced only in silent prayer to God. Filled with renewed confidence, he provided Joan with the resources and skilled army personnel for fighting the English.

Joan led the French army in several battles against the English and achieved decisive victories, first at Orléans and then at the Battle of Patay in which the English field army lost about half its troops.

Charles VII is most famous for overseeing the ending of the Hundred Years’ War that had been raging on between England and France from 1337. He is credited with the creation of France’s first standing army since the Roman times and was successful in achieving what four generations of his predecessors failed to do by driving out the English and ending the Hundred Years’ War.