Quotation from: A Popular History of France from the Earliest Times, Volume 3

Written by: Francois Pierre Guillaume Guizot


While this tragic incident was taking place in Eastern Europe, the court
of the mad king was falling a victim to rivalries, intrigues, and
scandals which, towards the close of this reign, were to be the curse and
the shame of France. There had grown up between Queen Isabel of Bavaria
and Louis, Duke of Orleans, brother of the king, an intimacy which,
throughout the city and amongst all honorable people, shocked even the
least strait-laced. It was undoubtedly through the queen's influence
that Charles VI., in 1402, suddenly decided upon putting into the hands
of the Duke of Orleans the entire government of the realm and the right
of representing him in everything during the attacks of his malady. The
Duke of Burgundy wrote at once about it to the parliament of Paris,
saying, "Take counsel and pains that the interests of the king and his
dominion be not governed as they now are, for, in good truth, it is a
pity and a grief to hear what is told me about it." The accusation was
not grounded solely upon the personal ill-temper of the Duke of Burgundy.
His nephew, the Duke of Orleans, was elegant, affable, volatile,
good-natured; he had for his partisans at court all those who shared his
worse than frivolous tastes and habits; and his political judgment was no
better than his habits. No sooner was he invested with power than he
abused it strangely; he levied upon the clergy as well as the people an
enormous talliage, and the use he made of the money increased still
further the wrath of the public. An Augustine monk, named James Legrand,
already celebrated for his writings, had the hardihood to preach even
before the court against abuses of power and licentiousness of morals.
The king rose up from his own place, and went and sat down right opposite
the preacher. "Yes, sir," continued the monk, "the king your father,
during his reign, did likewise lay taxes upon the people, but with the
produce of them he built fortresses for the defence of the kingdom, he
hurled back the enemy and took possession of their towns, and he effected
a saving of treasure which made him the most powerful amongst the kings
of the West. But now, there is nothing of this kind done; the height of
nobility in the present day is to frequent bagnios, to live in
debauchery, to wear rich dresses with pretty fringes and big cuffs.
This, O queen," he added, "is what is said to the shame of the court;
and, if you will not believe me, put on the dress of some poor woman and
walk about the city, and you will hear it talked of by plenty of people."
In spite of his malady and his affection for his brother, Charles VI.,
either from pure feebleness or because he was struck by those truths so
boldly proclaimed, yielded to the counsels of certain wise men who
represented to him "that it was neither a reasonable nor an honorable
thing to intrust the government of the realm to a prince whose youth
needed rather to be governed than to govern." He withdrew the direction
of affairs from the Duke of Orleans and restored it to the Duke of
Burgundy, who took it again and held it with a strong grasp, and did
not suffer his nephew Louis to meddle in anything. But from that time
forward open distrust and hatred were established between the two princes
and their families. In the very midst of this court-crisis Duke Philip
the Bold fell ill and died within a few days, on the 27th of April, 1404.
He was a prince valiant and able, ambitious, imperious, eager in the
pursuit of his own personal interests, careful in humoring those whom he
aspired to rule, and disposed to do them good service in whatever was not
opposed to his own ends. He deserved and possessed the confidence and
affection not only of his father, King John, but also of his brother,
Charles V., a good judge of wisdom and fidelity. He founded that great
house of Burgundy which was for more than a century to eclipse and often
to deplorably compromise France; but Philip the Bold loved France
sincerely, and always gave her the chief place in his policy. His
private life was regular and staid, amidst the scandalous licentiousness
of his court. He was of those who leave behind them unfeigned regret and
an honored memory, without having inspired their contemporaries with any
lively sympathy.

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