Charles V, said the Sage, was king of France (1364-1380). Son of John II the Good, he became regent of the kingdom during his father's detention in England. He then had to face peasant revolts (the jacqueries), a Parisian uprising led by the provost of the merchants Etienne Marcel and had to fight against the claims of Charles the Bad, king of Navarre. Faced with these multiple perils, he had to negotiate with England the Treaty of Brétigny (1360) at the cost of great territorial losses. Having become king, well assisted by the constable Du Guesclin, he imposed a return to peace, restored royal authority and managed to regain almost all of their continental possessions from the English. Charles V is considered one of the "great" kings of France.
Difficult start to reign for Charles V
Born in Vincennes on January 21, 1338, the future Charles V was the eldest son of Jean II le Bon and Bonne de Luxembourg. He was the first heir to the throne of France to bear the title of Dauphin (1349). Became regent of the kingdom after John II was taken prisoner by the English at the battle of Poitiers (1356), in which he participated, he had to face, in 1358, the Parisian revolt, led by Étienne Marcel, and the jacquerie .
In this catastrophic context, he was forced to negotiate the Treaty of Brétigny (1360) with the English. The latter amputates the royal domain in the southwest and several northern territories, but it does not bring peace, bands of idle or unpaid truckers devastating the kingdom.
After the death of his father John II on April 8, 1864, his legitimacy was contested by both the English and the supporters of his opponent Charles the Bad. The latter was defeated by Du Guesclin at the Battle of Cocherel, which sealed the birth certificate of the reign of Charles V as well as the continuity of the Valois dynasty. The new king can therefore be crowned in Reims on May 19, 1364.
Charles V, first “Most Christian” king
In precarious health and an ungrateful physique, the new king is a sage. His panegyrists, starting with Christine de Pisan, abundantly describe the moderation of his behavior, the quality of his virtues, his taste for letters and the arts. He enjoys discussing with political theorists such as Nicolas Oresme, Philippe de Mézières and Raoul de Presles. Having come to the height of his power, in 1376, he asked a jurist, Évrard de Tremaugon, to write the Songe du verger, a veritable theory of the State presented in the form of a dialogue between a cleric and a knight. First in Latin, the work is translated into French. This concern for popularization encouraged the king to commission many translations of ancient authors, whether it was Aristotle's Politics or Saint Augustine's City of God.
To carry out his policy, he is inspired by these principles which oblige the monarch to govern according to reason for the common benefit. In addition to these “natural laws” which govern the “police corps”, the king obeys the duties imposed on him by the coronation oath. More than his predecessors, Charles V is sensitive to his religious responsibilities:he is the first king of France to be called Very Christian. Moreover, he asks a Carmelite, Jean Golein, to write a treatise to magnify the coronation ceremony as well as the thaumaturgical power of the king.
Charles V's piety governed all his political actions, which did not prevent him from being firm in his dealings with the pope or the bishops. Authoritarian, he is also procedural, and his opponents call him the “lawyer”. In fact, he knew perfectly well how to use the resources of propaganda which enabled him to address the emerging public opinion. He also knows how to surround himself with competent advisers, mostly from Parliament and trained in canon or civil law.
A well-supported monarch
These men, such as Chancellors Guillaume de Dormans and Pierre d'Orgemont, Hugues Aubriot, Provost of Paris, Constable Bertrand, du Guesclin or Admiral Jean de Vienne, then , at the end of the reign, Bureau de La Rivière already had the feeling of belonging to a body in the service of the State. Added to this are the general advisers on the fact of the aids, who deal with the levying of the tax provided for since 1360.
In the bailiwicks and seneschalses, many officers passed on orders, dispensed justice, while receivers and elected officials were responsible for collecting the tax, which is still part of the extraordinary finances.
By developing everywhere the presence of the king and that of the State, these officers create the unity of the nation. Only the principalities resist, whether they are old like Brittany or the county of Foix, or new like those that the king's brothers receive as an appanage. These great princes are also appointed lieutenant generals in parts of the kingdom where they exercise all powers. This is less a sign of weakness than a form of power that continues to give the close royal family an essential role in government. The strength of blood ties is as important in fact and in political thought as the wisdom of the king and the obedience of his officers.
Time to win back
Until 1367, even if the amount of the ransom was paid slowly, the Treaty of Calais was normally applied. The two sovereigns try to liquidate the truckers and confront each other by "intermediaries". The advantage seems to be on the English side. In Brittany, Jean IV de Montfort eliminates in Auray, in 1364, the candidate of the king of France, Charles de Blois. In Spain, the Black Prince was victorious at Najera in 1367. In both cases, du Guesclin was taken prisoner. But there remains the contentious problem of sovereignty implied by the renunciations of the Treaty of Calais, which have not yet been exchanged.
Who is sovereign in Guyenne that the Black Prince governs? The prince develops the administration and, to pay his troops, asks the states for new taxes. The Gascon nobility, numerous and not very docile, invokes its "franchises". The blood ties that unite the house of Albret to Charles V do the rest. The calls begin, addressed with perfect duplicity to the King of England and, secretly, to the King of France. The affair, in the hands of the jurists, resulted on September 8, 1368 in a public appeal to Charles V. A year later, Edward III having resumed his title of King of France and the "fief" of Guyenne having been "confiscated" from him. , the war resumes.
But this time, the advantage is with France, which has transformed the recruitment of its army and adopted a new strategy. Instead of battles, du Guesclin, appointed constable in 1370, preferred a small offensive which progressed by leaps and bounds from town to town and from castle to castle. In the rear, the scorched earth technique cuts off the enemy's path and makes long rides unnecessary. Road tactic! Success follows. It is as much due to the motivation of well-paid troops as to the fortifications that towns and villages have built to protect themselves. In four years, the King of England lost everything except Calais, Bayonne and Bordeaux, while Charles the Bad had to abandon his Norman possessions in 1378. Only Brittany, raised against the King of France, remained with John IV.
The time of revolts
The tax, carried over from year to year, has in fact become permanent. The men, less numerous and "tempered" by the ordeal, cope. We can even speak of a revival of the peasant economy, which recovers land temporarily taken over by wasteland. The survivors of the crisis of the mid-fourteenth century lived better. But this reconstruction in eclipses immediately bears its demographic fruits:death recedes and the number of men increases. The crisis quickly threatens to resume. This was the case in the south of France from 1375, when bad harvests, famines and epidemics combined.
In the countryside as in the city, impoverishment is rampant which accentuates population movements and swells the labor market. The revolt rumbles, like that of the Tuchins which from 1363 agitates Auvergne. Between 1378 and 1382, the movement spread, spreading to the whole of Europe without there seeming to have been any contact between the different centers of revolt. The insurgents, a small people reinforced by the group of marginalized people, the "vagabonds", have no program. They want the abolition of taxes. The decision to suppress the fouages that Charles V takes on September 16, 1380 on his deathbed increases the agitation.
The legacy of Charles V
Despite everything, Charles V had watched over the convalescence of the kingdom; he had strengthened the royal authority and restored the currency. We owe Charles V successful financial reforms, the extension of the privileges of the University, the construction or embellishment of several palaces (Hôtel Saint-Pol, Louvre, etc.), as well as the meeting of an important collection of manuscripts. Devoid of any religious fanaticism, he protected the Jews and endeavored to curb the activities of the Inquisition in Languedoc. At the end of his life, he contributed to the opening of the Great Schism by recognizing, against Urban VI, Antipope Clement VII. Married in 1350 to his cousin Jeanne de Bourbon, Charles V was succeeded by his son, Charles VI.
Bibliography
- Charles V the Wise, by Georges Bordonove. Pygmalion, 2021.
- Charles V the Wise:Dauphin, Duke and Regent (1338-1358), by François Sarindar. The Harmattan, 2019.