The Dijon Museum of Fine Arts is housed in the Palace of the Dukes of Burgundy. It’s nice to know a thing or two about the Dukes and the times they lived in, so we’re reviewing some of the goings-on. Their heyday was in the 13th and 14th centuries. If you’ve read the previous post, you may recall that the situation as we left it was none too rosy.
Trouble in France
The King of France, Charles the Mad, was now all the way mad. (You didn’t want to be around when he had one of his attacks). The regents assigned to act for him fought with each other in what was essentially a three-way civil war. The King of England had taken note, invaded from the north, and now held all of northern France. The second Duke of Burgundy, John the Fearless, had been conniving too much for the King to tolerate, so he had John assassinated. The year was 1419. What a mess!
Upon John’s death, his eldest son, Philip the Good, was named the third Duke of Burgundy. As a payback for killing his pop, Philip joined forces with the English to fight against France. (The fact that the English were slaughtering the French may have had something to do with the decision, too, eh?)
The Treaty of Troyes
The allied forces of England and Burgundy invaded and occupied Paris. It looked like the end of the road for France, so in 1420, the French government agreed to sign the infamous Treaty of Troyes.
The Treaty of Troyes stipulated that the King of England, Henry V, would marry the French King and Queen’s daughter. Their heirs would inherit the French throne, which is what Henry had wanted all along.
But what about the Dauphin? (“Dauphin” was the word the French used refer to the heir to the throne). The Dauphin was Charles the Mad’s eldest son, but with Treaty of Troyes, he was out of luck. As you can imagine, the Treaty of Troyes didn’t sit too well with the French people, especially those south of Paris who hadn’t caved in to the English.
The English continued their rampage. They intended to finish off the last of the French areas that hadn’t yet gotten the message. It was the bleakest of bleakest times for a country that had only just started to be a real “country” in the first place. The last real French stronghold was Orléans.
The English army took town after town – Chartres, Janville, Meung – as they made their way to the fortress at Orléans. Once there, they dug in, surrounded as much of Orléans as they could, and began the siege of the city.
Enter a Certain Teenage Girl
Meanwhile, the Dauphin camped out in the city of Chinon. It was here that one day a teenage girl somehow convinced the Dauphin’s commanders and advisors that she had something to tell him that he might want to hear. They granted her an audience with the Dauphin. She told him, teenage girl or not, that if he’d send her to Orléans with a bunch of troops, she’d save the city.
She had told the Dauphin that she had had a vision from God, who had told her to go and save Orléans from disaster at the hands of the English. The Dauphin took her seriously. He asked his advisors to do some homework and check her out.
The girl’s name was Joan. Her father came from the village of Arc. And she was already known for having had some pretty impressive visions. She must have been a pretty good talker, too, because she convinced them all to send her to Orléans with some troops.
The Siege of Orléans
They arrived at Orléans and made it through the English blockade and into the walled city. After strategizing for two days, the French rode out, attacked an English-held village nearby, and drove ‘em out. They attacked again over the next two days and scored more victories. Moral was improving, but the English regrouped.
Orléans was well-protected by a huge wall that surrounded the city. Twenty-or-so towers lined the wall’s perimeter. One wall hugged the Loire river, making the city easier to protect. A wide bridge crossed the river to reach the main gates to the city. A structure called “Les Tournelles” stood at the far end of the bridge. It was like a mini-castle, with two big towers. Les Tournelles was in English hands now.
The English were happy just to lay siege to the town until they starved the French out. The only option for the French was to continue to ride outside the gates, attack the English at some point, and ride back in. Since Joan arrived, they had been doing this with some success, but the day finally came when they had to attack the main English stronghold at Les Tournelles.
The fighting there was said to be fierce. Neither side was able to gain the advantage. Remember that fighting back then was up close and personal, so it must have been pretty nasty.
As usual, Joan was in the thick of it. An arrow struck Joan between the neck and shoulder. She had to leave the fighting, but she didn’t leave for long. The doctors patched her up. Then she prayed, and charged back into the fray on horseback, carrying her banner high overhead. That act was enough to either demoralize the English or fire up the French, because after that the English gave up.
They had saved the city. The French beat the English for the first time since the signing of the Treaty of Troyes. But really, the work had just begun.
To be continued…
Featured Image: Caste of Mariemont by Jan Brueghel the Elder, housed in the Dijon Museum of Fine Arts. Courtesy of CeCILL
