1 00:00:00,320 --> 00:00:04,760 Speaker 1: Welcome to Noble Blood, a production of iHeartRadio and Grim 2 00:00:04,760 --> 00:00:14,239 Speaker 1: and Mild from Aaron Manky. Listener discretion advised, Hey, this 3 00:00:14,400 --> 00:00:17,480 Speaker 1: is Dana Schwartz, the host of Noble Blood. I am 4 00:00:17,520 --> 00:00:21,160 Speaker 1: so excited that my novel Immortality is now I'm pretty 5 00:00:21,160 --> 00:00:24,000 Speaker 1: sure officially out in the world, and it would mean 6 00:00:24,079 --> 00:00:27,000 Speaker 1: the world to me if you went out and ordered 7 00:00:27,040 --> 00:00:28,840 Speaker 1: a copy, or found one, or gave it as a gift. 8 00:00:29,000 --> 00:00:32,240 Speaker 1: It's a story of a young woman in regency London 9 00:00:32,440 --> 00:00:35,080 Speaker 1: and a lot of historical characters that I've covered on 10 00:00:35,120 --> 00:00:38,000 Speaker 1: this podcast and make an appearance. I don't want to 11 00:00:38,000 --> 00:00:40,560 Speaker 1: spoil more than that, but if you like this podcast, 12 00:00:40,640 --> 00:00:43,239 Speaker 1: I really think you'll like it. It's called Immortality, a 13 00:00:43,280 --> 00:00:45,839 Speaker 1: love story, let's see. Other than that, if you want 14 00:00:45,840 --> 00:00:48,400 Speaker 1: to support our show, you can do that at patreon 15 00:00:48,520 --> 00:00:51,879 Speaker 1: dot com slash Noble Blood Tales. We have merch that 16 00:00:52,000 --> 00:00:55,920 Speaker 1: I've linked in the episode description and as always, just 17 00:00:56,000 --> 00:01:05,280 Speaker 1: thanks for listening. Let's get into it. Paris, fourteen o seven. 18 00:01:05,680 --> 00:01:10,160 Speaker 1: On a cold November night, Jacquette Griffard was putting her 19 00:01:10,200 --> 00:01:12,800 Speaker 1: baby to bed on the top floor of their house 20 00:01:12,920 --> 00:01:16,679 Speaker 1: on the Ruviet de tomp around her residents of the 21 00:01:16,760 --> 00:01:20,720 Speaker 1: city were settling in, Torches were extinguished, and doors were 22 00:01:20,760 --> 00:01:24,959 Speaker 1: being barred against the chilled night air. From the street 23 00:01:25,080 --> 00:01:28,240 Speaker 1: below her, Jacques could hear the clip clap of a 24 00:01:28,360 --> 00:01:32,479 Speaker 1: mule's hoofs She peered out of her window and saw 25 00:01:32,560 --> 00:01:36,840 Speaker 1: a small party traveling toward her, a nobleman at its center, 26 00:01:37,120 --> 00:01:41,000 Speaker 1: singing merrily. She watched the group for a minute and 27 00:01:41,080 --> 00:01:44,480 Speaker 1: then turned back to her baby. Suddenly she heard a 28 00:01:44,560 --> 00:01:48,840 Speaker 1: cry from the street. Kill him, Kill him, A man shouted. 29 00:01:49,480 --> 00:01:52,480 Speaker 1: Jacquette ran back to the window and looked down in 30 00:01:52,640 --> 00:01:56,320 Speaker 1: horror as a group of masked men emerged from the 31 00:01:56,360 --> 00:02:00,160 Speaker 1: shadows and set upon the nobleman and his party. A 32 00:02:00,240 --> 00:02:03,800 Speaker 1: man in a red hood swung his axe at the nobleman, 33 00:02:04,040 --> 00:02:07,360 Speaker 1: severing his hand and knocking him to the ground. The 34 00:02:07,480 --> 00:02:11,240 Speaker 1: noblemen looked frantically around him. Two of his attendants had 35 00:02:11,280 --> 00:02:14,480 Speaker 1: abandoned him in their fright, another two had been carried 36 00:02:14,480 --> 00:02:17,760 Speaker 1: away by their spook horse. Two more had tried to 37 00:02:17,800 --> 00:02:21,280 Speaker 1: defend their lord, only to be brought down by the mob. 38 00:02:21,720 --> 00:02:27,480 Speaker 1: The nobleman was alone, surrounded by assailants. Blood gushed from 39 00:02:27,480 --> 00:02:30,760 Speaker 1: the stump of his wrist as he crouched pitifully on 40 00:02:30,840 --> 00:02:34,360 Speaker 1: the ground. What is this, he pleaded, What are you doing? 41 00:02:34,880 --> 00:02:39,600 Speaker 1: The masked men said nothing, just closed in, slashing him 42 00:02:39,680 --> 00:02:43,160 Speaker 1: with their swords and axes. They meant to kill him, 43 00:02:43,320 --> 00:02:47,160 Speaker 1: but they took their time with it, dealing the nobleman painful, 44 00:02:47,360 --> 00:02:53,280 Speaker 1: not fatal blows. Blood sprayed the street. Jacquette stood frozen 45 00:02:53,360 --> 00:02:56,760 Speaker 1: at her window, holding her baby as one man raised 46 00:02:56,840 --> 00:02:59,800 Speaker 1: his axe and brought it down on the nobleman's head, 47 00:03:00,280 --> 00:03:04,160 Speaker 1: splitting his skull nearly in half, sending part of his 48 00:03:04,280 --> 00:03:08,960 Speaker 1: brain into the gutter. Shocked out of her silence, Jacquet 49 00:03:09,080 --> 00:03:14,320 Speaker 1: screamed from her second story window. Murder, murder. She didn't 50 00:03:14,320 --> 00:03:17,480 Speaker 1: know it then, but she had just witnessed one of 51 00:03:17,520 --> 00:03:22,120 Speaker 1: the worst crimes of medieval France, a brutal act that 52 00:03:22,160 --> 00:03:26,560 Speaker 1: would lead to civil war. Because the noblemen who now 53 00:03:26,639 --> 00:03:31,000 Speaker 1: lay dead in the street, oozing blood, missing teeth and 54 00:03:31,440 --> 00:03:35,240 Speaker 1: a hand and part of his brain was Louis, Duke 55 00:03:35,360 --> 00:03:40,920 Speaker 1: of Orleans, brother of the King of France. I'm Danish 56 00:03:40,880 --> 00:03:52,280 Speaker 1: schwartz and this is noble blood. Close relatives of royals 57 00:03:52,360 --> 00:03:56,520 Speaker 1: are often powerful figures in society, but rarely more so 58 00:03:56,680 --> 00:04:00,480 Speaker 1: than during the reign of King Charles the sixth of France. 59 00:04:01,040 --> 00:04:05,600 Speaker 1: Since thirteen ninety two, Charles had suffered bouts of severe 60 00:04:05,840 --> 00:04:10,120 Speaker 1: mental illness, rendering him unable to rule. For more on 61 00:04:10,200 --> 00:04:14,480 Speaker 1: Charles's specific problems, including periods of believing he was made 62 00:04:14,520 --> 00:04:18,320 Speaker 1: of glass, you can listen to our episode Charles, the Beloved, 63 00:04:18,480 --> 00:04:22,080 Speaker 1: the Mad, the Fool. You might recall a sad story 64 00:04:22,160 --> 00:04:25,640 Speaker 1: we talked about in that episode from before Charles's descent 65 00:04:25,800 --> 00:04:29,120 Speaker 1: into madness, where he and some of his men dressed 66 00:04:29,240 --> 00:04:33,880 Speaker 1: up as wild men for a costume ball. Unfortunately, their 67 00:04:33,920 --> 00:04:38,440 Speaker 1: costumes were extremely flammable, and when the king's brother leaned 68 00:04:38,480 --> 00:04:40,800 Speaker 1: in with a torch to get a better look at them, 69 00:04:41,040 --> 00:04:44,760 Speaker 1: the men went up in flames. The king survived, but 70 00:04:44,960 --> 00:04:48,720 Speaker 1: four of his friends did not. Years later, the king 71 00:04:48,760 --> 00:04:53,120 Speaker 1: would fall into the madness that incapacitated him as a ruler. 72 00:04:53,600 --> 00:04:57,839 Speaker 1: During the king's absences, control of the country fell to 73 00:04:58,000 --> 00:05:02,320 Speaker 1: his closest relatives include his uncles, the Dukes of Barry, 74 00:05:02,520 --> 00:05:06,799 Speaker 1: Burbant and Burgundy, and his brother Louis, Duke of Orleans, 75 00:05:07,080 --> 00:05:09,719 Speaker 1: who happened to have been the one with the torch 76 00:05:10,040 --> 00:05:12,920 Speaker 1: leaning in on that fateful night during the ball of 77 00:05:12,960 --> 00:05:16,760 Speaker 1: the Burning Men. For most of the thirteen nineties. The 78 00:05:16,839 --> 00:05:20,320 Speaker 1: most prominent of these men controlling France was the Duke 79 00:05:20,440 --> 00:05:25,080 Speaker 1: of Burgundy, a man called Philip the Bold. A commanding character, 80 00:05:25,320 --> 00:05:28,520 Speaker 1: Philip had earned his nickname thanks to his bravery in 81 00:05:28,600 --> 00:05:33,480 Speaker 1: battle when he was just fourteen. Now middle aged, Philip 82 00:05:33,480 --> 00:05:38,040 Speaker 1: controlled unparalleled wealth and land, and used his position on 83 00:05:38,080 --> 00:05:41,799 Speaker 1: the King's Council as his uncle to take even more. 84 00:05:42,400 --> 00:05:46,839 Speaker 1: Philip wasn't alone in this self interested approach to ruling. 85 00:05:47,200 --> 00:05:50,000 Speaker 1: Being on the King's Council gave all of the dukes 86 00:05:50,040 --> 00:05:53,200 Speaker 1: the power to enrich themselves, and they didn't hesitate to 87 00:05:53,240 --> 00:05:57,000 Speaker 1: do so. Many of them had served on Charles's Regency 88 00:05:57,040 --> 00:06:00,080 Speaker 1: Council during the first years of his reign, since the 89 00:06:00,160 --> 00:06:02,600 Speaker 1: king had been crowned at the young age of eleven, 90 00:06:02,839 --> 00:06:06,000 Speaker 1: and they had suffered during the years between charles coming 91 00:06:06,040 --> 00:06:09,400 Speaker 1: of age and his first episode of mental illness, a 92 00:06:09,520 --> 00:06:13,200 Speaker 1: period during which Charles, as a lucid king, brought on 93 00:06:13,360 --> 00:06:18,320 Speaker 1: new advisers who advocated for a more equitable distribution of wealth. 94 00:06:18,760 --> 00:06:22,599 Speaker 1: These policies had won Charles the love of his subjects, 95 00:06:22,800 --> 00:06:26,520 Speaker 1: but not long after he first fell ill in thirteen 96 00:06:26,600 --> 00:06:30,720 Speaker 1: ninety two, they were reversed by the Dukes, who resumed 97 00:06:30,800 --> 00:06:34,840 Speaker 1: their earlier program of raiding the treasury and using their 98 00:06:35,040 --> 00:06:39,360 Speaker 1: ill gotten gains to bribe government officials. France was in 99 00:06:39,480 --> 00:06:43,400 Speaker 1: a precarious position given it to ongoing war with England 100 00:06:43,760 --> 00:06:47,400 Speaker 1: at this point, whereabout sixty years into the Hundred Years War, 101 00:06:47,839 --> 00:06:52,200 Speaker 1: but instead of seriously defending their country, the Dukes used 102 00:06:52,279 --> 00:06:56,440 Speaker 1: the war as a pretext for raising taxes and reaping 103 00:06:56,480 --> 00:07:01,120 Speaker 1: the profits. By the late thirteen ninety the Dukes were 104 00:07:01,200 --> 00:07:05,599 Speaker 1: all enormously rich, that is, except for the King's brother Louie. 105 00:07:06,000 --> 00:07:10,000 Speaker 1: Unlike their uncles, Louis had struggled to assert himself in 106 00:07:10,040 --> 00:07:13,320 Speaker 1: the Royal Council. He was also disliked by much of 107 00:07:13,360 --> 00:07:17,560 Speaker 1: French society, especially because of his role as guy who 108 00:07:17,600 --> 00:07:22,200 Speaker 1: brought a torch to party with flammable costumes. In general, 109 00:07:22,400 --> 00:07:26,720 Speaker 1: the French saw Louis as a reckless, greedy womanizer with 110 00:07:26,760 --> 00:07:30,680 Speaker 1: an unhealthy interest in the occult. The perception wasn't too 111 00:07:30,720 --> 00:07:35,360 Speaker 1: far off base. Louie loved to gamble, throw extravagant parties, 112 00:07:35,440 --> 00:07:39,880 Speaker 1: investigate the dark arts, and seduce married noblewomen. He was 113 00:07:39,960 --> 00:07:43,960 Speaker 1: even rumored to have a private portrait gallery consisting of 114 00:07:44,160 --> 00:07:51,080 Speaker 1: nude paintings of his conquests. In one particularly notorious, possibly apocryphal, 115 00:07:51,160 --> 00:07:54,920 Speaker 1: incident of debauchery, Louie was said to have invited a 116 00:07:54,960 --> 00:07:58,600 Speaker 1: nobleman to his palace. When the man arrived, Louis took 117 00:07:58,640 --> 00:08:02,000 Speaker 1: him into a room which had a naked woman lying 118 00:08:02,080 --> 00:08:05,320 Speaker 1: on the bed, her face covered by a veil. Louie 119 00:08:05,360 --> 00:08:09,120 Speaker 1: asked the nobleman to judge how beautiful his mistress was. 120 00:08:09,480 --> 00:08:13,720 Speaker 1: The horrified man quickly realized that the veiled naked woman 121 00:08:14,120 --> 00:08:17,280 Speaker 1: was his wife. Pretty rude of Louis, and if I 122 00:08:17,320 --> 00:08:20,160 Speaker 1: had to weigh in, probably a pretty good way of 123 00:08:20,200 --> 00:08:25,240 Speaker 1: making enemies. But Louis was also a savvy politician. He 124 00:08:25,360 --> 00:08:28,960 Speaker 1: knew that he had one major advantage over his uncle's 125 00:08:29,400 --> 00:08:33,400 Speaker 1: his close relationship with his brother, the King. Louie and 126 00:08:33,600 --> 00:08:37,800 Speaker 1: Charles had been inseparable since childhood, when their parents' early 127 00:08:37,880 --> 00:08:41,240 Speaker 1: deaths had made them reliant on one another. The King 128 00:08:41,360 --> 00:08:46,360 Speaker 1: was also fond of Louie's Italian wife, Valentina Visconti, too fond, 129 00:08:46,600 --> 00:08:50,840 Speaker 1: some thought, leading to Valentina's exile from court in thirteen 130 00:08:50,960 --> 00:08:55,720 Speaker 1: ninety six due to her rumored witchcraft. Stories For another time, 131 00:08:56,840 --> 00:09:01,520 Speaker 1: and soon the tide would change, Louis, not his uncle's, 132 00:09:01,640 --> 00:09:09,800 Speaker 1: would become the dominating force on the King's council. The 133 00:09:09,920 --> 00:09:13,920 Speaker 1: transition began in thirteen ninety nine, when an epidemic of 134 00:09:14,040 --> 00:09:18,280 Speaker 1: plague exploded in Paris. Louie stayed in the city with 135 00:09:18,400 --> 00:09:22,040 Speaker 1: the king, even as other dukes retreated to their country. 136 00:09:22,240 --> 00:09:28,280 Speaker 1: Estates This period of constant companionship cemented the brother's relationship forever. 137 00:09:28,679 --> 00:09:33,360 Speaker 1: Louie began to receive royal grants, increasing his territory and 138 00:09:33,520 --> 00:09:37,960 Speaker 1: his treasury immensely. With his new resources, he executed a 139 00:09:38,040 --> 00:09:42,200 Speaker 1: political shake up, filling the government with his allies, and 140 00:09:42,320 --> 00:09:47,199 Speaker 1: as his power grew, Louie's public reputation underwent a makeover. 141 00:09:47,640 --> 00:09:52,000 Speaker 1: He became more discreet in his affairs, more mature in 142 00:09:52,120 --> 00:09:55,480 Speaker 1: his interests. A man who had once been criticized for 143 00:09:55,640 --> 00:09:59,920 Speaker 1: his inappropriate fondness for the finer things was now praised 144 00:10:00,160 --> 00:10:04,360 Speaker 1: for his excellent taste. He wasn't extravagant with his money, 145 00:10:04,559 --> 00:10:08,240 Speaker 1: he was just generous with it, courtiers exclaimed, as they 146 00:10:08,320 --> 00:10:14,040 Speaker 1: conveniently benefited from said generosity. For many As the historian 147 00:10:14,280 --> 00:10:18,960 Speaker 1: Jonathan Sumpton writes, Louie was quote the kingly figure that 148 00:10:19,200 --> 00:10:23,680 Speaker 1: Charles the sixth might have been less impressed by the 149 00:10:23,760 --> 00:10:27,320 Speaker 1: new Louis was Philip, Duke of Burgundy, who saw his 150 00:10:27,400 --> 00:10:32,640 Speaker 1: influence wayne as Louise waxed. By Philip's death in fourteen 151 00:10:32,679 --> 00:10:35,920 Speaker 1: oh four, Louis had all but supplanted him as the 152 00:10:36,080 --> 00:10:40,920 Speaker 1: most powerful man on the Council and perhaps the kingdom. 153 00:10:41,000 --> 00:10:46,440 Speaker 1: This reversal did not sit well with Philip's son and heir, John, 154 00:10:47,080 --> 00:10:52,560 Speaker 1: Like his father, John was intelligent, ambitious, and determined, but 155 00:10:52,679 --> 00:10:57,880 Speaker 1: he lacked his father's legendary diplomatic skills. John was quick 156 00:10:57,920 --> 00:11:02,320 Speaker 1: to anger, constantly paranoid, and prone to violence. In the 157 00:11:02,440 --> 00:11:07,280 Speaker 1: cutthroat political environment of the Royal Council, these qualities would 158 00:11:07,320 --> 00:11:12,040 Speaker 1: both help and hurt him. He adopted a populist strategy, 159 00:11:12,360 --> 00:11:16,040 Speaker 1: casting himself as an opponent of the corrupt of indulgent 160 00:11:16,080 --> 00:11:19,160 Speaker 1: elites who raised taxes on the poor to feed their 161 00:11:19,240 --> 00:11:25,080 Speaker 1: expensive habits, a political class whose most viable representative was Louie, 162 00:11:25,240 --> 00:11:31,800 Speaker 1: Duke of or Lyons. To what extent John actually believed 163 00:11:31,880 --> 00:11:35,439 Speaker 1: in the principles he publicly proclaimed is difficult to know. 164 00:11:35,920 --> 00:11:39,600 Speaker 1: His tirades against the government handouts to the rich never 165 00:11:39,600 --> 00:11:43,360 Speaker 1: stopped him from accepting those same handouts, but he was 166 00:11:43,520 --> 00:11:48,440 Speaker 1: a genuinely skilled administrator and military leader, and the excesses 167 00:11:48,480 --> 00:11:52,040 Speaker 1: and inefficiencies he saw in the French government must have 168 00:11:52,120 --> 00:11:58,000 Speaker 1: infuriated him. This conflict between John and Louie quickly escalated. 169 00:11:58,280 --> 00:12:01,960 Speaker 1: The French public, especially the Parisians, were sick of the 170 00:12:02,040 --> 00:12:06,840 Speaker 1: high taxes raised by the Royal Council. Simultaneously, the members 171 00:12:06,880 --> 00:12:10,040 Speaker 1: of the Royal Council were getting concerned at how much 172 00:12:10,080 --> 00:12:14,880 Speaker 1: power Louie had. In July fourteen oh five, things came 173 00:12:14,920 --> 00:12:18,840 Speaker 1: to a head when King Charles, briefly of sound mind, 174 00:12:19,040 --> 00:12:23,280 Speaker 1: agreed to summon an emergency council in Paris to address 175 00:12:23,400 --> 00:12:27,880 Speaker 1: the state of affairs. John, with his characteristic light touch, 176 00:12:28,160 --> 00:12:31,640 Speaker 1: decided to bring six hundred armed men with him to 177 00:12:31,679 --> 00:12:34,959 Speaker 1: the meeting. Upon hearing of this, Louie rallied his own 178 00:12:35,000 --> 00:12:38,480 Speaker 1: troops and headed to the city. Battle lines were drawn 179 00:12:38,600 --> 00:12:42,560 Speaker 1: in the Royal Council, which was pretty evenly split between 180 00:12:42,559 --> 00:12:45,840 Speaker 1: the two men, but those lines were also being drawn 181 00:12:45,960 --> 00:12:50,160 Speaker 1: in Paris, where nearly all of the citizens supported John. 182 00:12:50,840 --> 00:12:54,920 Speaker 1: For months, France teetered on the edge of civil war, 183 00:12:55,520 --> 00:13:00,239 Speaker 1: but war is expensive. The Dukes, who had allied themselves 184 00:13:00,280 --> 00:13:04,640 Speaker 1: with Louie and John eventually started to withdraw their men, 185 00:13:05,000 --> 00:13:10,200 Speaker 1: citing costs. Louie and John, despite their vast wealth, were 186 00:13:10,240 --> 00:13:15,120 Speaker 1: also feeling the financial burn. On October sixteenth, the men 187 00:13:15,360 --> 00:13:18,439 Speaker 1: reached a truce, vowing to keep the peace and be 188 00:13:18,640 --> 00:13:24,280 Speaker 1: brothers forever. Unsurprisingly, this happy moment did not last. To 189 00:13:24,320 --> 00:13:28,000 Speaker 1: prevent further power struggles of this sort, the Council was 190 00:13:28,120 --> 00:13:32,040 Speaker 1: recognized with Queen Isabeau, the King's wife, at its head. 191 00:13:32,559 --> 00:13:35,960 Speaker 1: The thought was that the Queen would be an impartial vote, 192 00:13:36,120 --> 00:13:40,240 Speaker 1: serving only the best interests of her husband and their kingdom. 193 00:13:40,600 --> 00:13:44,400 Speaker 1: In reality, it put Isabeau in an impossible position and 194 00:13:44,600 --> 00:13:49,000 Speaker 1: gave Louie an advantage. Over the years, he and Isabeau 195 00:13:49,120 --> 00:13:53,560 Speaker 1: had formed a close relationship, which was sometimes rumored to 196 00:13:53,600 --> 00:13:58,440 Speaker 1: be romantic. Throughout fourteen oh five and fourteen oh six, 197 00:13:58,640 --> 00:14:03,280 Speaker 1: Louie and John may maintained a cordial, if chilly relationship, 198 00:14:03,559 --> 00:14:06,880 Speaker 1: but they couldn't trust each other, and in April fourteen 199 00:14:06,960 --> 00:14:11,400 Speaker 1: oh seven, Louis struck a decisive blow against his rival 200 00:14:11,720 --> 00:14:14,800 Speaker 1: at a meeting attended by the King, the Dauphin, and 201 00:14:15,160 --> 00:14:18,480 Speaker 1: all of the major Royal Council members except for John, 202 00:14:18,520 --> 00:14:22,760 Speaker 1: who was not invited, the Council was once again reorganized. 203 00:14:23,120 --> 00:14:27,080 Speaker 1: John's allies were removed not just from the Council, but 204 00:14:27,200 --> 00:14:31,920 Speaker 1: also from the Treasury and Finance departments. When John learned 205 00:14:31,960 --> 00:14:35,360 Speaker 1: of this policy upon his arrival in Paris a week later, 206 00:14:35,640 --> 00:14:39,160 Speaker 1: there was nothing he could do. With the most important 207 00:14:39,200 --> 00:14:42,960 Speaker 1: government bodies now aligned against him, it was impossible for 208 00:14:43,080 --> 00:14:46,640 Speaker 1: John to access the money the crown had previously given 209 00:14:46,720 --> 00:14:50,160 Speaker 1: him to support his duchy. It was a dire state 210 00:14:50,240 --> 00:14:55,120 Speaker 1: of affairs. Without money to administer his territory, John stood 211 00:14:55,280 --> 00:14:59,720 Speaker 1: to lose everything. It seemed he had only one course 212 00:14:59,760 --> 00:15:04,280 Speaker 1: of action, reconcile with Louie, who it appeared, had bested 213 00:15:04,360 --> 00:15:08,680 Speaker 1: him once and for all. Despite his stubbornness, John was 214 00:15:08,800 --> 00:15:13,400 Speaker 1: a clear eyed strategist. Louie was too powerful to be beaten, 215 00:15:13,920 --> 00:15:19,359 Speaker 1: So in November John agreed to a formal reconciliation organized 216 00:15:19,400 --> 00:15:23,000 Speaker 1: by their uncle, the Duke of Barry. He and Louie 217 00:15:23,120 --> 00:15:27,480 Speaker 1: went to Mass together on November twentieth and exchanged vows 218 00:15:27,600 --> 00:15:33,920 Speaker 1: of perpetual friendship. Louie, perhaps relishing his victory, seemed inclined 219 00:15:34,000 --> 00:15:37,760 Speaker 1: toward graciousness. The two men had a drink together on 220 00:15:37,880 --> 00:15:41,160 Speaker 1: November twenty second, and made plans to meet for dinner 221 00:15:41,320 --> 00:15:45,920 Speaker 1: later that week. Observers heaved a collective sigh of relief. 222 00:15:46,200 --> 00:15:50,200 Speaker 1: With these two great forces finally at peace, the whole 223 00:15:50,240 --> 00:15:57,680 Speaker 1: country could now rest easy, or so they thought, after 224 00:15:57,800 --> 00:16:01,120 Speaker 1: that fatal ball of the Burning Man. Back in thirteen 225 00:16:01,200 --> 00:16:05,200 Speaker 1: ninety three, Louie had endowed a chapel at the Celestine 226 00:16:05,240 --> 00:16:08,720 Speaker 1: Priory in Paris as a part of his penance. Men 227 00:16:08,840 --> 00:16:13,440 Speaker 1: can contain multitudes. Along with his proclivity for beautiful women 228 00:16:13,600 --> 00:16:18,760 Speaker 1: and illicit stories of sorcery, Louie was also deeply religious. 229 00:16:19,040 --> 00:16:22,760 Speaker 1: He occasionally spent the night at the chapel, meditating and 230 00:16:22,920 --> 00:16:26,760 Speaker 1: praying in the small sleeping chamber he'd built for that purpose. 231 00:16:27,200 --> 00:16:31,280 Speaker 1: After one such night in November fourteen oh seven, according 232 00:16:31,320 --> 00:16:35,960 Speaker 1: to the seventeenth century historian Louis Bourier, Duke Louie woke 233 00:16:36,080 --> 00:16:40,360 Speaker 1: up panting in terror. He'd had a terrible nightmare, he 234 00:16:40,440 --> 00:16:43,680 Speaker 1: told the prior, a dream of his own death. He 235 00:16:43,840 --> 00:16:48,600 Speaker 1: found himself, as he said, in a magnificent orchard filled 236 00:16:48,720 --> 00:16:51,840 Speaker 1: with gleaming fruit. But when he reached for the fruit, 237 00:16:52,040 --> 00:16:55,920 Speaker 1: the figure of death appeared before him, brandishing its Scythe 238 00:16:56,200 --> 00:17:00,320 Speaker 1: the black shrouded skeleton told Louie, I carry a way 239 00:17:00,360 --> 00:17:04,760 Speaker 1: both the young and the old. Louie blinked and found 240 00:17:04,840 --> 00:17:09,400 Speaker 1: himself before the throne of God, waiting in agony for judgment. 241 00:17:09,880 --> 00:17:13,600 Speaker 1: Would it be heaven or hell? He would not find out, 242 00:17:13,840 --> 00:17:17,480 Speaker 1: at least not that night, because at the moment of judgment, 243 00:17:17,920 --> 00:17:22,560 Speaker 1: Louie awoke profoundly. Rattled by the dream. He hurried to 244 00:17:22,600 --> 00:17:26,320 Speaker 1: the Prior and begged to confess his sins. The Prior 245 00:17:26,400 --> 00:17:29,639 Speaker 1: heard his confession and absolved him, but Louie could not 246 00:17:29,840 --> 00:17:33,800 Speaker 1: shake the dread the dream had imparted. It was a 247 00:17:33,880 --> 00:17:37,159 Speaker 1: strange time for Louie to be dreaming of his death. 248 00:17:37,520 --> 00:17:41,600 Speaker 1: After a number of tumultuous years, his political position was 249 00:17:41,680 --> 00:17:45,480 Speaker 1: more secure than ever. He had wealth, influence, and a 250 00:17:45,560 --> 00:17:50,600 Speaker 1: burgeoning relationship with his former enemy, John, Duke of Burgundy. 251 00:17:50,680 --> 00:17:57,840 Speaker 1: But within the week Louie was dead. Though the Duke 252 00:17:58,000 --> 00:18:01,119 Speaker 1: may have predicted his own death and l saw it coming, 253 00:18:01,440 --> 00:18:05,440 Speaker 1: the people of France, noble and common alike, were shocked 254 00:18:05,480 --> 00:18:09,200 Speaker 1: and horrified by the brutal crime. The Duke of Orleans 255 00:18:09,240 --> 00:18:12,480 Speaker 1: may not have been the most popular figure, but certainly 256 00:18:12,680 --> 00:18:17,000 Speaker 1: no one deserved to die like that. The government quickly 257 00:18:17,119 --> 00:18:21,400 Speaker 1: began an investigation, led by the Provost of Paris, Guillaume 258 00:18:21,560 --> 00:18:25,959 Speaker 1: de Tignonville, who the historian Eric Jagger describes in Blood 259 00:18:26,040 --> 00:18:31,680 Speaker 1: Royal as quote one of history's first detectives. De Tignonville 260 00:18:31,720 --> 00:18:35,600 Speaker 1: had no shortage of suspects. There were furious husbands of 261 00:18:35,640 --> 00:18:39,040 Speaker 1: all the women Louis had seduced. There were angry Parisians 262 00:18:39,119 --> 00:18:43,359 Speaker 1: impoverished by louis policies. There were English spies who wanted 263 00:18:43,400 --> 00:18:47,040 Speaker 1: to weaken the country. There were the lesser lords whose 264 00:18:47,119 --> 00:18:50,520 Speaker 1: property Louis had absorbed in his pursuit of power. And 265 00:18:50,680 --> 00:18:55,240 Speaker 1: there were his political rivals, including of course John. But 266 00:18:55,320 --> 00:18:58,719 Speaker 1: John and Louis had recently reconciled, and the Duke of 267 00:18:58,760 --> 00:19:03,119 Speaker 1: Burgundy seemed devastated by the death of his longtime enemy 268 00:19:03,280 --> 00:19:08,160 Speaker 1: turned newfound friend. He had helped escort Louis Coffin into 269 00:19:08,200 --> 00:19:12,000 Speaker 1: the Celestine Priory, where he wept through the funeral service, 270 00:19:12,480 --> 00:19:16,240 Speaker 1: so Tignonville had to look elsewhere. Fortunately, there was no 271 00:19:16,320 --> 00:19:20,600 Speaker 1: shortage of witnesses, including Jacquette, the young woman who had 272 00:19:20,640 --> 00:19:24,560 Speaker 1: watched the attack from her window. De Tignonville and his 273 00:19:24,680 --> 00:19:29,320 Speaker 1: staff interviewed them all. Soon a picture of the crime emerged, 274 00:19:29,440 --> 00:19:33,440 Speaker 1: and it was not one of random violence, but of careful, 275 00:19:33,640 --> 00:19:38,040 Speaker 1: premeditated murder. On the night of his death, Louis had 276 00:19:38,080 --> 00:19:42,119 Speaker 1: gone to visit Queen Isabeau at her residence, the Hotel Barbette. 277 00:19:42,320 --> 00:19:46,520 Speaker 1: Two weeks earlier. Isabeau had lost a newborn son shortly 278 00:19:46,560 --> 00:19:50,400 Speaker 1: after his birth, and Louie visited regularly in an attempt 279 00:19:50,400 --> 00:19:53,760 Speaker 1: to keep her spirits up. At eight o'clock, a man 280 00:19:53,920 --> 00:19:56,800 Speaker 1: came to the house, announcing himself as a valet of 281 00:19:56,880 --> 00:19:59,840 Speaker 1: the king and declared that the king needed to speak 282 00:20:00,000 --> 00:20:03,639 Speaker 1: to his brother at once. Louis, along with his small 283 00:20:03,720 --> 00:20:07,800 Speaker 1: traveling party, quickly departed, setting off down the Rue Vielle 284 00:20:07,800 --> 00:20:11,280 Speaker 1: de Tompre. At the intersection of the Rue des Rosiers, 285 00:20:11,440 --> 00:20:15,639 Speaker 1: he was attacked. After their deadly work was done, the 286 00:20:15,720 --> 00:20:20,080 Speaker 1: assailants fled, knocking out any lit torches they passed to 287 00:20:20,119 --> 00:20:24,000 Speaker 1: obscure their path and throwing col troops clusters of metal 288 00:20:24,080 --> 00:20:28,399 Speaker 1: spikes meant to disable pursuing men or horses behind them. 289 00:20:28,920 --> 00:20:32,440 Speaker 1: Several observers claimed to have seen the men coming from 290 00:20:32,440 --> 00:20:36,359 Speaker 1: a house across the street from Jacquettes, and de Tignonville 291 00:20:36,480 --> 00:20:40,399 Speaker 1: later determined that the assassins had rented the home under 292 00:20:40,440 --> 00:20:44,760 Speaker 1: false names, using it as a base of operations. The 293 00:20:44,800 --> 00:20:48,160 Speaker 1: assailants had begun their search for a house more than 294 00:20:48,320 --> 00:20:52,400 Speaker 1: five months earlier, hinting at the level of planning involved. 295 00:20:53,080 --> 00:20:58,080 Speaker 1: All of Paris watched d Tignonville's progress closely. The city 296 00:20:58,359 --> 00:21:01,200 Speaker 1: was on lockdown, with all all the gates leading out 297 00:21:01,400 --> 00:21:05,520 Speaker 1: tightly shut, and people were arming themselves, fearful that the 298 00:21:05,640 --> 00:21:09,719 Speaker 1: murder was only the beginning of the bloodshed. After all, 299 00:21:09,920 --> 00:21:12,760 Speaker 1: Louis had been the closest thing they had to a 300 00:21:12,840 --> 00:21:16,480 Speaker 1: king at the time, given his brother's mental illness. Now 301 00:21:16,520 --> 00:21:20,280 Speaker 1: that Louis was dead, who would keep order in France? 302 00:21:23,760 --> 00:21:27,239 Speaker 1: The dukes of the Royal council were asking themselves the 303 00:21:27,320 --> 00:21:32,440 Speaker 1: same question. On November twenty seventh, they summoned d'e Tignonville 304 00:21:32,480 --> 00:21:35,959 Speaker 1: to a meeting and asked him to report on his progress. 305 00:21:36,359 --> 00:21:39,760 Speaker 1: D'e Tignonville replied that he had learned many things, but 306 00:21:39,880 --> 00:21:45,159 Speaker 1: had not yet gathered enough evidence to conclusively identify the murderers. 307 00:21:45,560 --> 00:21:48,040 Speaker 1: To get to the truth, he told the assembled men 308 00:21:48,240 --> 00:21:53,480 Speaker 1: he might need to search the royal residences, including their own. 309 00:21:54,400 --> 00:21:57,919 Speaker 1: It was a bold request, one that these high ranking 310 00:21:58,000 --> 00:22:01,439 Speaker 1: dukes had every right to refuse, but they knew that 311 00:22:01,520 --> 00:22:05,920 Speaker 1: the stability of the government relied on uncovering the murderer. 312 00:22:06,359 --> 00:22:10,760 Speaker 1: One by one, they agreed to let De Tignonville search 313 00:22:10,920 --> 00:22:15,680 Speaker 1: their homes. All of them agreed, that is, except for John, 314 00:22:16,000 --> 00:22:21,200 Speaker 1: Duke of Burgundy. At de Tignonville's request, he had gone pale. 315 00:22:21,400 --> 00:22:26,960 Speaker 1: As everyone awaited his answer, an awkward silence grew. Suddenly 316 00:22:27,200 --> 00:22:30,919 Speaker 1: John stood and beckoned for two of his uncles, the 317 00:22:31,000 --> 00:22:34,199 Speaker 1: Dukes of Barry and Anjou, to join him in a 318 00:22:34,280 --> 00:22:38,960 Speaker 1: side room. Confused, the men agreed. Once they were out 319 00:22:39,040 --> 00:22:43,360 Speaker 1: of the council's hearing, John turned to his uncles and exclaimed, 320 00:22:43,520 --> 00:22:46,560 Speaker 1: I did it. By the tempting of the devil, I 321 00:22:46,800 --> 00:22:51,280 Speaker 1: did it. The Dukes were horrified and shocked. The Duke 322 00:22:51,359 --> 00:22:56,760 Speaker 1: of Barry, who had facilitated Louis and John's reconciliation ceremony 323 00:22:56,960 --> 00:23:01,240 Speaker 1: only days earlier, cried, now I have lost two nephews. 324 00:23:01,880 --> 00:23:05,439 Speaker 1: But they agreed to keep John's confession quiet for the 325 00:23:05,560 --> 00:23:09,320 Speaker 1: moment in order to determine next steps. The Duke of 326 00:23:09,400 --> 00:23:12,919 Speaker 1: Anjou returned to the main room and adjourned the meeting. 327 00:23:13,359 --> 00:23:17,480 Speaker 1: D'etignonville didn't know what John had said, but it's likely 328 00:23:17,600 --> 00:23:21,080 Speaker 1: he could guess it was the conclusion he had predicted. 329 00:23:21,359 --> 00:23:24,639 Speaker 1: His request to search the Duke's houses had been his 330 00:23:24,720 --> 00:23:29,600 Speaker 1: way of flushing John out. Despite the Duke's outward grief, 331 00:23:29,760 --> 00:23:34,480 Speaker 1: D'etignonville had quickly narrowed in on him after witnesses reported 332 00:23:34,520 --> 00:23:42,879 Speaker 1: seeing the fleeing assassins wearing the Burgundian colors. The next morning, 333 00:23:43,119 --> 00:23:46,680 Speaker 1: Barry and Ajou called a meeting of the Royal Council. 334 00:23:47,280 --> 00:23:51,160 Speaker 1: They purposefully did not invite John, but he showed up anyway. 335 00:23:51,520 --> 00:23:55,760 Speaker 1: When Barry, shocked at John's boldness, turned him forcefully away, 336 00:23:56,160 --> 00:23:59,639 Speaker 1: John was confused. He seemed to have taken Barry and 337 00:24:00,080 --> 00:24:03,560 Speaker 1: Jeu's silence the day before as a tacit approval of 338 00:24:03,560 --> 00:24:07,280 Speaker 1: his actions, but it wasn't. He stormed down the stairs, 339 00:24:07,359 --> 00:24:10,240 Speaker 1: bumping into another uncle, the Duke of Bourbond, who asked 340 00:24:10,280 --> 00:24:14,359 Speaker 1: where he was going. Furious and flustered, John allegedly yelled, 341 00:24:14,440 --> 00:24:19,720 Speaker 1: I'm going out to piss smooth move. In reality, John 342 00:24:19,880 --> 00:24:24,199 Speaker 1: was fleeing Paris. His uncle's rejection revealed to him that 343 00:24:24,280 --> 00:24:27,520 Speaker 1: he was no longer safe, and indeed When the Duke 344 00:24:27,560 --> 00:24:31,480 Speaker 1: of Bourbond learned of John's confession from Barry and Aljoux, 345 00:24:31,600 --> 00:24:35,280 Speaker 1: he demanded to know why John had been allowed to leave. Quote. 346 00:24:35,520 --> 00:24:38,680 Speaker 1: This thing must be handled in the right way, he declared. 347 00:24:38,920 --> 00:24:42,240 Speaker 1: But it was too late. Somehow, John and his retinue 348 00:24:42,280 --> 00:24:45,600 Speaker 1: had managed to slip through one of the city's closed gates, 349 00:24:45,840 --> 00:24:50,000 Speaker 1: and they were gone. Gone too were the actual killers, 350 00:24:50,320 --> 00:24:54,040 Speaker 1: retainers of John's who had been paid handsomely for their work. 351 00:24:54,960 --> 00:24:58,399 Speaker 1: By the beginning of December, John was safely back in 352 00:24:58,520 --> 00:25:02,840 Speaker 1: his own territories. In Paris, the Dukes were at a standstill. 353 00:25:03,200 --> 00:25:06,920 Speaker 1: They were worried that sending men after John would provoke 354 00:25:07,040 --> 00:25:11,520 Speaker 1: in armed retaliation, leading to civil war. The king, however, 355 00:25:11,680 --> 00:25:13,800 Speaker 1: was in a period of good health and he was 356 00:25:13,920 --> 00:25:18,520 Speaker 1: more willing to act. On December tenth, Louis's widow, Valentina, 357 00:25:18,760 --> 00:25:22,080 Speaker 1: arrived in Paris after more than a decade in exile 358 00:25:22,320 --> 00:25:26,679 Speaker 1: remember her alleged witchcraft. She pleaded with King Charles for 359 00:25:26,920 --> 00:25:30,679 Speaker 1: justice for her husband, and he agreed, declaring that he 360 00:25:30,760 --> 00:25:36,600 Speaker 1: would avenge Louis, But in early January he relapsed into psychosis. 361 00:25:36,920 --> 00:25:41,040 Speaker 1: The weak willed Dukes walked back his promises to Valentina 362 00:25:41,320 --> 00:25:45,840 Speaker 1: and instead decided to organize a conference with John set 363 00:25:45,880 --> 00:25:50,560 Speaker 1: for January. Emboldened by the lack of response from Paris, 364 00:25:50,840 --> 00:25:54,679 Speaker 1: John decided to double down. He told his uncles in 365 00:25:54,760 --> 00:25:57,639 Speaker 1: December that he had been possessed by the devil when 366 00:25:57,680 --> 00:26:01,399 Speaker 1: he decided to murder Louis. Now he changed his tune, 367 00:26:01,760 --> 00:26:05,720 Speaker 1: shaping a shocking defense for himself in which he claimed 368 00:26:05,800 --> 00:26:08,600 Speaker 1: it was not the devil who inspired him to kill, 369 00:26:08,840 --> 00:26:13,960 Speaker 1: but God. At the conference on January twentieth, fourteen o eight, 370 00:26:14,280 --> 00:26:18,600 Speaker 1: John astounded listeners by declaring that the murder had been 371 00:26:18,840 --> 00:26:24,720 Speaker 1: both righteous and necessary, given louise immoral character and abuses 372 00:26:24,760 --> 00:26:29,000 Speaker 1: of power, and John continued he would return to Paris 373 00:26:29,080 --> 00:26:31,720 Speaker 1: to make his case to anyone who wished to hear. 374 00:26:32,280 --> 00:26:36,920 Speaker 1: This was just what the other dukes had most feared. Paris, 375 00:26:37,160 --> 00:26:41,080 Speaker 1: where Louise taxes had hurt thousands, was home to the 376 00:26:41,240 --> 00:26:46,440 Speaker 1: most receptive audience for John's arguments, and an inflamed populace 377 00:26:46,800 --> 00:26:51,520 Speaker 1: riled up with tales of justifiable murder was a recipe 378 00:26:51,720 --> 00:26:59,359 Speaker 1: for disaster. On February twenty eighth, fourteen o eight, John 379 00:26:59,640 --> 00:27:04,359 Speaker 1: rode into Paris, despite warnings from the Royal Council. He 380 00:27:04,440 --> 00:27:08,359 Speaker 1: had brought hundreds of armed men with him. Thousands of 381 00:27:08,440 --> 00:27:12,560 Speaker 1: Parisians thronged the streets to witness his entrance, cheering him 382 00:27:12,600 --> 00:27:16,760 Speaker 1: on loudly. Despite all of the fans, John knew his 383 00:27:16,880 --> 00:27:22,040 Speaker 1: popularity wasn't universal. He quickly set about adding a fortified 384 00:27:22,240 --> 00:27:25,840 Speaker 1: tower to his Paris mansion so he could sleep in safety. 385 00:27:26,200 --> 00:27:29,760 Speaker 1: And when he showed up at his public defense, a 386 00:27:29,920 --> 00:27:34,239 Speaker 1: carefully staged show trial that John himself had organized, he 387 00:27:34,359 --> 00:27:38,160 Speaker 1: was wearing chainmail under his fine robes. It was now 388 00:27:38,240 --> 00:27:42,040 Speaker 1: March eighth, and most of the high ranking citizens of 389 00:27:42,119 --> 00:27:46,120 Speaker 1: Paris had turned up at the Hotel Sainpo, the King's 390 00:27:46,200 --> 00:27:50,640 Speaker 1: main residence, to hear John's attempt to justify his action. 391 00:27:51,200 --> 00:27:55,359 Speaker 1: Notably absent was the King, who was suffering another bad spell. 392 00:27:55,880 --> 00:27:59,320 Speaker 1: Presiding instead was the eleven year old d'au fin, who 393 00:27:59,359 --> 00:28:03,720 Speaker 1: sat alongside the dukes of Barry, Bourbon, Anjou, and Burgundy 394 00:28:03,800 --> 00:28:06,399 Speaker 1: himself on a bench at the front of the hall. 395 00:28:06,960 --> 00:28:11,440 Speaker 1: John had enlisted Jean Petit, a theologian from the University 396 00:28:11,440 --> 00:28:15,359 Speaker 1: of Paris, to present his defense, and Petit came ready 397 00:28:15,440 --> 00:28:19,480 Speaker 1: to rumble. Standing in front of the crowd. Petit delivered 398 00:28:19,560 --> 00:28:23,840 Speaker 1: a shocking four hour long speech, which began with the 399 00:28:23,880 --> 00:28:29,040 Speaker 1: statement that it is quote permissible and meritorious to kill 400 00:28:29,160 --> 00:28:33,080 Speaker 1: a tyrant, and the Duke of Orleans was a tyrant 401 00:28:33,400 --> 00:28:37,720 Speaker 1: end quote. Continued with an allegory in which Louis was 402 00:28:37,840 --> 00:28:40,760 Speaker 1: the devil and John the holy Avenger, and he moved 403 00:28:40,760 --> 00:28:45,280 Speaker 1: into allegations of witchcraft, including claims that Louis had used 404 00:28:45,400 --> 00:28:49,400 Speaker 1: demonic powers to create cursed swords with which to kill 405 00:28:49,400 --> 00:28:52,800 Speaker 1: the king. He also outlined a variety of ways that 406 00:28:52,920 --> 00:28:56,200 Speaker 1: Louis had betrayed the king and the French, and concluded 407 00:28:56,400 --> 00:28:59,760 Speaker 1: with the statement that John deserved not just a royal 408 00:29:00,040 --> 00:29:04,360 Speaker 1: hardened for his act, but also quote love, honor, and riches. 409 00:29:05,000 --> 00:29:09,680 Speaker 1: When Petit finished, a stunned silence filled the hall. None 410 00:29:09,680 --> 00:29:14,000 Speaker 1: of those present had expected John to be particularly repentant 411 00:29:14,080 --> 00:29:17,160 Speaker 1: for his crime, but no one had expected him to 412 00:29:17,320 --> 00:29:21,080 Speaker 1: actively argue he deserved to be rewarded for what he 413 00:29:21,120 --> 00:29:24,680 Speaker 1: had done. When Petit asked if John indorsed all he 414 00:29:24,720 --> 00:29:29,000 Speaker 1: had said, John replied that he did. Later, John would 415 00:29:29,000 --> 00:29:34,800 Speaker 1: have Petit's oration made into four costly, beautifully illuminated books 416 00:29:34,800 --> 00:29:40,040 Speaker 1: titled The Justification of the Duke of Burgundy. Despite John's 417 00:29:40,080 --> 00:29:44,800 Speaker 1: satisfaction with Petit's speech, not everyone on Team Burgundy was 418 00:29:44,840 --> 00:29:49,320 Speaker 1: so enthusiastic. John Gearson, once an ally of John's, would 419 00:29:49,400 --> 00:29:54,040 Speaker 1: later write that the justification was quote text for damnation, 420 00:29:54,320 --> 00:29:57,880 Speaker 1: a treatise for death, a charter of dishonor, and a 421 00:29:58,000 --> 00:30:04,240 Speaker 1: message from the pit of hell. The only person whose 422 00:30:04,280 --> 00:30:08,920 Speaker 1: opinion really mattered, though, was King Charles. The next day, 423 00:30:09,160 --> 00:30:13,440 Speaker 1: with the king briefly lucid, John and his allies pushed 424 00:30:13,640 --> 00:30:17,960 Speaker 1: Charles for a royal pardon, which the king granted. Charles 425 00:30:18,040 --> 00:30:21,920 Speaker 1: also signed a document, likely drafted by John's team, that 426 00:30:22,080 --> 00:30:26,680 Speaker 1: empowered John to pursue and punish anyone who insulted him, 427 00:30:26,880 --> 00:30:31,680 Speaker 1: the fifteenth century equivalent of a license to kill. Unsurprisingly, 428 00:30:31,760 --> 00:30:35,480 Speaker 1: this outcome did not sit well with many nobles, especially 429 00:30:35,520 --> 00:30:39,480 Speaker 1: not Queen Isabeau or a Louise's widow Valentina. When John 430 00:30:39,560 --> 00:30:42,200 Speaker 1: was forced to return to his lands to quell an 431 00:30:42,320 --> 00:30:47,480 Speaker 1: uprising in July, Valentina and Isabeau began plotting their revenge. 432 00:30:48,040 --> 00:30:51,280 Speaker 1: On July second, at a council meeting attended by the King, 433 00:30:51,560 --> 00:30:55,720 Speaker 1: John's royal pardon was revoked. Two months later, the women 434 00:30:55,800 --> 00:30:59,200 Speaker 1: hosted a show trial of their own, at which John 435 00:30:59,440 --> 00:31:03,200 Speaker 1: was denied, bounced for his treachery, and ordered to surrender 436 00:31:03,280 --> 00:31:08,200 Speaker 1: to the King's justice. Meanwhile, John was decisively putting down 437 00:31:08,240 --> 00:31:11,960 Speaker 1: a rebellion in Liege. His commanding performance at the Battle 438 00:31:12,000 --> 00:31:15,360 Speaker 1: of Aute earned him the nickname John the Fearless, which 439 00:31:15,360 --> 00:31:17,600 Speaker 1: would stick with him for the rest of his life. 440 00:31:17,960 --> 00:31:21,840 Speaker 1: The battle also brought monetary reward in the form of 441 00:31:21,960 --> 00:31:27,080 Speaker 1: compensation paid by the newly defeated rebels. His newly energized 442 00:31:27,200 --> 00:31:31,800 Speaker 1: army and his newly flushed treasury terrified the Orleanists. With 443 00:31:31,960 --> 00:31:36,760 Speaker 1: these resources, John might be able to take Paris, and indeed, 444 00:31:36,840 --> 00:31:40,560 Speaker 1: when John returned to Paris in November, he brought two 445 00:31:40,600 --> 00:31:45,520 Speaker 1: thousand troops with him. Afraid of war, the Royal Council 446 00:31:45,800 --> 00:31:51,840 Speaker 1: once again capitulated to John. They met little opposition. Valentina, 447 00:31:52,000 --> 00:31:55,880 Speaker 1: her husband's greatest advocate, had died in December, and the 448 00:31:55,960 --> 00:32:00,800 Speaker 1: couple surviving children were still young. The oldest, Charles, the 449 00:32:00,920 --> 00:32:04,920 Speaker 1: new Duke of Orleans, was only fourteen, so it wasn't 450 00:32:05,000 --> 00:32:08,560 Speaker 1: hard for the royal counselors to push through their plan 451 00:32:08,800 --> 00:32:13,920 Speaker 1: for reconciliation. On March ninth, fourteen o nine, the Houses 452 00:32:13,960 --> 00:32:17,640 Speaker 1: of Burgundy and Orleans met at the Chautre Cathedral to 453 00:32:17,800 --> 00:32:23,200 Speaker 1: reconcile the king. Slipping in and out of sanity, presided. 454 00:32:23,640 --> 00:32:27,880 Speaker 1: Speaking first, John declared that while he did not apologize 455 00:32:27,920 --> 00:32:31,160 Speaker 1: for having Louis killed, he did apologize for the pain 456 00:32:31,320 --> 00:32:35,080 Speaker 1: that this act had caused the king. The King accepted his, 457 00:32:35,640 --> 00:32:40,280 Speaker 1: let's say, non apology. Now it was the Orleans brother's turn. 458 00:32:40,560 --> 00:32:43,880 Speaker 1: The boys were sobbing and had to be pushed to 459 00:32:43,920 --> 00:32:48,480 Speaker 1: recite their statement of pardon. It was humiliating for the 460 00:32:48,560 --> 00:32:53,000 Speaker 1: boys and horrifying too many onlookers. The Clerk of Parliament 461 00:32:53,160 --> 00:32:57,959 Speaker 1: wrote of the ceremony peace piece, and yet no peace. 462 00:33:00,960 --> 00:33:06,040 Speaker 1: Far from assuaging the Orleans supporters or Orleanists, the Treaty 463 00:33:06,080 --> 00:33:11,440 Speaker 1: of chartra recommitted them to revenge. The young Charles of 464 00:33:11,600 --> 00:33:16,280 Speaker 1: Orleans began to recruit allies, including the powerful Count Bernard 465 00:33:16,320 --> 00:33:20,960 Speaker 1: of Armagnac, whose daughter he would eventually marry in Paris. 466 00:33:21,120 --> 00:33:25,800 Speaker 1: John was inadvertently helping Charles cause through a series of 467 00:33:25,920 --> 00:33:30,560 Speaker 1: short sighted, poorly executed, and tactless political moves. Through the 468 00:33:30,640 --> 00:33:34,840 Speaker 1: fall of fourteen o nine, John alienated nearly all the 469 00:33:34,920 --> 00:33:38,600 Speaker 1: most powerful dukes of the Council Charles and his party 470 00:33:38,800 --> 00:33:44,480 Speaker 1: eagerly welcomed these discontented dukes. In April fourteen ten, the 471 00:33:44,640 --> 00:33:49,680 Speaker 1: Orleanists vowed to raise an army against John. In response, 472 00:33:49,920 --> 00:33:54,240 Speaker 1: John started mustering his own troops. By fourteen eleven, the 473 00:33:54,360 --> 00:33:58,520 Speaker 1: Orleanists and the Burgundians were engaged in a full blown 474 00:33:58,800 --> 00:34:02,600 Speaker 1: civil war. I'll note here that histories of the time 475 00:34:02,960 --> 00:34:06,760 Speaker 1: usually refer to the Orleanists as Armagnacs, thanks to the 476 00:34:06,920 --> 00:34:09,800 Speaker 1: central role at this point of the Count of Armagnac, 477 00:34:10,080 --> 00:34:12,560 Speaker 1: but we'll keep calling them for the sake of this 478 00:34:12,600 --> 00:34:15,440 Speaker 1: episode the Orleanists, so you know. These are the men 479 00:34:15,480 --> 00:34:19,080 Speaker 1: who supported the deceased Duke of Orleans and then his 480 00:34:19,200 --> 00:34:23,439 Speaker 1: young son, the new Duke of Orleans, for more than 481 00:34:23,520 --> 00:34:27,960 Speaker 1: two years. The civil war devastated the cities and countryside 482 00:34:28,000 --> 00:34:31,560 Speaker 1: around Paris. Civilians were just as likely to be killed 483 00:34:31,600 --> 00:34:35,839 Speaker 1: as soldiers. Towns were burned and homes looted. The two 484 00:34:35,920 --> 00:34:39,960 Speaker 1: parties would occasionally pause to draw up some sort of 485 00:34:40,120 --> 00:34:44,719 Speaker 1: unsatisfactory treaty, which would quickly be broken. It seemed like 486 00:34:44,800 --> 00:34:49,759 Speaker 1: the war would never end, but in mid fourteen thirteen, 487 00:34:50,120 --> 00:34:56,000 Speaker 1: something crucial shifted. Parisians, longtime supporters of John, began to 488 00:34:56,040 --> 00:34:59,520 Speaker 1: turn against him. They blamed him for the war, which 489 00:34:59,560 --> 00:35:03,280 Speaker 1: was winning their businesses and cutting off the city's food supply. 490 00:35:03,640 --> 00:35:08,800 Speaker 1: Pro or Leanist sentiment rose, and then, in a fitting 491 00:35:08,920 --> 00:35:13,080 Speaker 1: moment for this Satan filled saga, a flyer began appearing 492 00:35:13,160 --> 00:35:17,680 Speaker 1: all around Paris, addressed from the dark Lord himself. It 493 00:35:17,760 --> 00:35:21,160 Speaker 1: was a thank you letter of swords, in which Lucifer 494 00:35:21,360 --> 00:35:25,600 Speaker 1: the quote King of Hell, Prince of the Shadows, master Regent, 495 00:35:25,719 --> 00:35:29,359 Speaker 1: guardian and governor of all the devils in Hell, expressed 496 00:35:29,400 --> 00:35:33,000 Speaker 1: his gratitude for the service of his quote dearist and 497 00:35:33,200 --> 00:35:36,920 Speaker 1: well loved lieutenant and Proctor General in the West, John 498 00:35:37,000 --> 00:35:40,360 Speaker 1: of Burgundy. There's not much you could do to contest 499 00:35:40,440 --> 00:35:45,400 Speaker 1: an endorsement from Satan, and John saw quite literally the 500 00:35:45,520 --> 00:35:49,680 Speaker 1: writing on the wall. He had lost Paris. On August 501 00:35:49,760 --> 00:35:54,839 Speaker 1: twenty third, he once again fled the city. Outside of 502 00:35:54,880 --> 00:35:59,000 Speaker 1: the ongoing fighting, the French had to worry about the English. 503 00:35:59,040 --> 00:36:04,359 Speaker 1: Both the Indians and the Orleanists had requested French assistance 504 00:36:04,560 --> 00:36:07,600 Speaker 1: in the Civil War, giving the new English King Henry 505 00:36:07,600 --> 00:36:11,400 Speaker 1: the Fifth a clear picture of the internal French turmoil. 506 00:36:11,840 --> 00:36:15,640 Speaker 1: He knew it was the perfect opportunity to strike, and 507 00:36:15,840 --> 00:36:19,840 Speaker 1: in fourteen fifteen, he did, taking the city of Harfleur 508 00:36:19,920 --> 00:36:25,000 Speaker 1: after a relatively short siege. The French, already ravaged by 509 00:36:25,200 --> 00:36:28,920 Speaker 1: years of civil war, did their best to resist, bringing 510 00:36:29,000 --> 00:36:32,719 Speaker 1: a massive force to face the English at Agincourt in 511 00:36:32,800 --> 00:36:37,080 Speaker 1: late October. But maybe you know this story already. The 512 00:36:37,080 --> 00:36:42,000 Speaker 1: French forces weren't enough. The English annihilated the French in 513 00:36:42,040 --> 00:36:46,760 Speaker 1: one of history's most famous defeats. Charles of Orleans, leader 514 00:36:46,840 --> 00:36:50,560 Speaker 1: of the Orleanists, was captured by the English at Agincourt 515 00:36:50,800 --> 00:36:54,360 Speaker 1: and spent the next twenty five years as a prisoner 516 00:36:54,400 --> 00:36:58,640 Speaker 1: in England. John of Burgundy, by contrast, had failed to 517 00:36:58,680 --> 00:37:03,839 Speaker 1: show at the battle, even as the country fought off 518 00:37:03,880 --> 00:37:10,319 Speaker 1: the English. The infighting continued. In fourteen eighteen, John retook Paris, 519 00:37:10,360 --> 00:37:15,160 Speaker 1: executing a bloody coup which left hundreds dead. But eventually 520 00:37:15,200 --> 00:37:18,879 Speaker 1: even he could not deny the threat the English represented. 521 00:37:19,160 --> 00:37:22,640 Speaker 1: If the French wanted to repel their foreign enemies, they 522 00:37:22,719 --> 00:37:27,640 Speaker 1: needed to unite internally. John began negotiations with the teenaged 523 00:37:27,840 --> 00:37:32,200 Speaker 1: d'aufins of France, who had created a shadow Orleanist government 524 00:37:32,280 --> 00:37:37,040 Speaker 1: in Borges following John's capture of Paris. The Daufis seemed 525 00:37:37,080 --> 00:37:40,520 Speaker 1: amenable to the idea of a truce, but his advisers, 526 00:37:40,800 --> 00:37:44,160 Speaker 1: middle aged men who had spent the past decade fighting 527 00:37:44,160 --> 00:37:50,960 Speaker 1: for the Orleanist cause, were not as enthusiastic. Nonetheless, negotiations progressed, 528 00:37:51,040 --> 00:37:54,640 Speaker 1: and a treaty of reconciliation was drawn up in July 529 00:37:54,920 --> 00:37:59,440 Speaker 1: fourteen nineteen. The Duke and the Daufins planned to formalize 530 00:37:59,440 --> 00:38:03,759 Speaker 1: the treaty on the bridge at Montereau in September. A 531 00:38:03,920 --> 00:38:07,280 Speaker 1: special enclosure was built in the center of the bridge 532 00:38:07,280 --> 00:38:10,400 Speaker 1: for the meeting, with heavy wooden doors on each side. 533 00:38:10,560 --> 00:38:13,799 Speaker 1: The men would each enter from one side, accompanied by 534 00:38:13,880 --> 00:38:17,400 Speaker 1: only ten companions. All were to be unarmed, though they 535 00:38:17,440 --> 00:38:21,000 Speaker 1: were allowed to wear armor. Of course. Each man also 536 00:38:21,040 --> 00:38:24,920 Speaker 1: brought hundreds more armed men to wait just outside the enclosure, 537 00:38:25,400 --> 00:38:30,080 Speaker 1: just in case. At five o'clock on September tenth, fourteen nineteen, 538 00:38:30,440 --> 00:38:33,759 Speaker 1: John the Fearless entered the enclosure through his side of 539 00:38:33,800 --> 00:38:37,600 Speaker 1: the bridge. He wore scarlet robes and dripped with jewels. 540 00:38:37,840 --> 00:38:41,840 Speaker 1: The Daufin was already waiting for him. Removing his hat, 541 00:38:42,080 --> 00:38:45,840 Speaker 1: John knelt before the prince and greeted him. The Daufint 542 00:38:45,920 --> 00:38:49,000 Speaker 1: bade him to stand, telling him he had spoken well. 543 00:38:49,560 --> 00:38:53,360 Speaker 1: For a moment, the promise of peace hung over the bridge. 544 00:38:53,960 --> 00:38:57,439 Speaker 1: But then the Daufin looked to his advisers, and one 545 00:38:57,480 --> 00:39:01,600 Speaker 1: of them yelled, kill. Kill. The door on the Dauphin's 546 00:39:01,800 --> 00:39:06,160 Speaker 1: side of the enclosure swung open, and armed men flooded in. 547 00:39:06,640 --> 00:39:10,920 Speaker 1: They swarmed the Duke, swinging at him with axes and swords, 548 00:39:10,960 --> 00:39:15,120 Speaker 1: brutally wounding him before they struck the final blow. The 549 00:39:15,239 --> 00:39:19,760 Speaker 1: parallels to Louise's murder were intentional. One of the killers, 550 00:39:19,960 --> 00:39:24,640 Speaker 1: a devoted Orleanist, almost severed John's hand. As the Duke 551 00:39:24,719 --> 00:39:27,719 Speaker 1: tried to defend himself, he shouted, you cut off my 552 00:39:27,880 --> 00:39:31,480 Speaker 1: master's hand, and I shall cut off yours. On the 553 00:39:31,480 --> 00:39:34,719 Speaker 1: other side of the bridge, the Duke's troops were desperately 554 00:39:34,760 --> 00:39:37,320 Speaker 1: trying to get into the enclosure, but they were brought 555 00:39:37,360 --> 00:39:40,440 Speaker 1: down by the Dauphin's archers, who had appeared on the 556 00:39:40,560 --> 00:39:43,560 Speaker 1: river banks. There was nothing they could do anyway. The 557 00:39:43,640 --> 00:39:47,759 Speaker 1: Duke was dead. The Dauphin's men stripped his body of 558 00:39:47,800 --> 00:39:50,799 Speaker 1: its finery and threw it in a wooden coffin, which 559 00:39:50,920 --> 00:39:55,239 Speaker 1: was eventually buried at a nearby church. The assassination of 560 00:39:55,400 --> 00:39:58,759 Speaker 1: John of Burgundy was a victory for the Orleanists, but 561 00:39:59,000 --> 00:40:04,720 Speaker 1: ultimately a tremendous tragedy for France. The Civil War reignited 562 00:40:04,880 --> 00:40:09,239 Speaker 1: more fiercely than before, and eventually led John's son, the 563 00:40:09,360 --> 00:40:12,800 Speaker 1: new Duke of Burgundy, to ally himself with the English 564 00:40:12,920 --> 00:40:16,480 Speaker 1: instead of the French for more than fifteen years. The 565 00:40:16,600 --> 00:40:20,600 Speaker 1: whole country suffered immensely in the all out war that followed, 566 00:40:20,800 --> 00:40:24,080 Speaker 1: and though cause and effect is a tricky business to 567 00:40:24,160 --> 00:40:27,520 Speaker 1: trace in history, it's hard to imagine that things would 568 00:40:27,520 --> 00:40:30,600 Speaker 1: have played out exactly the same way had not the 569 00:40:30,719 --> 00:40:34,880 Speaker 1: Duke of Burgundy's men set out on a dark Parisian 570 00:40:35,000 --> 00:40:38,960 Speaker 1: night to kill their master's mortal enemy. But in a 571 00:40:39,080 --> 00:40:42,480 Speaker 1: classic case of two wrongs don't make a right, it's 572 00:40:42,520 --> 00:40:45,239 Speaker 1: equally hard to imagine that France would have been so 573 00:40:45,520 --> 00:40:48,719 Speaker 1: terribly affected by the English had it not been for 574 00:40:48,800 --> 00:40:52,360 Speaker 1: the killing of John of Burgundy. More than a century 575 00:40:52,440 --> 00:40:56,680 Speaker 1: after John's death, in fifteen twenty one, King Francis of France, 576 00:40:56,800 --> 00:41:00,480 Speaker 1: who was in fact Louise's great great grand and son, 577 00:41:00,800 --> 00:41:05,480 Speaker 1: was presented with the Duke's skull by a Burgundian monk Sire. 578 00:41:05,680 --> 00:41:08,360 Speaker 1: The monk is alleged to have said, pointing to a 579 00:41:08,440 --> 00:41:13,080 Speaker 1: wound in the skull. By that whole the English entered France. 580 00:41:18,080 --> 00:41:22,080 Speaker 1: That's the story of the assassination of Louis of Orleans. 581 00:41:22,120 --> 00:41:25,160 Speaker 1: But keep listening after a brief sponsor break to hear 582 00:41:25,200 --> 00:41:29,280 Speaker 1: a little bit more about the legendary rivalry between Louis 583 00:41:29,440 --> 00:41:42,239 Speaker 1: and John of Burgundy. Although John and Louie's rivalry eventually 584 00:41:42,280 --> 00:41:47,439 Speaker 1: reached murderous proportions, it also had its pettier moments. Take 585 00:41:47,480 --> 00:41:51,160 Speaker 1: their emblems, for example, Like all good royals, each man 586 00:41:51,320 --> 00:41:55,279 Speaker 1: had selected a symbolic image to represent themselves, which they 587 00:41:55,280 --> 00:41:58,680 Speaker 1: had embroidered on their clothes and engraved on their armor 588 00:41:58,800 --> 00:42:03,000 Speaker 1: and carved into their castles. For his emblem, Louie chose 589 00:42:03,040 --> 00:42:07,080 Speaker 1: a wooden club. In response, John made his emblem a 590 00:42:07,200 --> 00:42:12,640 Speaker 1: carpenter's plane capable of shaving down, say, a wooden club. 591 00:42:13,440 --> 00:42:17,120 Speaker 1: After the murder, some Parisians were said to have remarked, 592 00:42:17,239 --> 00:42:20,960 Speaker 1: the knotty club has been planed. And then there were 593 00:42:21,000 --> 00:42:24,200 Speaker 1: their mottos. When John and Louie had nearly gone to 594 00:42:24,320 --> 00:42:27,560 Speaker 1: war against one another in the summer of fourteen oh five, 595 00:42:27,840 --> 00:42:32,439 Speaker 1: their troops had paraded around carrying banners emblazoned with their 596 00:42:32,520 --> 00:42:37,600 Speaker 1: leader's respective mottos Louis read I want it or I 597 00:42:37,800 --> 00:42:41,880 Speaker 1: challenge him, depending on the translation, but I want it 598 00:42:41,960 --> 00:42:45,640 Speaker 1: is a fair translation, and John's you might be able 599 00:42:45,640 --> 00:43:03,960 Speaker 1: to guess it. His banners read I have it. Noble 600 00:43:04,000 --> 00:43:07,440 Speaker 1: Blood is a production of iHeartRadio and Grimm and Mild 601 00:43:07,520 --> 00:43:11,720 Speaker 1: from Aaron Mankey. Noble Blood is hosted by me Danishwartz. 602 00:43:12,080 --> 00:43:16,040 Speaker 1: Additional writing and researching done by Hannah Johnston, hannah's Wick, 603 00:43:16,480 --> 00:43:20,400 Speaker 1: Mirra Hayward, Courtney Sunder, and Laurie Goodman. The show is 604 00:43:20,440 --> 00:43:25,120 Speaker 1: produced by rema Il Kaali, with supervising producer Josh Thayne 605 00:43:25,320 --> 00:43:29,719 Speaker 1: and executive producers Aaron Manky, Alex Williams, and Matt Frederick. 606 00:43:30,080 --> 00:43:35,600 Speaker 1: For more podcasts from iHeartRadio, visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, 607 00:43:35,719 --> 00:43:37,640 Speaker 1: or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.