1 00:00:00,760 --> 00:00:04,400 Speaker 1: Welcome to Noble Blood, a production of I Heart Radio 2 00:00:04,640 --> 00:00:08,480 Speaker 1: and Grim and Mild from Aaron Mankie. Listener Discretion advised. 3 00:00:18,200 --> 00:00:23,239 Speaker 1: In thirteen fourteen, many bewitched events occurred, which you will 4 00:00:23,320 --> 00:00:27,440 Speaker 1: here recount it if you stay near me. So begins 5 00:00:27,520 --> 00:00:31,840 Speaker 1: the account of the year thirteen fourteen in one medieval chronicle, 6 00:00:32,040 --> 00:00:37,440 Speaker 1: and dear listener, that unknown writer was not wrong. Thirteen 7 00:00:37,600 --> 00:00:42,480 Speaker 1: fourteen was an exceptionally dramatic year for France. At this time, 8 00:00:42,600 --> 00:00:45,839 Speaker 1: the country was ruled by Philip the Fourth, a member 9 00:00:45,920 --> 00:00:49,360 Speaker 1: of the Compecian dynasty, which had occupied the throne since 10 00:00:49,520 --> 00:00:53,360 Speaker 1: nine hundred and eighty seven. The king was commonly known 11 00:00:53,520 --> 00:00:57,680 Speaker 1: as Philip LaBelle or Philip the Fair after his striking 12 00:00:57,720 --> 00:01:02,800 Speaker 1: good looks, but his less appealing qualities also inspired several 13 00:01:03,080 --> 00:01:11,440 Speaker 1: less flattering nicknames. For his ruthlessness, self righteousness, and moral absoluteness, 14 00:01:11,520 --> 00:01:15,960 Speaker 1: some called him the roy de Fair or the Iron King. 15 00:01:16,959 --> 00:01:20,920 Speaker 1: Dante Alighary took it even further, referring to Philip in 16 00:01:21,040 --> 00:01:25,560 Speaker 1: his Inferno as the Plague of France. As you might 17 00:01:25,680 --> 00:01:30,960 Speaker 1: have guessed, Philip's twenty nine year reign was filled with controversy. 18 00:01:31,040 --> 00:01:34,679 Speaker 1: He battled with the Pope the Flemish, the English, and 19 00:01:34,720 --> 00:01:38,280 Speaker 1: the Jews of France, among others. But a few years 20 00:01:38,319 --> 00:01:42,240 Speaker 1: of his reign would be as eventful as thirteen fourteen. 21 00:01:43,240 --> 00:01:47,400 Speaker 1: Thirteen fourteen was the year that Philip finally won his 22 00:01:47,480 --> 00:01:52,000 Speaker 1: war against the Knights Templar, a religious order heavily involved 23 00:01:52,040 --> 00:01:56,640 Speaker 1: in banking and trading. Philip had begun arresting the Templars 24 00:01:56,680 --> 00:02:00,440 Speaker 1: in thirteen oh seven, alleging that they were hair atics. 25 00:02:01,280 --> 00:02:06,560 Speaker 1: His motives here weren't entirely pure. Philip was heavily indebted 26 00:02:06,600 --> 00:02:10,600 Speaker 1: to the Templars, and while destroying the order's offices, the 27 00:02:10,720 --> 00:02:14,160 Speaker 1: king found a way to also transfer their asset to 28 00:02:14,760 --> 00:02:19,480 Speaker 1: his treasury. By thirteen fourteen, nearly all of the French 29 00:02:19,520 --> 00:02:23,880 Speaker 1: Templars had been exiled or executed, and Philip sealed his 30 00:02:24,000 --> 00:02:28,280 Speaker 1: victory with a gruesome public celebration in which he had 31 00:02:28,360 --> 00:02:32,320 Speaker 1: the last grand Master of the Templars burned at the state. 32 00:02:33,240 --> 00:02:37,720 Speaker 1: Thirteen fourteen would also be the final year of Philip's reign. 33 00:02:38,200 --> 00:02:41,760 Speaker 1: He died that year, aged only forty six. He had 34 00:02:41,800 --> 00:02:45,120 Speaker 1: been in good health, according to observers, but suffered a 35 00:02:45,160 --> 00:02:49,080 Speaker 1: stroke while hunting. The king held on for several weeks 36 00:02:49,120 --> 00:02:55,160 Speaker 1: before finally dying November twenty nine, thirteen fourteen. Some say 37 00:02:55,320 --> 00:02:58,360 Speaker 1: that the king's sudden death was the result of a 38 00:02:58,520 --> 00:03:02,720 Speaker 1: curse laid on him by the Templars, but others suspected 39 00:03:02,880 --> 00:03:07,760 Speaker 1: something far more personal. The King, they said, had died 40 00:03:07,840 --> 00:03:12,040 Speaker 1: of shame. Not shame over his persecution of the Templars, 41 00:03:12,200 --> 00:03:15,079 Speaker 1: or his expulsion of the Jews in thirteen oh six, 42 00:03:15,320 --> 00:03:19,280 Speaker 1: or his wars with the Church. No, it was whispered 43 00:03:19,400 --> 00:03:23,200 Speaker 1: that the king had been humiliated by something even worse, 44 00:03:23,800 --> 00:03:30,359 Speaker 1: betrayal within his own family. They were speaking, those whisperers, 45 00:03:30,440 --> 00:03:34,600 Speaker 1: of one of the greatest adultery scandals of the Middle Ages, 46 00:03:34,880 --> 00:03:38,200 Speaker 1: a scandal that would lead to the brutal execution of 47 00:03:38,280 --> 00:03:43,560 Speaker 1: several noblemen, the imprisonment of princesses, and eventually the collapse 48 00:03:43,640 --> 00:03:47,560 Speaker 1: of the kap Had dynasty itself. History would remember it 49 00:03:47,680 --> 00:03:52,560 Speaker 1: as the Tordonell Affair, and of all the bewitched events 50 00:03:52,640 --> 00:03:59,040 Speaker 1: of thirteen fourteen, it was perhaps the worst. I'm Dana Schwartz, 51 00:03:59,240 --> 00:04:13,000 Speaker 1: and this is noble blood. Our story begins with Philip 52 00:04:13,080 --> 00:04:16,240 Speaker 1: the Fair, not to be confused with the Castilian king 53 00:04:16,400 --> 00:04:19,920 Speaker 1: Philip the Handsome, who lived almost a hundred years later. 54 00:04:20,400 --> 00:04:24,039 Speaker 1: Philip the Fair had seven children with his wife, Queen 55 00:04:24,120 --> 00:04:27,680 Speaker 1: Joan of Navarre, four of whom would survive to adulthood. 56 00:04:28,040 --> 00:04:32,320 Speaker 1: Three of the four surviving children were boys, Louis, Philip, 57 00:04:32,480 --> 00:04:36,960 Speaker 1: and Charles. The fourth was a girl, Isabella, born in 58 00:04:37,120 --> 00:04:43,080 Speaker 1: twelve or twelve nine. Arranging good marriages for his children 59 00:04:43,520 --> 00:04:47,480 Speaker 1: was crucial for Philip. Strategic marriages could secure a strong 60 00:04:47,600 --> 00:04:50,880 Speaker 1: future for his kingdom, and so he began looking for 61 00:04:51,040 --> 00:04:55,799 Speaker 1: potential spouses while his children were still toddlers. Don't worry, 62 00:04:55,839 --> 00:04:58,560 Speaker 1: he wouldn't marry any of them off until at least 63 00:04:58,760 --> 00:05:04,800 Speaker 1: the ripe old age. Often Philip was especially interested in 64 00:05:04,920 --> 00:05:09,719 Speaker 1: creating marital ties with the ruling families of Burgundy. The 65 00:05:09,920 --> 00:05:15,080 Speaker 1: territory of Burgundy was culturally rich and strategically important, lying 66 00:05:15,160 --> 00:05:19,480 Speaker 1: like a bulwark between France and the Holy Roman Empire. Remember, 67 00:05:19,560 --> 00:05:22,560 Speaker 1: at this point, the Kingdom of France was much smaller 68 00:05:22,600 --> 00:05:27,080 Speaker 1: than the Country of France today. During Philip's reign, Burgundy 69 00:05:27,240 --> 00:05:30,279 Speaker 1: was split in two, with the Duchy of Burgundy lying 70 00:05:30,320 --> 00:05:33,279 Speaker 1: to the east and the County of Burgundy lying to 71 00:05:33,320 --> 00:05:37,159 Speaker 1: the west. The dukes of the Duchy of Burgundy were 72 00:05:37,200 --> 00:05:40,520 Speaker 1: allegiance to the King of France, though their land did 73 00:05:40,520 --> 00:05:43,640 Speaker 1: not belong to the king, while the counts of the 74 00:05:43,680 --> 00:05:48,320 Speaker 1: county were allegiant to the Holy Roman Emperor Philip, through 75 00:05:48,600 --> 00:05:53,000 Speaker 1: shrewd marriage, negotiations began to formulate a plan that would 76 00:05:53,040 --> 00:05:57,839 Speaker 1: bring all of Burgundy under his control. His first overture 77 00:05:58,240 --> 00:06:02,159 Speaker 1: was to Count Otto of Burgundy. In addition to Burgundy, 78 00:06:02,200 --> 00:06:05,520 Speaker 1: Otto was also heir to the County of Artois, a 79 00:06:05,680 --> 00:06:09,400 Speaker 1: region to the northwest of France, via his marriage to 80 00:06:09,560 --> 00:06:15,480 Speaker 1: the Countess of Artois. Like Burgundy, Artois was strategically important. 81 00:06:16,480 --> 00:06:19,240 Speaker 1: Otto and his wife had a daughter, Jean, who was 82 00:06:19,360 --> 00:06:23,159 Speaker 1: only a few years older than Philip's sons Louis and Philip. 83 00:06:23,800 --> 00:06:28,279 Speaker 1: The negotiations were protracted. The king wanted to keep his 84 00:06:28,360 --> 00:06:31,479 Speaker 1: options open and so he wouldn't declare which of his 85 00:06:31,520 --> 00:06:35,200 Speaker 1: sons would marry Joan. While the count and Countess wanted 86 00:06:35,240 --> 00:06:39,240 Speaker 1: to ensure financial security for their family, they wanted to 87 00:06:39,240 --> 00:06:43,840 Speaker 1: close the deal. Otto, who was verging on bankruptcy, made 88 00:06:43,920 --> 00:06:47,560 Speaker 1: a desperate move, handing over the County of Burgundy to 89 00:06:47,640 --> 00:06:51,320 Speaker 1: King Philip in exchange for a generous income for life. 90 00:06:51,800 --> 00:06:56,000 Speaker 1: Philip could hardly refuse, but there was one more obstacle 91 00:06:56,120 --> 00:07:00,719 Speaker 1: before the marriage question was settled. Any engagement would also 92 00:07:00,760 --> 00:07:04,919 Speaker 1: require special dispensation from the pope. Since John and the 93 00:07:04,960 --> 00:07:09,800 Speaker 1: boys shared great great grandparents. Church law at the time 94 00:07:09,840 --> 00:07:13,840 Speaker 1: prohibited marriage between anyone who was so closely related, but 95 00:07:13,960 --> 00:07:17,280 Speaker 1: the pope could make an exception. Philip was a powerful 96 00:07:17,360 --> 00:07:20,640 Speaker 1: king and no stranger to fighting the Church to get 97 00:07:20,680 --> 00:07:24,280 Speaker 1: what he wanted. It seemed a wedding was inevitable, and 98 00:07:24,400 --> 00:07:27,920 Speaker 1: indeed letters from the time indicate that Prince Louis and 99 00:07:28,120 --> 00:07:33,760 Speaker 1: John had become engaged. However, by thirteen hundred, the always 100 00:07:33,800 --> 00:07:38,360 Speaker 1: opportunistic king had found an even better potential match for 101 00:07:38,480 --> 00:07:43,640 Speaker 1: Prince Louis. This prospective bride, Marguerite, came from the Duchy 102 00:07:43,800 --> 00:07:47,840 Speaker 1: of Burgundy. Her father, Robert the Second of Burgundy, had 103 00:07:47,880 --> 00:07:51,480 Speaker 1: been causing trouble in the region ever since Otto had 104 00:07:51,560 --> 00:07:54,600 Speaker 1: given the County of Burgundy to Philip, and so the 105 00:07:54,680 --> 00:07:58,600 Speaker 1: king hoped to secure his control over Burgundy and also 106 00:07:58,680 --> 00:08:04,040 Speaker 1: appeased Robert by tying their families together in marriage. Marguerite 107 00:08:04,120 --> 00:08:08,760 Speaker 1: had another advantage over Jean. As a granddaughter of King 108 00:08:08,840 --> 00:08:13,560 Speaker 1: Louis the ninth, her lineage was more noble. Yes, this 109 00:08:13,680 --> 00:08:17,680 Speaker 1: did technically make her an even closer relative of the prince. 110 00:08:18,000 --> 00:08:20,800 Speaker 1: They were first cousins once removed, but it was a 111 00:08:20,880 --> 00:08:24,000 Speaker 1: royal connection which makes it all worth it. A papal 112 00:08:24,080 --> 00:08:29,560 Speaker 1: dispensation could take care of the awkward issue of interrelatedness, 113 00:08:29,680 --> 00:08:33,640 Speaker 1: and so in thirteen oh five Philip turned to Pope 114 00:08:33,640 --> 00:08:36,719 Speaker 1: Clement the fifth for his blessing for the marriage of 115 00:08:36,800 --> 00:08:42,960 Speaker 1: Marguerite and Crown Prince Louis. Pope Clement was hesitant to 116 00:08:43,080 --> 00:08:47,080 Speaker 1: grant a dispensation. It was well known that Louis had 117 00:08:47,120 --> 00:08:51,720 Speaker 1: been previously engaged to Jean, but King Philip had a 118 00:08:51,800 --> 00:08:56,079 Speaker 1: trick up his sleeve. He revealed to Clement that Marguerite 119 00:08:56,160 --> 00:09:00,720 Speaker 1: and Louie were in fact already married. The two had 120 00:09:00,720 --> 00:09:04,520 Speaker 1: wed in a simple ceremony sometime in the first half 121 00:09:04,559 --> 00:09:08,520 Speaker 1: of thirteen o five. If Clement refused to issue the bull, 122 00:09:09,000 --> 00:09:12,280 Speaker 1: he would be declaring that the Crown Prince of France's 123 00:09:12,360 --> 00:09:17,200 Speaker 1: marriage was illegitimate, and King Philip didn't stop there. He 124 00:09:17,360 --> 00:09:21,480 Speaker 1: also reminded Clement that he had been responsible for Clement's 125 00:09:21,480 --> 00:09:26,200 Speaker 1: election as pope earlier that year. Clement bowed to the pressure, 126 00:09:26,760 --> 00:09:30,640 Speaker 1: granting papal dispensation for the marriage. In August of thirteen 127 00:09:30,679 --> 00:09:34,960 Speaker 1: o five. Marguerite and Louie were remarried in a more 128 00:09:35,080 --> 00:09:39,679 Speaker 1: formal ceremony on September twenty three of that year. Both 129 00:09:39,760 --> 00:09:45,720 Speaker 1: bride and groom were fifteen. In the meantime, Philip had 130 00:09:45,760 --> 00:09:50,960 Speaker 1: not forgotten about Jean, daughter of the Count. Rumors circulated 131 00:09:51,000 --> 00:09:55,400 Speaker 1: that the king himself planned to marry the young heiress. However, 132 00:09:55,480 --> 00:09:59,080 Speaker 1: he ultimately decided that John should marry his second son, 133 00:09:59,240 --> 00:10:03,960 Speaker 1: Prince Philip, after again getting a papal dispensation from Clement, 134 00:10:04,280 --> 00:10:06,960 Speaker 1: who made it clear that he was irritated to have 135 00:10:07,080 --> 00:10:11,199 Speaker 1: to constantly be granting the French royal family exemptions from 136 00:10:11,240 --> 00:10:15,359 Speaker 1: the law. The couple was married in an extravagant ceremony. 137 00:10:15,880 --> 00:10:20,840 Speaker 1: Philip was sixteen, Jean was nineteen or twenty. Now the 138 00:10:20,960 --> 00:10:25,240 Speaker 1: king began to plan matches for his two remaining children, 139 00:10:25,720 --> 00:10:30,640 Speaker 1: Prince Charles and Princess Isabella. Philip considered a number of 140 00:10:30,679 --> 00:10:36,240 Speaker 1: potential brides for Charles, including princesses from Spain, Bohemia, and Hungary, 141 00:10:36,760 --> 00:10:39,880 Speaker 1: daughters of the Count of Saint pol and the Duke 142 00:10:39,960 --> 00:10:44,360 Speaker 1: of Brittany, But the most attractive proposal came from an 143 00:10:44,480 --> 00:10:49,600 Speaker 1: unexpected source, Mayor of Artois, the now widow of the 144 00:10:49,760 --> 00:10:54,880 Speaker 1: Count of Burgundy, mother of Prince Philip's bride Jean. She 145 00:10:55,040 --> 00:10:58,200 Speaker 1: wasn't offering herself in marriage, though she was in fact 146 00:10:58,280 --> 00:11:02,920 Speaker 1: a widow, but instead proposed her daughter Blanche. The union 147 00:11:03,040 --> 00:11:07,160 Speaker 1: would be enormously helpful for Mouth, a powerful and ambitious 148 00:11:07,240 --> 00:11:10,760 Speaker 1: woman who longed for even closer ties to the royal family, 149 00:11:11,040 --> 00:11:13,640 Speaker 1: and she wanted the King's support for her claim to 150 00:11:13,679 --> 00:11:18,280 Speaker 1: her hereditary land. In our Toy along with her daughter's hand, 151 00:11:18,760 --> 00:11:22,000 Speaker 1: Mayo proposed to give the king a fortune in cash 152 00:11:22,080 --> 00:11:26,559 Speaker 1: and land. These deal sweeteners were crucial in convincing King 153 00:11:26,600 --> 00:11:31,319 Speaker 1: Philip because the pairing had its problems. As the historian 154 00:11:31,400 --> 00:11:35,800 Speaker 1: Elizabeth A. R. Brown writes, the marriage quote raised problems 155 00:11:35,880 --> 00:11:40,439 Speaker 1: of legality as well as taste and propriety end quote, 156 00:11:40,920 --> 00:11:43,880 Speaker 1: which of course is how any engaged couple would love 157 00:11:43,920 --> 00:11:47,480 Speaker 1: to be described. After all, it would be two of 158 00:11:47,559 --> 00:11:55,280 Speaker 1: Philip's sons marrying two sisters. Besides being siblings in law, 159 00:11:55,400 --> 00:12:00,480 Speaker 1: and besides sharing great grandparents, Charles and Blanche had even 160 00:12:00,520 --> 00:12:04,960 Speaker 1: closer tie. Maha was charles godmother in the eyes of 161 00:12:05,000 --> 00:12:09,760 Speaker 1: the church. This spiritual relationship between Mao and Charles made 162 00:12:09,760 --> 00:12:15,480 Speaker 1: them literal relatives furthering the taboo between Charles and Blanche. 163 00:12:16,000 --> 00:12:19,120 Speaker 1: Marriage between two people with this kind of connection were 164 00:12:19,160 --> 00:12:24,319 Speaker 1: not unheard of. King Philip himself had married his godmother's daughter, 165 00:12:24,840 --> 00:12:27,640 Speaker 1: but it was still troubling. And then there was the 166 00:12:27,720 --> 00:12:32,880 Speaker 1: issue of age. Charles was thirteen and Blanche was barely twelve. 167 00:12:33,400 --> 00:12:36,600 Speaker 1: A physician would later claim that neither child had reached 168 00:12:36,720 --> 00:12:40,240 Speaker 1: puberty at the time of their marriage, but the money 169 00:12:40,360 --> 00:12:44,000 Speaker 1: and land that Mao offered was too great for King 170 00:12:44,040 --> 00:12:50,600 Speaker 1: Philip to resist. Blanche and Charles were married on January thirteen, 171 00:12:50,760 --> 00:12:55,440 Speaker 1: o eight at mau Chateau in Hesdin. Their wedding, however, 172 00:12:55,640 --> 00:13:00,000 Speaker 1: was overshadowed by another. Just a week later, King philip 173 00:13:00,280 --> 00:13:05,360 Speaker 1: daughter Isabella secured the most powerful marriage of any of them. 174 00:13:05,400 --> 00:13:09,600 Speaker 1: She married King Edward the Second of England. As you 175 00:13:09,640 --> 00:13:15,960 Speaker 1: may know, Isabella and edwards marriage was a notoriously unhappy one. 176 00:13:16,080 --> 00:13:19,880 Speaker 1: For more on the tragic consequences of their union, listen 177 00:13:19,960 --> 00:13:24,880 Speaker 1: to the episode Piers Gaveston, The King's Favorite. But it's 178 00:13:24,920 --> 00:13:28,640 Speaker 1: the outcome of her brother's marriages that concern us this week, 179 00:13:29,080 --> 00:13:33,640 Speaker 1: and like that of Isabella and Edward, the marriages of 180 00:13:33,679 --> 00:13:39,599 Speaker 1: the new royal couples would soon be troubled by betrayal, infamy, 181 00:13:39,720 --> 00:13:45,880 Speaker 1: and death. It was common knowledge that not all of 182 00:13:45,920 --> 00:13:50,520 Speaker 1: the royal couples were especially happy together. Louie, it said, 183 00:13:50,760 --> 00:13:55,360 Speaker 1: preferred playing tennis to spending time with Marguerite. Less is 184 00:13:55,400 --> 00:13:59,080 Speaker 1: known about Charles and Blanche's relationship, but we do know 185 00:13:59,160 --> 00:14:02,600 Speaker 1: that contemporary He's found at Charles to be stiff and 186 00:14:02,720 --> 00:14:07,560 Speaker 1: stand offish. Neither couple had many children. They both just 187 00:14:07,760 --> 00:14:12,240 Speaker 1: had one each. Jean and Philip were much better suited. 188 00:14:12,600 --> 00:14:15,480 Speaker 1: Philip would later declare that from the day of their wedding, 189 00:14:15,840 --> 00:14:19,720 Speaker 1: he and Jean quote lived in peace, concord, and love 190 00:14:20,000 --> 00:14:24,320 Speaker 1: without dissension, rancorps or hatred end quote. In the spring 191 00:14:24,360 --> 00:14:28,480 Speaker 1: of thirteen fourteen, the couple had at least four living daughters. 192 00:14:29,200 --> 00:14:32,800 Speaker 1: Now in April, the public heard the rumors of the 193 00:14:32,840 --> 00:14:36,720 Speaker 1: princess's arrest and wondered what they had done to merit 194 00:14:36,760 --> 00:14:42,080 Speaker 1: such treatment. Mere marital discord wasn't enough to justify and arrest, 195 00:14:42,800 --> 00:14:46,880 Speaker 1: and besides, Philip and John seemed happy. It was only 196 00:14:46,920 --> 00:14:50,600 Speaker 1: in the coming weeks that the full story, or at 197 00:14:50,640 --> 00:14:55,200 Speaker 1: least the full allegations, would come to lay. At the 198 00:14:55,320 --> 00:14:59,360 Speaker 1: same time that the princesses were seized. Two brothers were 199 00:14:59,520 --> 00:15:03,360 Speaker 1: arrested in the nearby city of Pontois. They were knights 200 00:15:03,840 --> 00:15:07,960 Speaker 1: minor nobles named Philippe and Gautier del Nay. Their father 201 00:15:08,320 --> 00:15:11,960 Speaker 1: was a lord in a small region in north central France. 202 00:15:12,480 --> 00:15:16,680 Speaker 1: Gautier was the elder brother, aged somewhere between twenty three 203 00:15:16,720 --> 00:15:22,120 Speaker 1: and twenty six in thirteen fourteen and unmarried. Philippe, somewhere 204 00:15:22,200 --> 00:15:25,200 Speaker 1: between twenty two and twenty four at the time, was 205 00:15:25,320 --> 00:15:28,160 Speaker 1: married to a woman named Agnes, with whom he had 206 00:15:28,200 --> 00:15:31,760 Speaker 1: had several children. We don't know much else about their 207 00:15:31,800 --> 00:15:35,480 Speaker 1: lives before thirteen fourteen, but at some point they must 208 00:15:35,520 --> 00:15:40,200 Speaker 1: have crossed paths with the princesses, for the stunned public 209 00:15:40,720 --> 00:15:45,000 Speaker 1: was soon to learn Marguerite and Blanche had been arrested 210 00:15:45,040 --> 00:15:50,200 Speaker 1: for committing adultery with the Dolnay brothers. The two princesses. 211 00:15:50,400 --> 00:15:52,800 Speaker 1: These two were the ones who were just sisters in 212 00:15:52,880 --> 00:15:56,560 Speaker 1: law and not also actually sisters, were alleged to have 213 00:15:56,680 --> 00:16:00,280 Speaker 1: carried on a years long affair with the knights. The 214 00:16:00,320 --> 00:16:03,520 Speaker 1: group was said to have met regularly in the Tour d'annelle, 215 00:16:03,960 --> 00:16:07,440 Speaker 1: a stone guard tower that stood on the left bank 216 00:16:07,440 --> 00:16:10,480 Speaker 1: of the Seine in the center of Paris. John was 217 00:16:10,520 --> 00:16:14,560 Speaker 1: also arrested, but she was not accused of infidelity, only 218 00:16:14,640 --> 00:16:18,760 Speaker 1: of knowing about the affairs and helping conceal them. How 219 00:16:18,880 --> 00:16:24,920 Speaker 1: exactly the alleged affair was uncovered is unknown. Some contemporary 220 00:16:25,000 --> 00:16:28,680 Speaker 1: chroniclers write that it was Isabella, King Philip's daughter and 221 00:16:28,840 --> 00:16:32,000 Speaker 1: Queen of England, who had sniffed it out. The story 222 00:16:32,120 --> 00:16:36,320 Speaker 1: goes that Isabella had given her sisters in law beaded pouches, 223 00:16:36,680 --> 00:16:40,040 Speaker 1: and then, at a banquet months later, had been shocked 224 00:16:40,040 --> 00:16:43,560 Speaker 1: to see those same pouches in the possession of the 225 00:16:43,640 --> 00:16:47,960 Speaker 1: Dolnigh brothers. She brought her suspicions to her father, who 226 00:16:47,960 --> 00:16:51,680 Speaker 1: put the group under surveillance and caught them in the act. 227 00:16:52,480 --> 00:16:57,080 Speaker 1: Others sight the king's notoriously cunning minister as having revealed 228 00:16:57,120 --> 00:17:01,360 Speaker 1: the affair. But whatever the source of the accusations, King 229 00:17:01,400 --> 00:17:04,960 Speaker 1: Philip was not slow to act. The Domnae brothers were 230 00:17:05,040 --> 00:17:09,240 Speaker 1: arrested and then subjected to three days of torture, after 231 00:17:09,280 --> 00:17:12,440 Speaker 1: which one of them confessed to the affair. The Dolna's 232 00:17:12,440 --> 00:17:16,280 Speaker 1: suffering did not end there, though, having been found guilty 233 00:17:16,280 --> 00:17:20,400 Speaker 1: of treason, given that they had interfered with royal marriages. 234 00:17:20,680 --> 00:17:25,520 Speaker 1: They were sentenced to a gory end. Different chroniclers give 235 00:17:25,600 --> 00:17:29,760 Speaker 1: different descriptions of their executions, but what we know was 236 00:17:29,840 --> 00:17:35,000 Speaker 1: that they were violent, painful, and public. The brothers were 237 00:17:35,200 --> 00:17:40,399 Speaker 1: most likely castrated, then flogged or flayed or broken on 238 00:17:40,480 --> 00:17:46,000 Speaker 1: the wheel before being beheaded or hanged. The princesses, though, 239 00:17:46,200 --> 00:17:50,160 Speaker 1: were not subject to the same physical ordeals, though they 240 00:17:50,200 --> 00:17:54,440 Speaker 1: did undergo a public humiliation of their own. They were 241 00:17:54,480 --> 00:17:58,800 Speaker 1: brought to trial by the Paris Parliament. Blanche and Marguerite 242 00:17:58,840 --> 00:18:03,600 Speaker 1: were both found guilty and sentenced to life imprisonment. Before 243 00:18:03,640 --> 00:18:06,399 Speaker 1: they were sent off, they were forced to kneel and 244 00:18:06,480 --> 00:18:11,879 Speaker 1: have their heads shaved in front of the jeering crowd. John, 245 00:18:12,280 --> 00:18:16,960 Speaker 1: because she wasn't guilty of adultery, was more fortunate, thanks 246 00:18:17,000 --> 00:18:20,240 Speaker 1: in part to the intervention of her husband, Philip, who 247 00:18:20,280 --> 00:18:24,359 Speaker 1: stood by her. She was found fully innocent of adultery, 248 00:18:24,400 --> 00:18:27,320 Speaker 1: but for being an accomplice to the affair, she was 249 00:18:27,359 --> 00:18:32,760 Speaker 1: sentenced to house arrest. Philip campaigned constantly for her release, 250 00:18:33,119 --> 00:18:36,199 Speaker 1: and she would soon be freed to return to his side. 251 00:18:36,840 --> 00:18:39,800 Speaker 1: There are two theories as to i Philip supported John 252 00:18:39,880 --> 00:18:43,920 Speaker 1: so staunchly. The first theory is the more cynical one, 253 00:18:44,080 --> 00:18:47,800 Speaker 1: and it suggests that he supported his wife because she 254 00:18:47,920 --> 00:18:51,520 Speaker 1: had the most personal wealth of all three of the wives. 255 00:18:52,119 --> 00:18:54,879 Speaker 1: But I prefer the second theory, which seems to be 256 00:18:54,960 --> 00:18:59,800 Speaker 1: supported by the written record. Philip just really really loved her. 257 00:19:00,680 --> 00:19:06,040 Speaker 1: Blanche and Marguerite were not so lucky, without large dowries 258 00:19:06,200 --> 00:19:09,760 Speaker 1: or lands under their own control, and with husbands who 259 00:19:09,760 --> 00:19:13,320 Speaker 1: were at best apathetic towards them to begin with, their 260 00:19:13,359 --> 00:19:18,240 Speaker 1: fate was sealed. The women were sent to Chateau Gaillard, 261 00:19:18,280 --> 00:19:23,080 Speaker 1: an imposing castle in Normandy built two centuries before Richard 262 00:19:23,080 --> 00:19:28,800 Speaker 1: the Lionheart. Conditions there were harsh, conflicting reports have Marguerite 263 00:19:28,840 --> 00:19:33,240 Speaker 1: and Blanche being kept either underground in daint chambers with 264 00:19:33,400 --> 00:19:37,080 Speaker 1: no natural light, or else in the highest rooms of 265 00:19:37,160 --> 00:19:41,000 Speaker 1: the castle, where they were exposed completely to the elements. 266 00:19:41,640 --> 00:19:49,960 Speaker 1: One of them would never walk free again. In November thirteen, fourteen, 267 00:19:50,280 --> 00:19:54,240 Speaker 1: seven months after the Tordonel affair began, King Philip the 268 00:19:54,320 --> 00:19:58,960 Speaker 1: Fair died. His eldest son Louis succeeded him, becoming King 269 00:19:59,040 --> 00:20:03,479 Speaker 1: Louis the Tenth. Louis was nicknamed the quarrel Sum, although 270 00:20:03,600 --> 00:20:06,520 Speaker 1: this had more to do with the circumstances he inherited 271 00:20:06,560 --> 00:20:11,760 Speaker 1: as king, not necessarily his inherent personality, which was described 272 00:20:11,880 --> 00:20:17,520 Speaker 1: by a contemporary chronicler as quote childlike, credulous, and ill 273 00:20:17,600 --> 00:20:21,960 Speaker 1: prepared for rulership and quote. The issue he seemed to 274 00:20:21,960 --> 00:20:26,080 Speaker 1: care most about was annulling his marriage to the imprisoned 275 00:20:26,080 --> 00:20:30,480 Speaker 1: adulteress Marguerite. This was mainly because he wanted another heir. 276 00:20:31,119 --> 00:20:35,640 Speaker 1: Though Marguerite and Louis had a daughter, Joan, her paternity 277 00:20:35,800 --> 00:20:40,240 Speaker 1: was now in question because of the scandal. Unfortunately for Louis, 278 00:20:40,520 --> 00:20:44,280 Speaker 1: Pope clement the fifth died just as the scandal broke, 279 00:20:44,720 --> 00:20:47,679 Speaker 1: and no new pope had been selected yet, and so 280 00:20:47,880 --> 00:20:50,640 Speaker 1: there was just no one who could annull his marriage. 281 00:20:51,480 --> 00:20:56,600 Speaker 1: Conveniently enough, Marguerite, who was still in prison but technically 282 00:20:56,880 --> 00:21:01,040 Speaker 1: Queen of France, soon died. Her cause of death was 283 00:21:01,119 --> 00:21:05,720 Speaker 1: either illness brought on by the harsh prison conditions or 284 00:21:05,840 --> 00:21:10,919 Speaker 1: some alleged strangulation murdered by an ally of the king's 285 00:21:11,560 --> 00:21:15,000 Speaker 1: Louis went on to marry Clementia of Hungary, who quickly 286 00:21:15,040 --> 00:21:19,679 Speaker 1: became pregnant. He wouldn't live to see his second child's birth. 287 00:21:20,359 --> 00:21:26,000 Speaker 1: Louis the tenth died in June thirteen sixteen, having exhausted 288 00:21:26,080 --> 00:21:31,320 Speaker 1: himself playing tennis, the very pastime he had preferred to Marguerite, 289 00:21:31,640 --> 00:21:36,840 Speaker 1: leaving her time for her own extra curricular activities. Clementia 290 00:21:37,040 --> 00:21:40,560 Speaker 1: gave birth to a son in November, who became King 291 00:21:40,680 --> 00:21:44,119 Speaker 1: John the First of France, but the baby died after 292 00:21:44,240 --> 00:21:49,359 Speaker 1: only five days. Technically, at this point the throne should 293 00:21:49,440 --> 00:21:54,240 Speaker 1: have gone to Louis and marguerite daughter Joan, and indeed 294 00:21:54,600 --> 00:21:59,040 Speaker 1: Louis had finally recognized Joan as his own shortly before 295 00:21:59,119 --> 00:22:03,520 Speaker 1: his death. But Louie's younger brother Philip, had his own plans, 296 00:22:03,880 --> 00:22:09,120 Speaker 1: and he seized the crown in January thirteen seventeen. At 297 00:22:09,200 --> 00:22:13,080 Speaker 1: his side was his wife, John, who had been formally 298 00:22:13,119 --> 00:22:19,360 Speaker 1: exonerated and returned to court. Protests broke out across France, 299 00:22:19,720 --> 00:22:23,800 Speaker 1: but Philip was quick to solidify his power, establishing a 300 00:22:23,840 --> 00:22:28,040 Speaker 1: new rule of succession that barred women from inheriting the throne, 301 00:22:28,320 --> 00:22:32,200 Speaker 1: which would soon become a formal French law. This same 302 00:22:32,240 --> 00:22:37,679 Speaker 1: principle eventually prevented any of Philip's children from inheriting, because 303 00:22:37,760 --> 00:22:41,320 Speaker 1: by the time he died in thirteen twenty two, he 304 00:22:41,400 --> 00:22:47,159 Speaker 1: had no surviving sons, only daughters. After Philip's death, the 305 00:22:47,240 --> 00:22:52,520 Speaker 1: throne went to the youngest brother, Charles. Like Louis, Charles 306 00:22:52,720 --> 00:22:56,160 Speaker 1: was eager to annul his marriage, and lucky for him 307 00:22:56,200 --> 00:22:58,840 Speaker 1: by this point he had a pope who could do so. 308 00:22:59,640 --> 00:23:03,359 Speaker 1: Funly enough, his marriage to Blanche was annulled on the 309 00:23:03,359 --> 00:23:07,199 Speaker 1: ground that they were too closely related, not because of 310 00:23:07,200 --> 00:23:11,000 Speaker 1: their blood ties, which they had received a papal dispensation for, 311 00:23:11,560 --> 00:23:16,080 Speaker 1: but because of their spiritual relationship based on Blanche's mother 312 00:23:16,200 --> 00:23:21,159 Speaker 1: being Charles's godmother. King Philip the Fair had somehow neglected 313 00:23:21,200 --> 00:23:26,480 Speaker 1: to get a special dispensation for that. Once charles marriage 314 00:23:26,560 --> 00:23:31,520 Speaker 1: was annulled, Blanche's remaining life is a mystery. Some say 315 00:23:31,600 --> 00:23:34,080 Speaker 1: that she was allowed to move to a remote castle, 316 00:23:34,400 --> 00:23:37,600 Speaker 1: while others say that she became a nun serving at 317 00:23:37,640 --> 00:23:40,960 Speaker 1: the same abbey she had been arrested for for adultery 318 00:23:41,080 --> 00:23:44,639 Speaker 1: eight years earlier, but there's no clear evidence of that. 319 00:23:45,320 --> 00:23:47,560 Speaker 1: The only thing we know for sure is she died 320 00:23:47,840 --> 00:23:53,040 Speaker 1: some time before April five, thirty six. Charles was the 321 00:23:53,160 --> 00:23:57,680 Speaker 1: last Cape king, though he married twice following the annulment 322 00:23:57,760 --> 00:24:01,840 Speaker 1: of his marriage to Blanche, he had no sons. Had 323 00:24:01,920 --> 00:24:05,520 Speaker 1: Philip the Fair been told in thirteen that his sons 324 00:24:05,680 --> 00:24:09,320 Speaker 1: would mark the end of his dynasty. Surely he would 325 00:24:09,320 --> 00:24:13,919 Speaker 1: have scoffed. He had three healthy adult sons, all of 326 00:24:13,960 --> 00:24:19,880 Speaker 1: whom were married, but the Tordonell affair changed everything. Charles 327 00:24:20,000 --> 00:24:24,160 Speaker 1: was succeeded by his cousin Philip Vlois, But nine years 328 00:24:24,240 --> 00:24:27,879 Speaker 1: later Philip's right to rule was challenged by Edward, the 329 00:24:27,960 --> 00:24:33,880 Speaker 1: third son of Isabella, who argued, possibly correctly, that he 330 00:24:34,000 --> 00:24:37,960 Speaker 1: was the closest male relative of the last king, even 331 00:24:38,000 --> 00:24:41,639 Speaker 1: if he descended from the female line. This is the 332 00:24:41,720 --> 00:24:46,800 Speaker 1: claim that would spark one of medieval Europe's greatest conflicts, 333 00:24:47,240 --> 00:25:00,240 Speaker 1: the Hundred Years War. For all of that impact act, 334 00:25:00,359 --> 00:25:04,320 Speaker 1: the actual truth of the Tordonelle affair is murky. We 335 00:25:04,400 --> 00:25:08,359 Speaker 1: don't even know if a literal affair occurred. Historians are 336 00:25:08,680 --> 00:25:12,080 Speaker 1: split on the matter. Many historians who believe that the 337 00:25:12,160 --> 00:25:15,919 Speaker 1: queens were unfaithful argue that King Philip would not have 338 00:25:16,080 --> 00:25:21,640 Speaker 1: undergone such a public humiliation unless the case was concrete. However, 339 00:25:21,760 --> 00:25:25,440 Speaker 1: the historian Tracy Adams notes that none of the princesses 340 00:25:25,560 --> 00:25:29,760 Speaker 1: had sons by thirteen fourteen, which was a relatively common 341 00:25:29,800 --> 00:25:34,320 Speaker 1: reason to want to dispose of royal wives. Others speculate 342 00:25:34,400 --> 00:25:38,960 Speaker 1: that the affair was a political distraction, orchestrated by either 343 00:25:39,040 --> 00:25:43,600 Speaker 1: Philip the Fairs advisers, or by his enemies. Still others 344 00:25:43,600 --> 00:25:46,960 Speaker 1: say that it was all a manipulation by Queen Isabella 345 00:25:47,000 --> 00:25:50,280 Speaker 1: of England, part of a grand plan to get her 346 00:25:50,359 --> 00:25:53,720 Speaker 1: son on the throne, although that seems, at least to me, 347 00:25:54,320 --> 00:25:56,760 Speaker 1: very far fetched. There is no way she could have 348 00:25:56,840 --> 00:25:59,480 Speaker 1: known that none of her brothers would go on to 349 00:25:59,520 --> 00:26:03,240 Speaker 1: have some, especially if she helped dispose of their lives. 350 00:26:04,040 --> 00:26:07,480 Speaker 1: The uncertainty around the facts of the case did not 351 00:26:07,640 --> 00:26:12,840 Speaker 1: stop contemporaries or even modern historians from casting aspirations on 352 00:26:12,880 --> 00:26:16,960 Speaker 1: the women. In her two thousand six biography of Queen Isabella, 353 00:26:17,320 --> 00:26:22,560 Speaker 1: Alison Weir calls the princesses quote stupid promiscuous girls end 354 00:26:22,640 --> 00:26:27,000 Speaker 1: quote where isn't wrong about one thing. At the time 355 00:26:27,040 --> 00:26:31,000 Speaker 1: of their arrests, the princesses were barely more than girls. 356 00:26:31,400 --> 00:26:35,800 Speaker 1: Sean was twenty six or twenty seven, Marguerite was twenty four, 357 00:26:36,000 --> 00:26:40,040 Speaker 1: and Blanche was only seventeen. They had spent their entire 358 00:26:40,200 --> 00:26:44,359 Speaker 1: lives as bargaining chips, bartered away by their parents for 359 00:26:44,520 --> 00:26:47,800 Speaker 1: money and power, sent off to be the wives of 360 00:26:47,840 --> 00:26:51,040 Speaker 1: men who they barely knew, stripped of their agency and 361 00:26:51,080 --> 00:26:55,160 Speaker 1: their independence. It's the kind of situation in which it 362 00:26:55,240 --> 00:26:58,080 Speaker 1: might be easy for a young woman to be tempted 363 00:26:58,119 --> 00:27:02,680 Speaker 1: to rebel, not to mention hypocrisy. Louis and Charles were 364 00:27:02,720 --> 00:27:05,840 Speaker 1: both known to have had illegitimate children of their own, 365 00:27:06,320 --> 00:27:10,879 Speaker 1: but Blanche, Marguerite and Jean were women, and different rules 366 00:27:10,920 --> 00:27:15,919 Speaker 1: applied to them. Ironically, it was that very treatment of women, 367 00:27:16,400 --> 00:27:20,639 Speaker 1: dismissing women, first through the imprisonment of the princesses and 368 00:27:20,680 --> 00:27:24,159 Speaker 1: then introducing the law of bearing women from inheriting the throne, 369 00:27:24,520 --> 00:27:29,040 Speaker 1: that would ultimately doom the Cape line only fourteen years 370 00:27:29,160 --> 00:27:47,399 Speaker 1: after the Tordonelle affair allegedly occurred. Of all the princesses, 371 00:27:47,560 --> 00:27:51,000 Speaker 1: Jean got off the lightest. She had been exonerated and 372 00:27:51,200 --> 00:27:54,439 Speaker 1: restored to her place at court. She had been queen, 373 00:27:54,720 --> 00:27:58,040 Speaker 1: though unlike her sister and sister in law, who were 374 00:27:58,160 --> 00:28:02,000 Speaker 1: queens in name only, she had actually served in the role. 375 00:28:02,520 --> 00:28:06,200 Speaker 1: She had a loving marriage, she had four daughters, wealth 376 00:28:06,400 --> 00:28:11,440 Speaker 1: and land. But she never forgot the events of thirteen fourteen, 377 00:28:12,000 --> 00:28:15,320 Speaker 1: and she never forgot her sister, Blanche, who had died 378 00:28:15,400 --> 00:28:19,720 Speaker 1: in disgrace the year before the Tourdenell affair, Jean and 379 00:28:19,760 --> 00:28:23,040 Speaker 1: Philip had had a daughter who they named after Blanche. 380 00:28:23,840 --> 00:28:27,720 Speaker 1: Seven years later, after Jean had become queen, she made 381 00:28:27,760 --> 00:28:32,360 Speaker 1: a dramatic decision. She would send her youngest daughter, her 382 00:28:32,400 --> 00:28:36,320 Speaker 1: sister's namesake, into a nunnery, as a way to a 383 00:28:36,440 --> 00:28:41,680 Speaker 1: tone on her sister's behalf. It was an enormously difficult decision. 384 00:28:42,240 --> 00:28:45,200 Speaker 1: Jean loved her children, and she knew she would be 385 00:28:45,240 --> 00:28:49,680 Speaker 1: sending Little Blanche from a castle to a very hard life. 386 00:28:50,320 --> 00:28:53,680 Speaker 1: But she was a deeply religious woman and she believed 387 00:28:53,760 --> 00:28:57,000 Speaker 1: it was something that she had to do. However, Jean 388 00:28:57,120 --> 00:29:00,160 Speaker 1: did use her power as a queen to ease the 389 00:29:00,200 --> 00:29:04,320 Speaker 1: transition for herself and for her daughter. Blanche was given 390 00:29:04,440 --> 00:29:08,520 Speaker 1: more worldly comforts than the average nun, and unlike most 391 00:29:08,640 --> 00:29:11,800 Speaker 1: cloistered sisters, she would be allowed to see her mother 392 00:29:11,880 --> 00:29:16,040 Speaker 1: and father occasionally. We don't know what Little Blanche thought 393 00:29:16,080 --> 00:29:20,720 Speaker 1: about the decision, but Jean was resolute, and so Blanche 394 00:29:20,920 --> 00:29:25,480 Speaker 1: entered long Champ Abbey in thirteen twenty. The separation proved 395 00:29:25,560 --> 00:29:29,560 Speaker 1: harder than John had expected. She and her husband Philip 396 00:29:29,680 --> 00:29:33,160 Speaker 1: visited a little Blanche so often that they were reprimanded 397 00:29:33,200 --> 00:29:37,160 Speaker 1: by the Pope. Besides her sacrifice of her daughter on 398 00:29:37,240 --> 00:29:41,720 Speaker 1: her sister's spiritual behalf, Jean made one more attempt to 399 00:29:41,840 --> 00:29:44,479 Speaker 1: make up for the sins of the past. At some 400 00:29:44,600 --> 00:29:48,080 Speaker 1: point during her husband's reign, Philip had given John a 401 00:29:48,160 --> 00:29:54,640 Speaker 1: special property, the Tour Donnell, the location of so much shame, sadness, 402 00:29:54,720 --> 00:29:57,880 Speaker 1: and loss, must have been a difficult legacy for John, 403 00:29:58,000 --> 00:30:02,360 Speaker 1: and so she decided to enact a transformation in her will, 404 00:30:02,800 --> 00:30:06,920 Speaker 1: revealed after her death, in Jean left the building to 405 00:30:07,000 --> 00:30:10,720 Speaker 1: the University of Paris to serve as a new college, 406 00:30:10,960 --> 00:30:15,600 Speaker 1: the College of Burgundy. There, students from her home territory 407 00:30:15,840 --> 00:30:19,600 Speaker 1: could board while they studied at the university. What had 408 00:30:19,640 --> 00:30:23,800 Speaker 1: once been a site of infamy became one of learning 409 00:30:23,960 --> 00:30:28,600 Speaker 1: and companionship, a place where young people could grow, experiment, 410 00:30:28,800 --> 00:30:33,280 Speaker 1: and perhaps even make mistakes of their own with less 411 00:30:33,440 --> 00:30:54,240 Speaker 1: dire consequences. Noble Blood is a production of I Heart 412 00:30:54,360 --> 00:30:58,000 Speaker 1: Radio and Grim and Mild from Aaron Manky. Noble Blood 413 00:30:58,120 --> 00:31:02,240 Speaker 1: is hosted by Me Danish for additional writing and researching 414 00:31:02,320 --> 00:31:06,720 Speaker 1: done by Hannah Johnston, hannah's Wick, Miura Hayward, Courtney Sunder 415 00:31:06,760 --> 00:31:10,840 Speaker 1: and Laurie Goodman. The show is produced by rema Il Kali, 416 00:31:11,160 --> 00:31:16,000 Speaker 1: with supervising producer Josh Thayne and executive producers Aaron Manky, 417 00:31:16,240 --> 00:31:20,000 Speaker 1: Alex Williams, and Matt Frederick. For more podcasts from I 418 00:31:20,080 --> 00:31:24,080 Speaker 1: Heart Radio, visit the I heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, 419 00:31:24,200 --> 00:31:26,080 Speaker 1: or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.