pplpod28 Des 2025

The Beloved and The Mad: The Tragic Reign of Charles VI

In this episode, we examine the turbulent life of King Charles VI of France, a monarch whose reign tragically shifted from promise to chaos. Ascending to the throne at age 11 in 1380, Charles was initially nicknamed "the Beloved" after freeing himself from the control of his corrupt uncles,. However, his legacy was forever altered in 1392 during a military expedition in the forest of Le Mans, where a sudden bout of delirium caused him to attack his own men,.

We discuss the harrowing details of Charles’s mental illness, which plagued him for the rest of his life. Listeners will learn about his psychotic episodes, including the "glass delusion"—where the King believed he was made of glass and inserted iron rods into his clothes to prevent shattering—and times when he could not recognize his wife or children,. We also recount the horrific Bal des Ardents (Ball of the Burning Men), a masked ball where the King, dressed as a "wild man" in a flammable costume, narrowly escaped death when his brother accidentally set the dancers on fire,.

Finally, we explore how the King’s instability plunged France into the Armagnac–Burgundian Civil War and left the nation vulnerable to English invasion,. We cover the disastrous Battle of Agincourt and the humiliating Treaty of Troyes, in which Charles VI disinherited his own son in favor of Henry V of England, setting the stage for the end of the Hundred Years' War,. Join us for a look at how a "Beloved" king became "the Mad," leaving a fractured kingdom in his wake.

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