Isabella Bavarian (Elizabeth of Bavaria, Isabeau; fr. Isabeau de Bavire, it. Elisabeth von Bayern, c. 1370, Munich - September 24, 1435, Paris) - Queen of France, wife of Charles VI the Mad, from 1403 periodically ruled the state.

After Charles VI began to suffer from fits of insanity and power, in fact, passed to the queen, she was unable to pursue a firm political line and rushed from one court group to another. Isabella was extremely unpopular with the people, especially because of her extravagance. In 1420, she signed a treaty with the British in Troyes, recognizing Henry V as the heir to the French crown. fiction has an enduring reputation as a whore, although modern scholars believe that much of this reputation could be the result of propaganda.

Biography

Childhood

Most likely, she was born in Munich, where she was baptized in the Church of Our Lady (Romanesque cathedral on the site of the modern Frauenkirche) under the name "Elizabeth", traditional for German rulers since the time of St. Elizabeth of Hungary. The exact year of birth is unknown. The youngest of two children of Stephen III the Magnificent, Duke of Bavarian-Ingolstadt, and Taddei Visconti (granddaughter of the Duke of Milan Bernabo Visconti, deposed and executed by his nephew and co-ruler Gian Galeazzo Visconti). Little is known about the future queen's childhood. It is established that she received a home education, among other things, was taught to read and write, Latin and received all the necessary skills for housekeeping in a future marriage. At the age of 11, she lost her mother. It is believed that her father intended her for marriage with one of the minor German princes, so the proposal of the uncle of the French king, Philip the Bold, who asked for her hand in Charles VI, was a complete surprise. Isabella was fifteen years old at the time.

Preparing for marriage

Before his death, King Charles V the Wise ordered his son's regents to find him a "German" wife. Indeed, from a purely political point of view, France would have a major gain if German princes supported her struggle with England. The Bavarians also benefited from this marriage. Evran von Wildenberg noted in his Chronicle of the Dukes of Bavaria (German: Chronik und der frstliche Stamm der Durchlauchtigen Frsten und Herren Pfalzgrafen bey Rhein und Herzoge in Baiern)

Despite these considerations, Isabella's father Stefan the Magnificent was very wary of his daughter's alleged marriage. Among other things, he worried that the French king was also offered to wife Constance, the daughter of the Earl of Lancaster, the daughter of the King of Scots, and Isabella, the daughter of Juan I of Castile. The Duke was also alarmed by some overly free customs of the French court. So, he knew that before marriage it was customary to undress the bride in front of the ladies of the court, so that they could thoroughly examine her and make a judgment on the future queen's ability to bear children.

But still, in 1385, the princess was engaged to the seventeen-year-old King of France Charles VI at the suggestion of her uncle Frederick of Bavaria, who met with the French in Flanders in September 1383. The marriage was to be preceded by a "review", since the French king himself wished to make a decision. Fearing rejection and the shame associated with it, Stephen sent his daughter to French Amiens under the pretext of pilgrimage to the relics of John the Baptist. Her uncle was supposed to accompany her on the trip. Preserved the words of Stephen, said to his brother before leaving.

Isabella of Bavaria (Elizabeth, Isabeau) Queen of France, wife of Charles VI, the only daughter of the Bavarian Duke Stefan Ingolstadt and Taddea Visconti. Thanks to a meeting arranged by her relatives with the young King of France Charles VI on a pilgrimage, on July 18, 1385, Isabella became Queen of France. The first years of marriage, Isabella showed no interest in politics, hitting the court entertainment. In August 1389 she was crowned in Paris, and on this occasion wonderful mysteries were performed in the capital. However, after Charles's first fit of insanity (August 1392), the queen was forced to support the policies of the Duke of Burgundy, who actually arranged her marriage. Isabella had twelve children, six of whom were born after 1392 (among them Isabella - Queen of England, wife of Richard II, Jeanne - Duchess of Breton, wife of Jean de Montfort, Michelle - Duchess of Burgundy, wife of Philip the Good, Catherine - Queen of England, wife Henry V, Charles VII, her three children died as babies (Charles (+1386), Jeanne (+1390) Philippe (+1407), the second Charles died at the age of ten, two more Louis Guienne and Jean Touraine - before the age of twenty).

Of a very mediocre appearance and mind, the queen could not really learn French, but in politics she proved to be narrow-minded and selfish. From the queen's predilections, it is known about animals (she kept a large menagerie in Saint-Paul) and food, which very soon affected her disproportionate figure.

The maintenance of the queen cost the treasury 150,000 gold francs annually, she, without hesitation, sent carts of gold and jewelry to her native Bavaria. After the death of Philip of Burgundy in 1404, Isabella supported her brother-in-law Louis of Orleans. Later, she was accused of treason to the king with the Duke of Orleans, but this is not mentioned in modern sources. There is a hypothesis that the British came up with this tale to remove the Dauphin Charles from the throne. After the assassination of Louis d'Orléans (1407) by order of Jean the Fearless, Isabella alternately set Armagnacs and Bourguignons against each other.

She successfully played on the political crisis of 1409, appointing her supporters to key positions in the state. In 1417, after being accused of treason to the king with the nobleman Louis de Bois-Bourdon (who was drowned in the Seine after cruel torture), the queen was imprisoned in Tours with the light hand of the Constable Bernard d'Armagnac. Released with the help of the Duke of Burgundy, the queen joined the ranks of the bourguignons. In May 1420, she arranged the signing of a treaty in Troyes, according to which her only surviving son Charles was deprived of the right to inherit the French throne, and her son-in-law Henry of England (husband of Catherine of Valois) was recognized as regent and heir to the throne of France. However, after the death of Henry (August 1422) and Charles VI (October 1422), she lost all political influence. Physically helpless, overweight queen in last years life could not even move without assistance. During the Parisian coronation of her grandson Henry VI, no one even remembered her.

The queen was very limited in funds, the treasury allocated her only a few deniers a day, so Isabella was forced to sell her things. On September 20, 1435, she died at her Barbett mansion and was buried in Saint-Denis without honors.

Isabella of Bavaria, or Isabeau, is an ambiguous personality. On the one hand, this woman from her youth regularly performed the functions of the wife of the French king, bore him children, tried to reconcile the clans of the English, French and German parties in the struggle for state power. On the other hand, she became the object of the most serious accusations, from countless love affairs to the collapse of France and the murder of her own children. Why Isabella of Bavaria is so unpopular in the country where she lived most life - isn't it because the French have always been inclined to blame women for the troubles of their kingdom?

Isabella's marriage and life at court

Contemporaries described her as a pretty pretty girl, though not quite consistent with the ideals of beauty of the Middle Ages. Isabella was short, her eyes, nose and mouth were large, her forehead was high, her skin was dark and very delicate, her hair was dark. Her father was Duke Stephen III the Magnificent, and her mother was Taddea Visconti, from a family of Milanese rulers.

So, at the age of fifteen, Isabella turned out to be the bride, and then the wife of the French king. By the standards of her native Bavaria, she is quite wealthy, at first she was lost from the splendor of the French court, feeling ashamed of her outfits. However, the bride did not manage to sew a real wedding dress - the king, impressed external appearance Isabella, insisted that the wedding take place in a few days, in Amiens, where the young people met for the first time.

The first years after her marriage, Isabella spent in a series of festivities, feasts and entertainment. The first child, born in 1386, died after only a few months, and the king spared no expense to entertain the queen with New Year's balls, tournaments and weddings. During the second pregnancy of the queen, a special tax was introduced - the “queen's belt” - which gave additional funds for the leisure of the crowned couple. Charles VI did not seek to rule the state - from childhood he enjoyed the rights of the king without the burden of his duties, while France was ruled by several of his regents-guardians, and therefore power in the kingdom was now distributed between different politicians, including the party of "marmuzets", to which the king entrusted a number of powers to govern the state.

During this period, the influence of the younger brother of King Louis, Duke of Orleans, increased. Evil tongues said that his relationship with the young queen began in the early years of her marriage. He himself was married to Valentina Visconti, the daughter of a French princess and a duke of Milan, who enjoyed love and respect at court, and raised her husband's illegitimate son, "Bastard Dunois", who became Jeanne d'Arc's main comrade-in-arms over the years.

Mad king

As the story goes, Louis d'Orléans, to see the mummers, brought a torch too close to them, and the hemp caught fire, causing a fire, panic began, and several people died. The king was saved by the young Duchess of Berry, who threw her train over him. After what happened, the mind of Charles VI became clouded for several days, he did not recognize his wife and demanded to send her away, and until his death, the king increasingly found himself in the grip of seizures, when he refused to eat, wash, clothes, could rush at people with weapons.

The "randomness" of the incident was immediately called into question, seeing in what happened the desire of Louis, in company with Isabella, to get rid of the weak and not quite healthy king. There is no evidence of these accusations, however, and the Duke of Orleans, in atonement for his deed, ordered the erection of the Orleans chapel.

Isabella left her insane husband, settling in the Barbett Palace, which, however, did not prevent her from continuing to bear and give birth to children - as announced, from the king, with whom she still maintained a relationship during periods of his clear mind. Nevertheless, at the behest of Isabella, Odette de Chamdiver was assigned to Charles VI as a nurse and concubine, and it was this woman who kept the king's company for sixteen years, until his death, and gave birth to a daughter from him.
It is not surprising that on the basis of all these events, Isabella was accused of both adultery and the fact that the cause of the king's illnesses is some kind of cunning poison, the use of which was famous for the Italian relatives of the queen.

Currently, scientists put forward two versions of the causes of Charles VI's illness, one of them is schizophrenia or another mental disorder, the other is systematic ergot poisoning, the queen was quite reasonably suspected of being carried out.

Isabella and politics

Isabella was also accused of dislike of her own children. She sent her daughter Jeanne to a monastery as a child - in the name of the king's recovery. At the age of ten, the unloved Karl was exiled to marry Maria of Anjou and was brought up by his mother-in-law, Yolanda of Aragon. Isabella was accused of the death of Charles's other son, the Dauphin of Vienne (now believed to have died of tuberculosis), and Michelle's daughter, married to the son of Jean the Fearless, is believed to have been poisoned by her mother for not following her orders.

The main fault of Isabella before the French was her participation in the conclusion of a "shameful" treaty with England in Troyes. According to him, France actually lost its independence, the king of England Henry V was proclaimed heir to the mad Charles VI, and the Dauphin Charles, the son of Isabella, was declared illegitimate and lost the right to the throne.

Subsequently, this treaty became an apple of discord between countries for centuries, and Charles VII had to fight for the crown with arms in his hands, and his main inspirer and companion in this was the Maid of Orleans, Jeanne d'Arc.

After the death of her husband in 1422, Isabella lost her influence on the political life of France - she was already useless to all groups. The dowager queen spent the rest of her life alone, suffering from lack of funds and poor health.

There are more negative memories of Queen Isabella of Bavaria. Nevertheless, there is an opinion among historians that she was still a faithful wife and an attentive mother, and her "reputation" was created by political opponents, as well as popular rumor, which did not forgive the queen for an agreement with the British. Isabella stood on a par with Marie-Antoinette, who was prone to excessive luxury and thus aroused the dislike of ordinary French people. And like Marie Antoinette, she became famous for innovations in fashion - thanks to Isabella, a dress with a deep neckline appeared and completely covered her hair, the beauty of which, as they say, the queen could not boast of.

One of the enviable advantages of the historian, this ruler of past eras, is that, while surveying his possessions, it is enough for him to touch the ancient ruins and decayed corpses with a pen, and palaces are already appearing before his eyes and the dead are resurrected: as if obeying the voice of God, according to his will naked skeletons are again covered with living flesh and clothed in elegant clothes in the vast expanses of human history, numbering three millennia. It is enough for him, according to his own whim, to outline his chosen ones, to name them by their names, and they immediately raise the gravestones, throw off their shroud, responding like Lazarus to the call of Christ: "I am here, Lord, what do you want from me?"

Of course, one must have a firm gait so as not to be afraid to descend into the depths of history; in an imperious voice to question the shadows of the past; with a confident hand to write down what they dictate. For the dead sometimes keep terrible secrets, which the gravedigger buried with them in the grave. Dante's hair turned gray while he listened to the story of Count Ugolino, and his gaze became so gloomy, his cheeks were covered with such a deathly pallor that when Virgil again brought him out of Hell to earth, the Florentine women, guessing where this strange traveler was returning from, spoke to their children , pointing at him with a finger: "Look at this gloomy, grieving man - he was descending into the underworld."

If we leave aside the genius of Dante and Virgil, we may well be able to compare ourselves with them, for the gates that lead to the tomb of the Abbey of Saint-Denis and are about to open before us are in many ways similar to the gates of hell: the same the very inscription. So, if we had Dante's torch in our hands, and our guide Virgil, we would not have long to wander among the tombs of three reigning families buried in the crypts of the ancient abbey to find the grave of a murderer whose crime would be as disgusting as the crime of Archbishop Ruggieri , or the grave of the victim, whose fate is as deplorable as the fate of a prisoner of the Leaning Tower of Pisa.

In this vast cemetery, in a niche to the left, there is a modest tomb, near which I always bow my head in thought. Two statues, a man and a woman, are carved on its black marble next to each other. For four centuries they have been resting here, hands folded in prayer: a man asks the Almighty, with which he angered Him, and a woman begs forgiveness for her betrayal. These statues are statues of a madman and his unfaithful wife; for two whole decades, the insanity of one and the love passions of the other served in France as the cause of bloody strife, and it is no coincidence that on the deathbed that united them, following the words: “Here lie King Charles VI the Blessed and Queen Isabella of Bavaria, his wife” - the same hand inscribed: “ Pray for them. "

Here, in Saint-Denis, we will begin to leaf through the dark chronicle of this amazing reign, which, according to the poet, “passed under the sign of two mysterious ghosts - an old man and a shepherdess” - and left only a card game as a legacy to descendants, this mocking and bitter symbol eternal instability of empires and human destiny.

In this book, the reader will find a few bright, joyful pages, but too many will bear red traces of blood and black ones - death. For it was pleasing to God that everything in the world would be painted in these colors, so that he even turned them into the very symbol of human life, making it the motto of the word: "Innocence, passion and death."

And now let's open our book, as God opens the book of life, on its bright pages: pages of blood-red and black await us ahead.

On Sunday, August 20, 1389, crowds of people began to flock to the road from Saint-Denis to Paris from the very early morning. On this day, Princess Isabella, daughter of Duke Etienne of Bavaria and wife of King Charles VI, for the first time in the rank of Queen of France made a solemn entry into the capital of the kingdom.

To justify the general curiosity, it must be said that unusual things were told about this princess: they said that already at the first meeting with her - it was on Friday, July 15, 1385 - the king fell passionately in love with her and with great reluctance agreed with his uncle, the Duke of Burgundy , postpone wedding preparations until Monday.

However, this marriage union in the kingdom looked with great hope; it was known that, dying, King Charles V expressed a desire for his son to marry a Bavarian princess, in order thereby to equal the English king Richard, who married the sister of the German king. The young prince's outburst of passion was the best answer to the last will of his father; in addition, the court matrons who examined the bride made sure that she was able to give the crown an heir, and the birth of a son a year after the wedding only confirmed their great experience. Of course, it could not do without sinister soothsayers, which are at the beginning of every reign: they prophesied unkind, since Friday is not a suitable day for matchmaking. However, nothing has yet confirmed their predictions, and the voices of these people, if they dared to speak aloud, would be drowned in joyful cries, which on the day with which we begin our story, involuntarily burst from a thousand lips.

Since the protagonists of this historical chronicle- by birthright or by their position at court - were next to the queen or followed in her retinue, we, with the permission of the reader, will now move along with the solemn cortege, already ready to set off and awaiting only the Duke Louis of Touraine, the king's brother, who is taking care of their toilet, some said, or the night of love, others argued, had already been detained for half an hour. This way of getting to know people and events, although not new, is very convenient; moreover, in the picture that we will try to sketch, relying on old chronicles, other touches, perhaps, will not be devoid of interest and originality.

We have already said that this Sunday, here, on the road from Saint-Denis to Paris, there were so many people gathered, as if people came here by order. The road was literally littered with people, they stood close to each other, like ears of corn in a field, so that this mass of human bodies, so dense that the slightest shock experienced by any part of it was instantly transmitted to everyone else, began to sway, like to how the ripening cornfield sways with a light breeze.

At eleven o'clock, loud shouts from somewhere ahead and a thrill running through the crowd finally made it clear to the exhausted expectation of people that something important was about to happen. And indeed, a detachment of sergeants soon appeared, dispersing the crowd with sticks, followed by Queen John and her daughter, the Duchess of Orleans, for whom the sergeants cleared the way in this human sea. So that his waves would not close behind the tall persons, behind them the horse guards moved in two rows - one thousand two hundred horsemen, selected from among the most noble Parisian townspeople. The riders who made up this honorary escort were dressed in long camisoles of green and scarlet silk, their heads were covered with caps, the ribbons of which fell over their shoulders or fluttered in the wind, when its light gust suddenly refreshed the sultry air, mixed with sand and dust raised by hooves horses and walking feet. The people, driven back by the guards, stretched out on both sides of the road, so that the part that was liberated was like a canal, bordered by two rows of townspeople, and along this canal the royal cortege could move almost without interference, in any case, much easier than it could have been. guess.

In those distant times, people did not go out to meet their king out of simple curiosity: they harbored a sense of respect and love for his person. And if the monarchs of that time sometimes condescended to the people, then the people, even in their thoughts, did not dare to rise to them. Such processions in our time are not complete without shouts, marketplaces and police intervention; here everyone tried to settle down as best he could, and since the road passed over the surrounding fields, people tried their best to climb as high as possible to make it easier to see. Instantly they occupied all the trees and roofs in the neighborhood, so that there was not a single tree that, from the top to the lower branches, was not hung with strange fruits, and uninvited guests appeared in the houses, from the attic to the lower floor. Those who did not dare to climb so high settled down on the sides of the road; women stood on tiptoe, children climbed onto the shoulders of their dads - in a word, one way or another, but everyone found a place for themselves and could see what was happening, either looking at it over the mounted guards, or modestly peering into the gaps between the legs of their horses. As soon as the noise caused by the appearance of Queen Joanna and the Duchess of Orleans, who were on their way to the palace, where the king was waiting for them, subsided, the long-awaited stretcher of Queen Isabella appeared at the turn of the main street of Saint-Denis. The people who came here, as already mentioned, really wanted to look at the young princess, who was not yet nineteen years old and with whom France pinned her hopes.

Isabella Bavarian

(born in 1371 - d. in 1435)

Queen of France. The wife of the French king Charles VI the Mad. In the spring of 1403 she declared herself regent. She became famous for her depraved lifestyle and a number of bloody crimes. She used her numerous love affairs in the struggle for power.

Isabella of Bavaria, better known as Queen Isabeau, is reputed to be one of the darkest figures European history... A bad reputation for her was created by cruelty, selfishness, a passion for intrigue, irrepressible lust for power and incredible promiscuity at that time. It is not for nothing that the Marquis de Sade himself became interested in the details of her alcove adventures, who wrote The Secret History of Isabella of Bavaria, Queen of France, which was first published only in 1953.

The prelude to the appearance of Isabella on the stage of history was the death of the French king Charles V. On his deathbed, he wished that his heir, also Karl, should marry one of the German princesses. Regent under the twelve-year-old Dauphin, Duke of Burgundy, Philip the Bold, immediately began looking for a bride. They lasted for several years. Finally, the choice of the regent settled on Isabella, daughter of the Duke of Bavaria, Stephen II.

An embassy was sent to the duke. The ambassadors were confident of success. The daughter of a provincial ruler, poor by the standards of the French, was offered the crown of the most powerful state in Europe. However, the duke, knowing about the custom of subjecting the king's bride to a delicate examination in order to make sure of her virginity, decided to refuse the matchmakers. He considered this procedure humiliating and, probably, not without reason, was afraid that his daughter would be returned to her parents' house in disgrace. In addition, he heard rumors of the young king's oddities associated with increased sexual needs.

Despite the refusal, Philip renewed the offer through the Duchess of Brabant. She persuaded Stefan to agree. The Duke, however, made a condition. Before the issue is finally resolved, Isabella and Karl had to meet "by chance", unaware of their plans.

The meeting was to take place at the monastery of St. John near Amiens. But beforehand, Isabeau stopped by the Duchess of Brabant to get a few lessons in etiquette. The noble matchmaker did not skimp on advice. In addition, she presented Isabeau with fashionable outfits. Those that the girl took with her were not suitable for the magnificent French court.

On July 15, 1385, Isabella arrived in Amiens and was introduced to the king. The amorous Karl was shocked by the beauty of his fifteen-year-old cousin (Isabeau was his cousin). The king was so impatient to take possession of the bride that he decided to marry immediately. Disregarding custom, he insisted that the wedding took place two days later here in Amiens. As a result, the bride could not even prepare herself a dress for the wedding, and the ladies of the court were left without luxurious toilets that were supposed to be in such cases.

In the morning, after a stormy night, the newlyweds went to the castle of Baute-sur-Marne, the former permanent residence of Charles VI. And after a few days, the young queen realized that her husband's business was going very badly. Seventeen-year-old Karl did not want to do anything other than entertainment that was far from innocent. Orgies at the castle were common. True, after his marriage, he settled down - the sensual Isabeau fully satisfied his needs, but the courtiers continued to lead the same life.

The king was not involved in state affairs. Everything was in the hands of his three uncles - the dukes of Burgundy, Anjou and Berry, who did not hesitate to throw their hands into the royal treasury. Isabella quickly realized what was what, but, being smart enough, she did not show it.

After a while, Karl went to fight. The role of a faithful wife, yearning for solitude at night, did not suit the young queen. Soon she drew attention to the handsome young courtier Bois-Bourdon and began to show him signs of attention. The young man did not hesitate for a long time. He confessed his love to the queen, and on the same night they became lovers.

The love affair proved to be beneficial for Isabeau in many ways. Bois-Bourdon introduced her to the course of all palace intrigue... Once Isabella told him that the king was too weak and she should rule the state. And after a while she told her lover a plan to eliminate the regents. She decided to win over the king's brother, the Duke of Touraine.

Bois-Bourdon was struck by such a quick transformation of the "simpleton" into a sophisticated intriguer. He feared that the duke would oust him from the queen's heart. But Isabeau reassured him, saying that a relationship of convenience would not prevent them from indulging in love for their own pleasure.

Very soon the fifteen-year-old Duke Louis of Touraine was seduced. The queen did not remain indifferent to the handsome courageous young man. But in the morning she did not forget, as if by the way, to note that it was necessary to stop those outrages that were happening at court. The shrewd duke immediately agreed with her and suggested that they join forces to eliminate the regents. Isabella was pleased. Left alone, she quickly dressed and went to Bois-Bourdon to report the results. The next night was presented to him.

However, the queen was not only interested in intrigue. Two lovers and a husband were not enough for her. To have fun, Isabella, following the example of many queens of the Middle Ages, organized the Court of Love. But how different it was from the court of the already mentioned Alienor of Aquitaine! The ministry of love reigned there, the members of the circle followed a special code that could not be violated without losing their honor. Here, everyone tried to expose their vices for everyone to see. When the king was leaving

Isabella was having "holidays." The guests came to them, dressed in very peculiar masquerade costumes. For example, feathers were glued to the naked body. And some went without clothes at all. The "holiday", as a rule, ended with an orgy.

Passionate sleepless nights seemed to only increase the queen's energy in the political arena. Having won over Cardinal Laon to her side, in 1388 with his help she ensured that the power passed to the king. In fact, this meant that he would rule only at the behest of the queen.

Meanwhile, the king's oddities gradually intensified. In the summer of 1392, Charles finally went mad. He began to utter crazy speeches and run through the streets, "fleeing" from the courtiers. Contemporaries believed that the reason for this was a strong fear. At the instigation of Isabeau, the Duke of Touraine arranged so that on the way to the king a beggar suddenly ran up and said that he needed to be saved, since he was betrayed. Karl fell into a rampage and managed to kill several people before he was captured.

However, the lovers miscalculated. Everyone around was convinced that the king could no longer rule. But when the queen proposed that the duke of Touraine be made regent, the king's uncles opposed. In their opinion, the duke was too young. As a result, the reins of government were again in the hands of the former regents.

Then Isabella decided to kill her husband. In this case, the duke could become king. A little recovered, Karl decided to arrange a buffoonery. Several courtiers dressed as savages and began to dance the "Saracen dance." They were wearing a canvas doused with resin, to which tow was attached. The Duke of Touraine dropped the torch as if by accident, and after a moment all the dancers were engulfed in fire. The king was saved by the Duchess of Berry. She covered him with her skirts and knocked out the flames. However, the shock was not in vain. Karl's mind was clouded again. The king did not recognize his wife and behaved aggressively.

Isabella, along with the duke, moved to the castle of Barbitet, leaving her husband in the care of negligent servants. The unhappy madman walked in rags, overgrown, lice and covered with pimples. When he regained consciousness, Isabeau returned. Without even bothering to change the incredibly dirty sheets, she went to bed with her husband in order to demand from Charles the Duchy of Orleans for her lover with affection and persuasion, in which, of course, she succeeded.

The newly-minted Louis of Orleans and Isabella gradually seized power. Their connection was not a secret either for the courtiers or for the people of France. All were indignant at the debauchery that reigned at court. But the dissatisfied, by order of the queen, were immediately sent to prison.

But now rumors about the duke's numerous betrayals began to reach Isabeau. Insulted, Isabeau began to think about revenge. As her weapon, she chose the Duke John of Burgundy, nicknamed the Fearless. This greedy and cunning man has long seen in Louis the main obstacle in the struggle for the throne. Moreover, he knew that the Duke of Orleans had seduced his wife. With the news of this, John went to the queen and offered to kill Louis. Together they devised an insidious plan and set to work on it.

On the appointed day, Isabella asked Louis to spend the evening with her. With affectionate reproaches, she caused remorse in the unfaithful lover. Soon both were in bed. But at this time there was a knock on the door and the king's valet entered, privy to the details of the conspiracy. As agreed in advance, he said that the king was urgently summoning the duke. Louis tidied up his clothes and hurried to the palace of Saint-Paul. On the way, John's men attacked him and killed him.

However, it was not possible to hide the participation of the Duke of Burgundy in this crime. There were witnesses who saw how the murderers disappeared into his palace. John had to flee to Flanders. After a while, he nevertheless returned to France, and civil strife broke out in the country between his supporters and those of the Orleans family.

Then John invited Isabella to seduce the son of the deceased, Duke Philip of Orleans, in order to find out his secret plans. In this she succeeded, but could not make him a toy in her hands.

Impunity finally turned the Queen's head. Accompanied by several ladies of the court, she often left the palace at night. Disguised as prostitutes, the women sought adventure and, of course, found them. This was reported to the king. He was also informed that the main confidant of the queen in all matters of this kind is Bois-Bourdon, who was still her lover. Charles immediately went to the Palace of Vincennes, where the queen's court was at this time. The first person he met was Bois-Bourdon. The favorite was captured and imprisoned. During the interrogation, he told a lot. So many that the king ordered his wife's lover to be sewn into a sack and drowned in the Seine.

The son of Charles and Isabella, the Dauphin Charles, in consultation with the constable of France, Count Armagnac, ordered the kidnapping of his mother in order to prevent new intrigues and acts that dishonor the royal family. The treasures hidden by her were confiscated, and Isabeau herself was in Tours under heavy protection. In captivity, she bitterly complained that her captors did not allow her to take clothes and jewelry with her.

It seemed that the queen's power and adventures had come to an end. However, she managed to call for help from the Duke of Burgundy by sending him her golden seal. He did not hesitate and soon freed his mistress. Immediately, the queen entered into an open struggle with her husband and son, whom she fiercely hated. She declared herself regent of the kingdom, contacted the English king Henry V (recall that between France and England was Hundred Years War). The English monarch was offered the hand of the queen's daughter, Catherine. This marriage automatically made him Charles's heir. In 1420, a peace treaty was concluded in Troyes on these conditions. Soon, Henry married Catherine and, according to the treaty, was recognized as regent and heir to the French throne.

So Isabella deprived her son Charles of the prospect of becoming king. But her opponents continued to support him. Then the queen began spreading rumors that King Charles was not the father of the Dauphin. This was readily believed. The prince himself began to doubt his right to the throne. Only the Virgin of Orleans could calm him down, assuring

Karla is that he is the rightful heir to the throne. Nevertheless, his son, Louis XI, who considered his grandmother a "notorious whore", once said that he did not know for sure who his grandfather really was.

This, however, happened much later. And in the described time, the main goal of the queen was the destruction of her son. And she sent the Duke of Burgundy to capture Charles. The attempt failed. The Dauphin's associates killed John when he tried to fulfill Isabella's wish.

The death of her lover shocked Isabeau. She understood that no man would ever love her again. Only John, hoping for support and out of habit, continued to maintain an intimate relationship with the terribly fat and flabby Isabella. From now on, the queen was supported only by hatred of her son. In the fight against him, she decided to rely on Philip of Burgundy, the son of John the Fearless. He passionately fell in love with her daughter, gentle and kind Michelle. Isabeau gladly agreed to their marriage, but soon noticed that the young Duchess of Orleans, who loved her brother very much, was trying to reconcile him with her husband. Then Isabella, without flinching, poisoned her daughter. It is not known whether the Duke guessed about his mother-in-law's crime. Nevertheless, his attitude towards her sharply changed for the worse.

Charles VI died in the fall of 1422. As a result of Isabeau's intrigues, two claimed the throne of France: the Dauphin Charles and the son of Henry of England, who had also died shortly before, the ten-month-old Henry VI. The country was tormented by the war. But the Virgin of Orleans managed to capture Orleans, inspire the French to resist the British and crown Charles at Reims.

Power escaped Isabella's hands. The last time she got involved in the fight, she tried to kill Philip of Burgundy, who recognized Charles VII as his king. But the conspiracy failed, and she had to take refuge in her palace in Paris. The courtiers left the queen. The people despised and hated her. Isabella was forced to wear old dresses, puzzled over how to pay for food and firewood. Finally, on September 30, 1435, she died. On the last journey, the deceased was accompanied only by a servant and a priest. And the Parisians lazily gossiped about the adventures of the cruel queen Isabeau, who used her beauty for evil to everyone who came across her.