Henry V., at Rouen, was openly holding his court as King of France.
John, Duke of Burgundy, accompanied by Queen Isabella, presented
himself to the invading king, and formally pledged his support and that
of his followers to the cause of the English!
The infamous treaty of Troyes was signed, 1420. It provided that Henry
should act as regent to Charles VI. while he lived; that upon the death
of that unhappy being he should be Henry V. of England and Henry II. of
France; and that the two kingdoms should thereafter exist under one
crown. The romantic marriage of Henry with the Princess Katharine,
daughter of Charles and Isabella, which was part of the agreement, was
solemnized in that old palace on the island in the Seine. And the same
vaulted ceilings which we may see to-day, looked down upon this
historic marriage, as they also did upon the condemnation of Marie
Antoinette, three and a half centuries later. We know of this union of
Henry and the fair Katharine chiefly through the pen of Shakespeare, in
his play of Henry V.
But Henry was destined never to wear the crown of France, nor even to
see his own land again. There were only two more years of life for
him. His death occurred in his palace of the Louvre, a few weeks
before that of Charles VI., and the crown he expected to wear upon this
event passed to his infant son, who was by the Burgundian party
recognized as King of France.
A careless, pleasure-loving dauphin, just twenty, apparently
indifferent to the loss of a kingdom, was a frail support at such a
time. Only a fragment of the country was held by his followers, the
Orleanists; Scotland had come to his aid with a few thousand men, but
what did this avail with the greater part of the kingdom held by the
Burgundians, while town after town was declaring its allegiance to the
English Duke of Bedford, whom his dying brother, Henry V., had named as
regent for his infant son.
The city of Orleans, held by the dauphin's adherents, was besieged. It
was the key to the situation. Its fall meant the fall of the kingdom,
the conquest of France. When this happened, that infant at the Louvre
would really be the wearer of the crown. So hopeless was the situation
that the spiritless Charles was only in doubt whether to take refuge in
Scotland or in Spain.
But although towns and cities had deserted him, the heart of the people
had not. Patriotism, dead everywhere else, still lived in the heart of
that forgotten multitude lying silent and humble under the feet of its
masters. The monarchy had been their friend, their only friend. The
Church had deserted them, and joined their enemies the nobles. But to
the people, the name King expressed gratitude and hope; and they loved
it.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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