[MR] Wikipedia: Assassination of John the Fearless

[Garth Groff and Sally Sanford]

Noble Friends,

On this date in 1419, John the Fearless, Duke of Burgundy, was assassinated
during a parley at Montereau Castle.

John rose to be Duke of Burgundy in 1404 upon the death of his father,
Philip the Bold. Philip had served in the regency council during the
madness of King Charles VI ("Charles the Mad"), and been at times the
actual regent of France. As one of France's most powerful Dukes, John took
father's place on the council. Both Philip and John were opposed by their
cousin Louis I, Duke of Orleans, who enjoyed the support of the King during
the latter's rare periods of stability.

Louis was proud of his reputation as one of France's greatest voluptuaries,
and was reputed to have been Queen Isabeau's lover during separations from
her insane husband. Louis wasn't above forcing himself on a woman who
resisted his . . . uh . . . charms. He was accused of raping the wife of
one of John's knights. On 23 November 1407, while leaving the Queen's home,
Louis was set upon and murdered by a gang of John's henchmen. John did not
deny being behind the attack, publicly justifying the murder and denouncing
Louis as a tyrant and letcher.

This caused Louis' son Charles to go whining to his future father-in-law,
the powerful Bernard VII, Count of Armagnac. The Burgundian and the
Armagnac factions now plunged France into a brutal civil war lasting some
30 years. This seriously weakened France and opened the door for Henry V to
re-ignite the Hundred Years War with Agincourt and all that stuff.

Fast forward to 1419. The beleaguered Dauphin of France, Charles (later
King Charles VII), was aligned with the Armagnacs. The Dauphin ordered John
the Fearless to a peace conference at Montereau. A special conference room
had been built on the castle's bridge which was to contain the Dauphin, the
principal nobles, and ten men from each side. As John bowed to the Dauphin
upon entering, the Armagnacs had the door slammed shut before all the
Burgundians could get in. Tanneguy III du Châtel, an Armagnac knight, split
John's skull open with an axe that had been concealed under his cloak. The
remaining Burgundians in the room were overwhelmed and taken prisoner,
while those who had been locked out were forced to make a retreat from the
bridge under crossbow bolts shot by Armagnac soldiers hidden in nearby
buildings.

Charles, the Dauphin, denied knowing about the plot. Maybe so, as wasn't
exactly one of France's brightest rulers. However, he did reward and
protect the two chief assassins. Charles also developed a life-long phobia
about crossing bridges.

The next Duke of Burgundy, Philip the Good, made a treaty with the English,
and although their armies rarely fought side-by-side, their alliance almost
delivered the French throne to Henry V and later his infant son.

Here is the background story on the death of Louis I:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Assassination_of_Louis_I,_Duke_of_Orléans

And the assassination of John the Fearless is here:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Assassination_of_John_the_Fearless

Yours Aye,


Lord Mungo Napier, Laird of Mallard Lodge  🦆