Isabeau of bavaria

Isabeau of Bavaria

b. c.1370-d.1435

Married to Charles VI ‘the Mad’, Isabeau tried to protect the inheritance of her sons while France was in crisis. She switched between the two factions that vied for power, ruining her credibility and becoming a target for malicious propaganda.

Vain, shallow and immoral – these are just a few choice words used to describe Isabeau of Bavaria. Lambasted as a spendthrift with a promiscuous and flighty nature, she has gone down in history as a villainess – but there is more to her than meets the eye. At the tender age of 22, Isabeau was thrust into the spotlight as her husband, King Charles VI of France, succumbed to frequent bouts of violent insanity. His health triggered his country’s descent into a chaotic civil war and Isabeau’s position became precarious. Caught between two factions determined to control the throne, Isabeau did what was needed to survive and protect the inheritance of her sons.

Isabeau was 15 years old when she married Charles in 1385, and the king himself only 17. She was unaware of her prospective marriage until their meeting on French soil in Amiens, where she had travelled to under the belief that she was on a pilgrimage. All of a sudden, Isabeau’s world completely changed and she never saw her native family again. The new queen was entirely unprepared for the part she would later play in the dangerous game for the throne.

Isabeau’s father, Stephen III, Duke of Bavaria, had deliberately kept her in the dark about the marriage to protect her. Her uncle had arranged it with Charles’ uncle and regent, Philip, Duke of Burgundy, to secure an alliance against England. Concerned that his beloved daughter could be rejected, Stephen demanded that the true purpose of Isabeau’s journey be kept a secret from her. He needn’t have worried – when the king first saw his prospective bride, “love and delight entered his heart,” according to his court chronicler, Jean Froissart.

When Charles was asked if he wanted Isabeau to become his queen, he exclaimed: “Yes! We want no other. And tell my uncle of Burgundy, in God’s name, to make haste about it.” He was clearly besotted and the couple were married three days later. The start of their relationship was loving, happy and fruitful and they had five children together within the first seven years.

Charles had ascended the French throne aged 11 and his four uncles had ruled as his regents. They were supposed to relinquish control when Charles turned 14, but instead they clung to power and plundered the crown’s finances. Out of all of them, it was Burgundy who wielded the most power – but this changed in 1388 when the king finally assumed his