Isabeau of Bavaria : biography

Charles VI died in October 1422. As Henry V had died earlier the same year, his infant son by Catherine, Henry VI, was proclaimed King of France, according to the terms of the Treaty of Troyes, with the Duke of Bedford acting as regent. Rumors circulated about Isabeau again; some chronicles describe her living in a "degraded state". According to Tuchman, Isabeau had a farmhouse built in St. Ouen where she looked after livestock, and in her later years, during a lucid episode, Charles arrested one of her lovers whom he tortured and then drowned in the Seine.Tuchman (1978), 516 However, historian Desmond Seward attributes this same episode to the disinherited Dauphin, who went on to become Charles VII. He kept at his own court as a favorite the "poisoner and wife-murderer" and former lover whom he eventually had drowned.Seward (1978), 214

At that period rumors about Isabeau’s promiscuity flourished, which Adams attributes to English propaganda, who may have felt a need to secure their grasp on the throne. An allegorical pamphlet, called Pastorelet, was published in the mid-1420s painting Isabeau and Orleans as lovers.Adams (2010), 40–44 At about the same period Isabeau was contrasted with Joan of Arc, considered virginally pure, in the allegedly popular saying "Even as France had been lost by a woman it would be saved by a woman". Adams writes Joan of Arc has been attributed with the words "France. having been lost by a woman, would be restored by a virgin", but neither saying can be substantiated by contemporary documentation or chronicles.Adams (2010), 47

In 1429, when Isabeau lived in English-occupied Paris, the accusation was again put forth that Charles VII was not the son of Charles VI. At that time, with two contenders for the French throne—the young Henry VI and disinherited Charles—this could have been propaganda to prop up the English claim. Furthermore, gossip spread that Joan of Arc was Isabeau and Orleans’ illegitimate daughter—a rumor Gibbons finds improbable because Joan of Arc almost certainly was not born for some years after Orléans’ assassination. Stories circulated that the dauphins were murdered, and attempts were made to poison the other children, all of which added to Isabeau’s reputation of one of history’s great villains.

Isabeau was removed from political influence and retired to live in the Hôtel Saint-Pol with her brother’s second wife, Catherine of Alençon. She was accompanied by her ladies-in-waiting Amelie von Orthenburg and Madame de Moy, the latter of whom had travelled from Germany and had stayed with her as dame d’honneur since 1409. Isabeau died there in 1435. Her death and funeral were documented by Jean Chartier (member of St Denis Abbey) who may well have been an eyewitness.

Children

The birth of each of Isabeau’s 12 children is well chronicled; even the decoration schemes of the rooms in which she gave birth are described. She had six sons and six daughters. The first son, born in 1386, died as an infant and the last, Philip, born in 1407, lived a single day. Three others died young with only her youngest son, Charles VII, living to adulthood. Five of the six daughters survived; four were married and one, Marie (1393–1438), was sent at age four to be raised in a convent, where she became prioress.Adams (2010), 230–233

Her first son, Charles (b. 1386) died in infancy. A daughter, Joan, born two years later lived until 1390. The second daughter, Isabella (b. 1389), born in 1389, was married at age seven to Richard II of England and after his death to Charles, Duke of Orléans. The third daughter, Joan (1391–1433), who lived to age 42, married John VI, Duke of Brittany. The fourth daughter, Michelle (1395–1422), first wife to Philip the Good, died childless at age 27. Catherine of Valois, Queen of England, (1401–1438) married Henry V of England; on his death she took Sir Owen Tudor as her second husband.

Of her sons, the first to survive infancy and become Dauphin, Charles, (1392–1401), died at age eight of a "wasting illness".Adams (2010), 154 Louis, Dauphin of France (1397–1415), and Duke of Guyenne, married to Margaret of Burgundy, died at age 19. John, Dauphin of France (1398–1417), and Duke of Touraine, first husband to Jacqueline, Countess of Hainaut, died without issue. Charles VII, (1403–1461) married Marie of Anjou.