Charles VII of France

Who was Charles VII of France?

Charles VII, called the Victorious or the Well-Served, was a monarch of the House of Valois who ruled as King of France from 1422 to his death, although his legitimacy was initially contested by Henry VI of England.

In 1422, Charles VII inherited the throne of France under desperate circumstances. Forces of the Kingdom of England and the Duke of Burgundy occupied Guyenne and northern France, including Paris, the most populous city, and Reims, the city in which the French kings were traditionally crowned. In addition, his father Charles VI the Mad had disinherited him in 1420 and recognized Henry V of England and his heirs as the legitimate successors of the French crown instead. At the same time, a civil war raged in France between the Armagnacs and the Burgundian party.

With his court removed to Bourges, south of the Loire River, Charles was disparagingly called the “King of Bourges”, because the area around Bourges was one of the few remaining regions left to him. However, his political and military position improved dramatically with the emergence of Joan of Arc as a spiritual leader in France.