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League of the Public Weal, 1465

It is not necessary to hope in order to undertake, nor to succeed in order to persevere. — the Bold

Dear Delegates,

Welcome to WUMUNS 2018! My name is Josh Zucker, and I am excited to be your director for the League of the Public Weal. I am currently a junior studying Systems Engineering and Economics. I have always been interested in history (specifically ancient and medieval history) and politics, so Model UN has been a perfect fit for me. Throughout high school and college, I’ve developed a passion for exciting Model UN weekends, and I can’t wait to share one with you! Louis XI, known as the Universal Spider for his vast reach and ability to weave himself into all affairs, is one of my favorite historical figures. His continual conflicts with of and the rest of ’s nobles are some of the most interesting political struggles of the medieval world. Louis XI, through his tireless work, not only greatly transformed the but also greatly strengthened France as a kingdom and set it on its way to becoming the united nation we know today. This committee will transport you to France as it reinvents itself after the Hundred Years War. Louis XI, the current of France, is doing everything in his power to reform and reinvigorate the French monarchy. Many view his as tyranny. You, the nobles of France, strive to keep the monarchy weak. For that purpose, you have formed the League of the Public Weal. The league is your way to unite the great , , and other nobles of France in order to protect your own interests. Your task will not be easy. The king is working meticulously to gather gold, allies, and power. Louis has strong alliances with the Swiss, , and among others. He is immensely popular with the common folk of France. Louis has spent the first years of his reign, as well as his time as Dauphin, building up a stable treasury, bureaucracy, and army. Will you work together to keep the king in check or will you allow the Universal Spider to ascend to utter dominance? If you have any questions, concerns, or just want to know more about the committee, feel free to email me at [email protected].

Sincerely, Josh Zucker

Contents

Committee Mandate……………….…………..……………………… 1

Historical Background…….……………………………...…………. 2 The Hundred Years War…...……….…………………………….…..…. 2 Charles VII’s Relationship with the Nobles……….……………….. 4 The Childhood of Louis XI……………………………………………….. 5 Louis the Dauphin…..….…….…….…….…….…………………...... …. 6 Louis in Dauphine……………….…….……………………………...... 8 Louis in Burgundy……………..……………………………………………. 9 The Early Reign of Louis XI.………………………………………….…. 10

Topic A: Conflict with Louis XI……………..…………………… 13 Topic B: Rebuilding the ...... 14 Topic C: Foreign Affairs……………………………………………… 15

Delegate Positions………………………………………………………. 16 Appendix…………………………………………………………………..…. 23

Committee Mandate Greetings, Nobles of France. We speak to you as your brothers and allies. It has become obvious to us, and assuredly to many of you, that the King has broken with precedent and tradition too many times. It is clear that Louis XI intends to eclipse regional power with the power of the French . Our positions and familial estates are at risk. If we do not unite soon, the French will be nothing more than a . In response to the King’s actions we, Charles, of Berry, Francis II, Duke of , and John II, , have, in the year of our 1465, formed the League of the Public Weal. The goal of this league is to confront and depose Louis XI and to elevate his princely brother, Charles, , to the of France. We must unite under the banner of the League of the Public Weal to protect our status and offices against Louis XI. The threat of the king cannot be taken lightly as every move he has made since his four years ago has been taken to drain the nobility of their rightful power and prestige. He has excluded us from his council meetings and we hold no sway in his court. He bashes tradition at every opportunity, and we are sure that we have only seen the beginning of his plan. If left unchecked, Louis’ ambition will run us all out of power. We must put aside our own differences and squabbles in order to be that check on Louis’s ambition. If met with a united noble front, Louis will not be able to simple assert his will. He is a dangerous and one that must be dealt with by a noble hand. If we work together, we can arise from any conflict with Louis victorious and more powerful than we were under Charles VII, his good father. Although many of you in this League will have personal command of and armies, this war cannot be won by one man. Personal ambition must be put aside for the sake of France and if this council succeeds all of you will go down in history as the saviors of nobility.

5 Will you join us and bring the Nobles of France back to the forefront of French politics? Will you stand up for your position and defend it, to the death if necessary? Will you fight the tyranny of Louis XI?

Historical Background The King Charles IV of France died without a male heir in 1328, ending the Hundred Capetian of French . With the end of that noble lineage, France found itself in a succession crisis. The two candidates for the throne were Edward Years War III “The Black ” of (Charles’ nephew via his sister, Isabella) and Philip of Valois (Charles’ cousin and the grandson of Phillip III of France). Edward III was the closest relation to Charles, but because his connection to the throne came from a woman, many viewed it as illegitimate. In this time, women could not ascend to the French throne themselves. Philip eventually was chosen as king by the nobles of France and became Philip VI. While upset, Edward III accepted Philip VI as the king of France and in 1329 payed for his French territories, although in an act of protest Edward wore his sword and crown, contrary to French custom. Since 1066, the kings of England controlled some amount of French territory. Primary among these holdings was the powerful of on France’s northern coast, the home and former seat of the famed . Over the years due to succession, politics, and war the English kings gained and lost much land. By 1330, the English crown also controlled the Duchy of in south-western France. Tensions were rising between the kingdoms of France and England. In 1326 Charles IV renewed the Franco-Scot alliance and threw a wrench into Edward III’s plans to invade . A decade later, Philip VI of France scrapped plans for a crusade and moved a joint Franco-Scottish fleet to the . Edward responded by sending an army to the region of in Gascony. Angered at the military movement in lands he considered properly French, Philip VI legally revoked Edward III’s right to hold the southern provinces. Edward retaliated by reviving his legal claim to of France. The Hundred Years War had begun. The English won many victories early on in the war, and in 1356 the French king John II was captured at the battle of . During this time the Black Death hit France, killing anywhere from a third to half of the French population. In 1360 the Treaty of was signed which gave a significantly enlarged Guyenne independence and Edward III gave up his claim to the French crown alongside some other captured French territory. In 1364, John II died in London and his son Charles, who had been acting as since his capture, became Charles V of France. Many in the enlarged Guyenne who were unhappy with the new English rule refused to pay a new tax and appealed to Charles V for support. Charles V summoned the Black Prince of England and the of Guyenne to to hear the case. The Black Prince responded that he would only go to Paris with sixty

6 thousand men behind him. The French King did not take kindly to such threats of invasion. The Hundred Years War resumed. Charles V declared that the English possessions in Frances were forfeited, and Edward III revived his claim to the throne of France. The war continued on and off over the following decades, exhausting both England and France. In Early Phase England, the taxes raised to pay of the for the war caused much unrest Hundred and eventually led to a peasant revolt. France faced plague, YearsImage WarCredit: Wikimedia Commons economic recession, and widespread destruction. Throughout the war, bands of mercenaries, known as ecorcheurs, would work for the French crown during the campaigning season and pillage the French countryside the rest of the year. The tax base of France was shrinking as more and more money was needed to fight England. In 1380 Charles V died and his son Charles VI succeeded him as King of France. In 1392 Charles VI descended into madness and was placed under the regency of Philip the Bold, , and Louis of Valois, Duke of Orleans. This opened the floodgates to decades of struggles between nobles over the right to govern in the King’s stead. It was a time of rumors, insults, kidnappings, and even assassinations between the Dukes of Burgundy, Orleans, , Brittany, Berry, and Bourbon. Eventually, open fighting broke out between the factions. John of Burgundy marched on Paris and was soon in control of much of northern France. In 1419 John was murdered and his son Philip the Good became the Duke of Burgundy. Shortly afterwards, he entered into an alliance with the and named Henry as the regent and heir — or Dauphin — of France. The defection of Burgundy to the English side gave England the upper hand. This makeshift alliance survived Henry V’s death in 1422 and the death of his successor shortly after. Yet the French throne did not fall cleanly into English hands. Thanks to the intervention of the proselytizing farm girl and her fanatic following, Charles VII was able to be coronated in Rheims in 1429. Refusing to give up easily, Henry VI of England was coronated as king of France in Paris two years later. The war with Burgundy lasted until 1435 when Charles VII concluded the treaty of , allowing Charles to begin taking back the land conquered by the Anglo- alliance, including the of Normandy and Brittany.

7 By 1450 Charles had retaken the English controlled territory in northern France and focused his efforts in Guyenne. On the 17th of July 1453, French forces dealt a decisive blow to the English at the Battle of Castillon, driving the English out of the continent. Today, in the year 1465, France and England are still formerly at war, but the Battle of Castillon marked the end of hostilities between the two kingdoms. France had been restored under a French monarch.

Charles VII’s Charles VII was a fairly weak king. He spent much of his reign attempting Relationship to curb the power of his nobles, often to little success. During the early years of with the his reign, when not fighting the English, he sent many expeditions to check Nobles rebellious lords. He came to the throne among one of the lowest parts of the Hundred Years War for France. Although he became king in 1422, he would not be crowned for another seven years. Charles rose to power in the middle of the Burgundian- Armagnac civil war and was forced into siding with the when the allied with England. In the midst of the Hundred Years War almost all the Charles VII Duchies of France had shrugged off Image Credit: royal authority—many referred to Wikimedia Commons Charles VII as the “King of ” rather than King of France as his court was in Bourges since the English controlled Paris and Rheims. Accordingly, the nobles acted as independent political entities. Burgundian power was at its height and Philip the Good— rather than his lawful liege, the king—was the most powerful man in France. As the Hundred Years War came to a close, Charles began to reassert royal authority. This process took years and was often met with difficulty. In order to expedite his effort, Charles created France’s first standing army. A radical and alarming departure from the levy system where soldiers were summoned only when needed, this move caused almost as many problems for the king as it solved. Charles continually was forced to send soldiers to put down the rebellions of his lords. After years of chaos and independence during the war, the nobles of France were unwilling to submit to the king. All throughout this period Burgundy was functioning as an essentially independent entity, loyal to France in name only, and sometimes not even that. When the lords of France finally nominally accepted royal authority, Charles was forced to deal with all sorts of court intrigue, although smaller-scale

8 rebellions often erupted. Charles was constantly walked over by the powerful nobles in his court. A handful of major parties developed, centered around the of Dammartin, the house of Armagnac, the house of , and the Duke of Orleans. These parties were, excluding of Dammartin, extensions of the four major families which dominated . The first and most powerful party was the . The Burgundian sphere of influence stretched along France’s eastern border with the Dukes of Burgundy controlled a good amount of land in the Holy as well. The House of Anjou, also known as the Angevins, held sway in the western and southeastern parts of France and was widely considered the next most powerful family. Beyond french borders, Angevin influence also reached into and and the family for some time ruled Naples, but during the reign of Charles they were expelled from the Southern Italian Kingdom. The Armagnac family held sway over much of southwestern France. The Orleans family was the closest family to the main Valois and thus their centers of power clustered around major metropolitan areas in central France. Charles, for all his effort, was an ineffective king. He came to power in one of the worst positions of any ruler and spent his reign attempting to restore the monarchy to what it had once been. However, after more than a century of war, economic depression, and general chaos, the dream of restoring royal power to an exhausted nation remained. The task fell to his successor, a man who would prove far smarter and stronger man than he.

The The man who would one day become Louis XI was born on July 3, 1423 in Childhood of the town of Bourges. Louis spent his early years at the royal castle of , and Louis XI in 1429 was in the presence of La Pucelle, Joan of Arc. Joan was visiting the castle shortly after her victory at the Siege of Orleans. 1429 marked a turning point for the : The Anglo-Burgundian alliance was pushed back by the French forces and the Dukes of France began to fall in line behind the king. While the fortunes of France were improving at this time, Louis’ opinion of his father was souring. Louis, from his youth known as a France in strong-willed boy, saw his father hiding 1435 in castles and was disgusted by his handling of the Hundred Years War. Image Credit: Wikimedia Commons In 1436, Louis married Margaret Stuart, the daughter of the King of Scotland. The marriage was intended to formalize the French- Scottish alliance and the wedding was thus a simple affair; no jousts were held, feasting was kept to a minimum, and Charles rode into town shortly before the wedding and out of town shortly after. He didn’t even remove his spurs for

9 the ceremony. After the wedding the relationship between Louis and his father continued to deteriorate. Nevertheless, shortly after his marriage to Margaret, Louis was named Dauphin, heir to France, and given his own household and a princely pension, notable only for its small size.

Louis the Louis, as an ambitious young prince, was not content to sit around on his Dauphin hands all day. In the fall of 1436 the young Dauphin accompanied his father on a survey of Southern France in order to raise money from the loyal to the crown. On this expedition Louis’ opinion of his father and his father’s administration only worsened. Louis saw citizens complaining about extortion from royal agents, disorder caused by feuding nobles, the destruction of land by ecorcheurs (armed bands of lawless, pillaging mercenaries and highwaymen), he saw men promise much and do nothing. More and more Louis was impatient to have a hand in the governance of France, but his father kept excluding him. During this time Louis fell in with other men who felt excluded from the royal , most notably the Duke of Bourbon. In 1437 Louis got his taste of battle when Charles took him on a campaign to remove English garrisons from along the upper . In July, Louis led an assault Louis XI on the fortress town of Chateau- London and quickly claimed Image Credit: Wikimedia Commons victory. Later that year Charles and Louis would finally enter Paris triumphant. In 1439 Louis finally got the chance to prove himself when he was tasked with rounding up the ecorcheurs in . He quickly made an alliance with the Count of , payed off the ecorcheurs, and settled a dispute between the Counts of Armagnac and Comminges. All throughout his time in Toulouse he was acting as an able administrator and fair judge, he heard appeals, corrected abuses of office, and checked the extortions of the nobles. Much to his dismay, Louis was soon called back to Paris. He asked his father to give him the of Dauphine, as it was rightfully his as Dauphin, but was refused. Louis then began conspiring with the Duke of Bourbon. Louis and Charles of Bourbon were soon joined by the Dukes of Alencon and Brittany as well as the count of Vendome and some more minor lords. These lords flocked to the Duke of Bourbon’s banner due to issues with Charles VII’s attempted reorganization of the kingdom, after the years of chaos of the Hundred Years War

10 these lords were beginning to chafe under Charles VII’s attempt to restore the authority of the monarchy. Louis and his co-conspirators launched a revolt, known as the Praguerie, in 1440. While the revolt failed, it was not due to any fault of Louis. In fact, the Dauphin once again distinguished himself as an able military commander. Louis was forced to submit himself to Charles, and in return was given partial control of Dauphine. Louis never forgot the Praguerie. For the rest of his life he would never act rashly again, instead carefully thinking through all of his choices. Louis fully submitted to his father and accepted his demands. In 1441 Louis joined his father’s campaign to win Normandy and Guyenne back from the English. Later that he year refused the offer of a collection of princes to go into revolt; there would be no second Praguerie. In 1443 Louis was given command over the mission to relieve the Norman town of Dieppe. During this campaign Louis fell in with , Count of Dammartin, one of the most skilled generals of the day and a man who would serve Louis well over the next few years. Later, in 1444, Louis decided to ride south to force the rebellious Count of Armagnac to submit to the crown. After a short campaign the Count submitted and he along with much of his family were imprisoned. Louis was quickly making a name for himself as a skilled commander and his conduct with his soldiers, acting familiarly with them and rewarding them greatly, won their extreme loyalty and love. In April 1444 hostilities between England and France halted and Henry VI married —the daughter of Rene, King of Naples, Duke of Anjou and , and uncle of Louis—to seal the peace. This led a number of ecorcheurs to become unemployed and restless, and so to avoid a mercenary revolt Louis was sent with the ecorcheurs to . In 1443 Charles received a desperate plea from the Canton of Zurich when several other Swiss Cantons, which together formed the , laid siege to the city of Zurich. Already refused aid by the Holy Roman , Zurich looked to Paris for help. King Charles sent his son with an army of ecorcheurs to help Zurich. Louis, leading a far larger army than the Swiss, won an easy victory and, standing at the headwaters of the with a powerful and victorious army, re-established France as a solvent power. Louis then began to move against the . Despite hostilities over the Siege of Zurich, Louis saw the Swiss as a rising power and one that shared his opinions on nobles. He made efforts to secure relations with several Swiss Cantons, both for France and personally. Louis then made efforts to occupy . He had extended French power to the Rhine and for the first time in a century the German princes on the edge of the Holy Roman Empire began looking to France rather than Burgundy for leadership and protection. Louis also began a friendly relationship with the Duke of Milan. Envoys from invited him to become their sovereign, but he declined. Even the Duke of Savoy ceded land to the bordering region of Dauphine in order to build an alliance with the Dauphin.

11 In the midst of his ascendancy Louis was called back to the at Nancy in 1445. His father made peace with the Holy Roman Empire and the French evacuated Alsace. Louis spent his time at Nancy in the shadows and he would constantly antagonize his father and to a greater extent his father’s favorite mistress, Agnes Sorel. Louis was a somber figure among the gaiety of the French court. It was in this period that Louis’ disdain of the nobility grew and solidified. Louis began involved with a number of plots at court to overthrow the established men of the king. In 1447, Charles removed Louis from the royal court and banished him to Dauphine. Louis would never see his father again though Charles would rule for another fifteen years.

Louis in Louis came to Dauphine ready to rule. He wasted no time, immediately Dauphine abolishing many of the overlapping jurisdictions and streamlining the governance of his little province. Louis was constantly on the move in Dauphine, listening to complaints and curbing the abuses of the feudal lords. He stimulated the economy of Dauphine by supporting agricultural and mercantile enterprises. Louis abolished the rights of the nobles of Dauphin to practice private warfare and stripped the nobles of many other of their ancient rights. Louis also brought many of the ecclesiastics in Dauphin to heel. By 1450 he had established complete control over what had become his little empire. In his first years in Dauphine Louis enacted over a thousand decrees. In his time in Dauphine, he managed to double its territory, transform the province into a , and build one of the most cohesive and efficient in all of . But the nobles and clerics of Dauphine did not submit quietly. There was a constant stream of messages sent to the French court complaining about the abuses of Louis. But while the powers of Dauphine hated Louis, the people loved him. In 1450 Louis married Charlotte of Savoy, six years after Margaret’s death. Unfortunately for Louis, it did not take long for his shaky relationship with his father to deteriorate further. Charles did not approve of Louis’ marriage to Charlotte and began attacking Louis’ allies at court. In 1452 Charles deprived Louis of his princely pension and sent troops to the southeast of France, towards both Savoy and Dauphine. The Duke of Savoy, frightened, renounced the Dauphin and signed a treaty putting himself under the protection of France. Charles may have marched on Dauphine but called off his advance when an English force landed at Guyenne. In 1454 Louis attempted to intimidate his father-in-, the Duke of Savoy, back into an alliance by attacking his province of . In 1456, after multiple envoys were sent by Louis to his father, Charles gave Louis a response: his terms were unacceptable, and the king would stop at nothing to bring his disobedient son to heel. Later that year, Charles sent troops into Dauphine led by Antoine de Chabannes, Louis’ former favorite who had defected to the royal camp. It was time to leave Dauphine. Louis considered his options. Luckily, he had made several new alliances. He had good relations with the Swiss and the

12 Dutch , he considered calls from the to go on Crusade, and he had it on good authority that he would be welcomed in England. Forced to action from the pressure exerted by his father, he ultimately chose his uncle Philip the Good, Duke of Burgundy. In August 1456, Louis arrived in his uncle’s domain a landless fugitive.

Louis in The lands of Philip the Good stretched from the Low (the Burgundy modern day ) to the edge of Dauphine. Philip was the richest Prince in Christendom and a man feared by Louis’ father above all other men. As the Duke of Burgundy and the Count of , Philip was a Peer of France, part of a circle of the most powerful nobles of France. But Burgundy was a relatively splintered realm including Burgundy proper, the of Flanders, the , , the province of , and many towns along the such as and . Philip worked tirelessly to turn his patchwork of lands into a unified state. Louis marketed his flight as preparations to go on Crusade, as Philip was planning to do just that. However, everyone knew the true reason for the Dauphin’s flight. Louis’ time in Burgundy was one Phillip the where he acted extremely Good deliberately. Philip the Good was known for his love of and Image Credit: Wikimedia Commons Louis was obliged to play the courtly game. Philip had also recently established the Order of the Golden Fleece, which had quickly become one of the most prestigious orders of the day. Among elaborate religious ceremonies and regal dinners, the Spider’s web grew once again. Philip, while officially supplicating to Louis as the heir of France, never allowed the royal court to forget that he was a Peer of France. Louis, on the other hand, never forgot that he was a refugee. Throughout this period Louis attempted to build a friendship with Charles, the Count of Charolais and son of Philip. The Count was always at odds with the favorites of his father and was open to potential allies. Over months of flattery and counter-flattery, Louis and Charles played a delicate game as Louis began to get involved in Burgundian court intrigue. Philip ultimately granted Louis a pension of thirty-six thousand livres and the castle of Genappe, after this Louis did his best to stay out of the court intrigue and the feuds between the Count and the de Croys. In this period the Dauphin, always quite religious, embraced piety even more.

13 Louis demanded much from the men in his service, he demanded extreme loyalty, top-quality service, and failure was not tolerated. He was not an unfair master, and he paid his men in more than just money, he was fiercely loyal to those who served him well, and never turned his back on them when they were in need. Louis had eyes everywhere; he had men in every great court of France. By 1460 Louis was beginning to sense that he was beginning to overstay his welcome. The relationship between Burgundy and France was beginning to deteriorate and Philip was growing weary of his nephew. Although it was quite plain, the castle of Genappe had become a seat of power, Louis was receiving and dispatching envoys constantly and without the consent of Philip. It didn’t help that Louis was now an active player in the Burgundian court in an attempt to build alliances. It was at this time Louis’ and Philip’s sensibilities began to clash as well. Louis kept a simple and austere household and had no time for aristocratic extravagances. He did not act like a . Philip, on the other hand, held one of the grandest courts in Europe. Louis had little patience for Philip’s intricate etiquette and Philip did not understand his nephew’s spartan lifestyle. Louis kept in contact with his father, but any negotiations were always disturbed by the anti-Burgundian faction at the French court, led by Antoine de Chabannes. Louis, however, was using his time in his exile to cultivate foreign alliances. The two men that Louis courted above all others were Richard Neville, of Warwick, and Francesco Sforza, Duke of Milan. In this period England was embroiled in the War of the Roses and Charles VII found himself supporting the Lancastrian side, and so Philip and Louis found themselves on the side of the Yorkists. Warwick was one of the main powers behind the Yorkist cause, and in 1461 he led the Yorkists to a great victory at the battle of Towton bringing an English alliance to Louis. Francesco Sforza came to power in 1447 after the previous Duke died without an heir, and quickly established himself as a non-traditional ruler, much the same way that Louis would when he became king. Tensions between France and Burgundy, never having been fully abated, flared up once again. Every day war seemed to inch closer and Louis’ position in this situation was noted by all parties. Charles had summoned the nobles of Normandy to his court while Philip was calling his to arms. Philip and his son began feuding again and the Louis’ relationship with his uncle was at an all- time low. But just as events seemed to be poised to swallow Louis up, the tempest cleared. On July 10 1461 he received news that his father was on his deathbed. On the 22nd Louis received the news that his father had succumbed to his illness. The next day Louis made his way to the French border. There he met Duke Philip, who escorted the new king to Rheims to be crowned.

The Early Once he was king, Louis quickly made it known that France was under Reign of new authority. It was abundantly clear to the court that he had not forgotten both Louis XI the services and the injuries done to him during his time as Dauphin. Louis

14 reshuffled the royal court appointing his men to key positions and refusing to meet with many of his father’s inner circle. Louis kept the pomp and circumstance of his uncle for his entrance into Paris. Although he personally hated the frills of royalty, he saw it as a necessity to secure his position and please his uncle. As he entered thousands of people watched the new king expectantly. In excited whispers over wine in candle-lit taverns they had heard of his actions, his misfortunes, and his particularities. They were excited — and somewhat frightened — to see what this energetic young royal would do next. No excitement could be found among the French nobility. They were scared. In they Louis saw a man who cared little for the traditional forms of royal authority and less for the powers of lords. Louis quickly got to work. The first of Louis’ acts was to continue his courting of the Count of Charolais. Louis managed, through a strategic use of gifts and flattery, to temporarily bring to an end the feud between his France at cousin and the de Croys. However, the Louis’ relationship with Philip began Beginning of to falter again when he ignored his uncle’s advice on a few too many Louis XI’s occasions. ImageReign Credit: He settled in and was Wikimedia Commons soon sending out messages and appointments left and right. During his time as the Dauphin Louis studied the weaknesses of France’s royal government, the encroachments of the nobles, and the new statecraft in Italy. He had his own of managing the realm and had every intention of imposing his will upon France. The King immediately implemented tax reforms, ennobled many competent townspeople so that they could receive lordships, allowed nobles to become tradesmen, and he removed many royal offices while demanding more from those he kept. Much of this signaled to the nobles that Louis was allying himself with the middling class. Louis decimated the royal household, preferring to live a simple life and keep a modest court. Louis took hold of the of Paris and the Chamber of Accounts and let them know that although they would continue their duties, they were to act efficiently and at the orders of the King. The King’s reforms and appointments extended to the army, which received new officers with orders to stress duties and discipline. The nobles of France were becoming more aware of their weakening position day by day. Louis abolished the Pragmatic Sanction, which gave the King and nobles of France much control over the French Church and gave the nobles

15 and ecclesiastics of France a strong revenue source. He also announced that he would not give a military command to any of the of France. Louis purged from his court the lords of the blood, men who came from families that had been at the upper echelons of power for generations. Louis denied the Duke of Bourbon the governorship of Guyenne and forced the to turn over one of his lordships to the Crown. Louis cut, severely, the list of pensions a lord could claim and would create a network of royal officials, known as baillis and seneschals, which would govern administrative regions, enforce royal rights, investigate dubious privileges, and uphold royal prerogatives. These officials held authority over all, from peasants, to the great lords of France. In January of 1462 Louis set out from Tours to begin a tour of his kingdom. He moved from town to town investigating and shaking up the places he would visit. He established fairs and sponsored projects. He was, above all else, surveying his realm. As he later wrote in the Rozier des Guerres, “ must think about the condition of his people and go among them often, as a good gardener cultivates his garden.” Louis was forging allies with the people of his kingdom. Throughout this tour Louis wove his web. The year 1462 was a good one for Louis’ foreign policy as it saw him secure victories and alliances with , Castile, Milan, and England. However, one could achieve so much without making some enemies. When the Treaty of Arras was signed Charles VIII gave the province of Picardy and a collection of towns on the Somme, this deal had a buyback clause for 400000 Crowns, a ridiculous sum which Louis would do everything in his power to raise. The buyback would cause the broody Count of Charolais to fly into a rage, damaging his relationship with his father, and causing the Count to bare a vicious grudge against Louis. And thus, Louis spent the first years of his reign; traveling around his kingdom, ensnaring foreign political actors in his diplomatic web, constantly sending out letters, appointments, and edicts, and slowly alienating his princes. Louis had all but cut the lords out of his government. His great council, which under any other ruler contained the most powerful lords and , contained only a few lords, none of them the great magnates. Louis also tended to rule without his council, his council chamber being most of the time the room he was staying in for the night. Louis held all the power in France, and he was not going to share any of it with his nobles. Louis soon felt pushback. When he attempted to appoint a and an abbot in Brittany the duke, Francis II, refused to accept the appointments. In response Louis claimed the right, as the sovereign lord, to appoint all the clergy of France. The tensions between the King and the rose over the course of the next two years. In July 1464 Francis was raising troops and sent word to England that he would assist Edward IV in reconquering Normandy and when Edward refused, Francis began to spread a rumor that Louis was planning on giving Guyenne to the English if they were to help him crush the French nobility. The accusation did much to hurt Louis’ already shaky standing with his nobles.

16 While Brittany and France would not end up fighting each other, the dispute was never truly settled. On February 20 Odet d’Aydie came to Louis in Poitiers as a representative of Brittany and announced that Francis had decided to yield. On 3 Odet d’Aydie left Poitiers on good terms and Louis was prepared to make peace. That same day Louis left Poitiers to go on a pilgrimage to Notre du Pont. There was one more person who left Poitiers on March 3, Louis’ brother, Charles Duke of Berry, Charles rode off to meet up with Odet d’Aydie who then escorted him to where he met up with the Duke of Brittany. On March 13, 1465 the Duke of Bourbon issued the Manifesto of the League of the Public Weal and the conflict, known as the War of the Public Weal, began.

Topic A: Conflict with Louis XI

Louis XI’s heavy-handed reign has finally caught up with him. The tyranny of Louis is the raison d’état of the League of the Public Weal. While the king’s reforms and reorganizations are strengthening France, they do so at the expense of the nobles and lords. As many of the leading nobles of France this cannot be allowed to happen as Louis will slowly strip you of your power. Louis is, however, a deft military leader and loved by many of his soldiers. Meeting the king in battle bears great risks; Louis has gained military experience as Dauphin leading an army of ecorcheurs against the Swiss, participating in the Praguerie, fighting the English, and campaigning in Dauphine and should not be underestimated as a general. Not only is he experienced, but he has won the loyalty and admiration of those soldiers serving under him. His simple lifestyle and personal discipline show his soldiers that he is no stuffy aristocrat and his men respect him for it. His military skills are not his only boon, however, known as l'universelle aragne, or the Universal Spider, Louis is a skilled negotiator and diplomat. He has strong alliances with the Swiss and Savoy and is personally close friends with Francisco Sforza, the Duke of Milan. Louis is also popular with the townspeople of France. In his fight against the nobles, Louis has chosen to elevate the townspeople and they represent a firm ally to the king. The king is not content to let things be, instead he is driven and intent on molding France to his own vision. He has used French institutions such as the Parlement of Paris to extend his reach and has manipulated the of France into giving him increased control over taxation. Louis is putting together a royal machine that will soon overtake the nobles of France. His shaking up of the court upon his ascension and shuffling up of some apanages show that he is not afraid to make his own stamp on his kingdom. While Louis abolished the Pragmatic Sanction upon becoming king, he has all but restored it, however, while previously the French clergy held control over the Gallican Church, now the power rests in Louis’ hands. Many of the

17 French clergy which controlled the Gallican Church had ties to the major seigneurial houses of France and hold much resentment towards the king for curbing their power. Time and time again Louis has shown that he has no room in his kingdom for the nobles. He has turned away the council of Princes of the Blood and has repeatedly ignored the of his lords. His conflict with the Duke of Brittany showed that he is unwilling to respect the authority of nobles within their own realm and his continued rule is a threat to the power and prestige of all the nobles of France. Louis has few allies remaining in France, but the ones he has are powerful. The Angevin family remains loyal to the crown and controls the Duchy of Anjou and the County of in addition to a large amount of wealth and manpower. Rene, duke of Anjou, is both Louis’ most powerful ally and his most tenuous, Rene has long been dissatisfied with the French Kings and has made public this dissatisfaction. While currently Rene is in Louis’ camp the right deal may be able to turn him. Louis also maintains the support of the Counts of Foix, , and Vendome. From the size of the Royal domains and the domains of Louis’ French allies it appears that Louis can muster a force of close to 30,000 men, but he also has the ability to call on his foreign allies and it is unknown how many more men he can get.

Topic B: Rebuilding the Realm

Years, not decades, have passed since the end of the Hundred Years War. The population of France is the lowest that it has been in two centuries between the destruction of the War and the damage done by the Black Plague. Towns are smaller, tax bases are weaker, and armies cannot be called with the same ease they used to be called with. Under Charles VII the lords of France took the lead in rebuilding their , but with Louis in charge of France that prospect seems impossible. While Louis encourages the lords and nobles of France to rebuild, he keeps a careful eye on what they are doing. While resisting the tyranny of Louis XI, you must take care of your own realm or risk it falling into ruin. As the League of the Public Weal begins to fight Louis XI, France ends up divided between the League and Louis and the production of resources ends up being significantly reduced. Trade across France has been significantly reduced and the League needs funds to support itself and the Duchies and that make it up. If you cannot trade with other counties and duchies in France it may be beneficial to look outside of the kingdom for trading partners. In addition, the League of the Public Weal was organized to resist increased in royal power, but many of the nobles in the league, and other members, have different visions of what the League will do for France. Some think that the League will serve its duty once Louis XI is deposed, others are under the impression that the League will serve as a noble council for the king,

18 while other members believe that the League should rule France as a commonwealth. Conflicts between members who want to be left alone by higher powers and those who want to be said higher powers are causing the League to strain and the stability of the League is risked as long as there is an opportunity for Louis XI to peel off members of the League.

Topic C: Foreign Affairs

Although France and England are in a truce at the moment, technically the Hundred Years War is still ongoing. Although in the past Burgundy had a strong connection with England the desertion of Burgundy led to England’s fortune’s reversing in the war. However, Burgundy’s support of the Yorkist helped Edward IV gain the throne in the War of the Roses. It is unclear whether Edward would support the League of the Public Weal and if he did support it what help he would provide. Although England is still recovering from the War of the Roses it has a large military force at its disposal. Edwards’ ultimate goals are still unknown and English intervention could mean a spark that reignites the Hundred Years War, a war fought by the English royal family because of a claim to the French throne, and if successful there is a risk that Edward might attempt to take the French throne, which would be in conflict with the League’s goal of making Charles, the Duke of Berry and Louis’ younger brother, the king. While Edward and England would be a powerful ally there are many risks with getting such a powerful force involved. England is not the only foreign power that might interfere in the coming conflict. Many prominent figures in France have ties to other realms. Louis’ ally the Count of Foix is the married to the daughter of the King of Aragon and and is so trusted that he has been named the king’s heir in Navarre. Louis also enjoys the support of most of the Angevin family who have ties to the Lancastrians, who are currently in exile in Scotland. The king also has made an alliance with the Duke of Milan. There are many possible alliances that can be made by the league. In allying himself with the Angevins, Louis is supporting the claim of Rene of Anjou to become King of Naples, the current King of Naples, Ferrante, is not happy with this alliance and is also wary of Milan. The House of Burgundy also has alliances with many German princes and dukes. While Louis has a formal alliance with Castile, both kings are after much of the same land on and around the , Henry IV of Castile may be able to be drawn into an alliance in exchange for territorial expansion. Louis, in his conduct as king, has antagonized the papacy with his establishment of the Gallican Church. Pius II and Louis had a long record of conflicts, the current pope, Paul II, has only recently been pope for a few months and may be able to be convinced to ally with the league in exchange for power over the Gallican Church. However, a Gallican Church controlled by the nobles of France is itself valuable enough to possibly supersede an alliance with Rome.

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Delegate Positions

Charles, Charles is the younger brother of Louis XI. He is untested, but he compensates Duke of his lack of experience with pride and confidence. When his father died, Louis was Berry still in exile in Burgundy and there were many who wanted to make Charles the king, rather than his brash and nontraditional brother. However, Louis became king and made his brother Duke of Berry. Charles believed his beneath him, as brother and heir to the king, and constantly tried to get a better one from his brother, most recently he has been asking for the . Shortly before the League formed Charles began to surround himself with other disaffected princes and lords, many of which supported his father’s conflict with Louis. Charles joined the League in order to supplant his brother as King of France. Charles represents the League’s legitimate claim to the throne of France, but it is unclear whether he is using the League or the League is using him.

Jean II, Jean II is another nephew of Philip the Good. He is also known as the Scourge of Duke of the English due to his role in the Hundred Years War. Jean was part of Charles Bourbon VII’s inner circle and one of the advisors that pushed the King in his conflict against his son. His main source of enmity towards Louis from the King taking away the governorship of Guyenne. Jean also resented being excluded from the King’s councils. After publishing the Manifesto of the League of the Public Weal, Jean began ordering his men to begin seizing royal taxes and royal officers. Jean’s military experience, wealth, and power make him a clear choice to be the face of the League, even if there are some members who fancy themselves in that position. Jean is in charge of coordinating the forces of the members of the League as well as issuing the League’s official statements.

Charles, The bold son of Philip the Good, Charles is known for his temper above all else. Count of However, he has also shown himself to be a skilled military commander, even if Charolais his diplomatic skills leave something to be desired. Charles is also heir to the richest and most powerful duchy in France. Charles has a fairly rocky relationship with his father due to his temper and impatience for his father’s methods of ruling. He grew up in the last years of the Hundred Years War, when Burgundy was at its most powerful and sees the French Crown as a check on his family’s power more than anything else.

Not only does Charles have a strong dislike for the French King, he hates Louis XI personally. The two had a rocky relationship when Louis was living in Burgundy, despite Louis’ constant attempts to befriend Charles, mostly due to Louis’ friendship with his rivals, the brothers de Croy. Louis further alienated his cousin when he bought Picardy and the towns along the Somme back from Philip the Good, which Charles saw as both an overstep on Louis’ part and a move that

20 reduced his own inheritance. Shortly before the League formed Charles accused Louis of attempting to assassinate him, it is unclear if the claims were grounded in fact, but it is clear that Louis bears Charles’ unending enmity. Charles is the de facto leader of the League; although the League has no official leader, there are few men in France who would dare go against the will of the Count.

Philip the Philip is the second, arguably first, most powerful man in France. As Duke of Burgundy his wealth and lands rival those of the King. During the later phase of Good, Duke the Hundred Years War, his alliance with England brought France to its knees, of Burgundy and it was only when he left that alliance was France able to begin to beat back the English tide. Philip is obsessed with and courtly life, the exact opposite of his nephew Louis XI. Philip began the order of the Golden Fleece, the most prestigious knightly order in all of Europe and one which all members of the League are a part of. Philip also has a strong relationship with England, due both to his support of the Yorkists in the War of the Roses and the fact that he rules over the Low Countries which have a strong mercantile connection with England.

Philip is only in the League non-committedly; while he does not agree with Louis’ methods of ruling, he is not sure the extent of rebellion he wants to commit to. Philip and Louis’ relationship began quite well but declined during Louis’ time in Burgundy. While Louis repaired their relationship to some extent in the beginning of his kingship, their relationship deteriorated when Louis began to consistently ignore his uncle’s council. Philip is old and does not have another campaign in him, so his role in the League appears to be mostly to give advice, soldiers, and money as well as to check his reckless son. It seems that in this case Charles is guiding the decisions of Burgundy.

Francis II, Brittany has long been one of the most independent duchies in France. In fact, Duke of Brittany’s Celtic culture, position on the continent, and trade relations means that it often has closer ties to England than to France. Francis II’s chief concern is Brittany maintaining the quasi-independence of Brittany and he sees Louis XI and his mission to reform the governing structure of France as something that will quash that independence. Francis sees his conflict with Louis over the Breton clergy as the first step that Louis took in an attempt to eventually annex Brittany into the royal realm. Francis is a bold and brash ruler, but he cares for his duchy and will always place the well-being of Brittany over all else. He is fiercely independent and sees the League more as a collection of nobles banding together to check the king’s tyranny rather than a body of its own. Francis also has strong ties to the which is currently in exile in Brittany plotting the downfall of the .

John II, John II of Lorraine is the son of Rene of Anjou. In his youth he saw his father Duke of driven from his and ever since then has held a deep Lorraine, resentment for both Ferrante, the current King of Naples, and the French Kings titular Duke who have yet to take up arms against Ferrante to restore his family to their of

21 kingdom, which he sees as the French King’s feudal responsibility. As his father still lays claim to the crown of Naples, he still calls himself the Duke of Calabria. As an Angevin, John comes from one of the richest and most powerful families in France, and although most of his family has decided to ally with Louis, John still controls a rather powerful duchy and has his own reserves of men and money. Due to the location of Lorraine, John has found himself squarely within the Burgundian fold and has formed a firm friendship with the Count of Charolais.

Jacques Jacques d’Armagnac was one of Louis’ earliest supporters. He had served under d'Armagnac, Louis many times during his time as Dauphin and received honors from both Duke of Louis and Charles VII for his service against the English in Normandy and Nemours Guyenne. In 1462 Louis gave him the Duchy of Nemours and married him to his god-daughter. While Jacques received much from Louis, he eventually began to feel as if his services were no longer being appreciated. Little by little Jacques began to drift from the royal fold. Jacques now finds his interests best served by supporting the League, but bears little personal hatred for Louis and, as an opportunist, would likely desert the League if he found that his interests would be better served in supporting Louis. Jacques d’Armagnac is also one of the better strategic minds and military commanders in the league and has thus been given the job of coordinating the various forces commanded by the various lords. Jacques has little patience for his cousins the Counts of Armagnac and Comminges. He is a leading member of the Armagnac family which despite the family rarely getting along with each other is one of the more powerful factions in France.

John V, John V is one of the most despicable figures in the League. He began his rule of Armagnac in 1450 by illegally marrying his sister and by 1460 Charles VII had Count of deemed his rule unacceptable. He was tried by a parlement of the king and found Armagnac guilty of lese-majeste, rebellion and incest. A force was sent to capture him, but he escaped to find refuge with his cousins ruling in Aragon. Upon his ascension to the throne, Louis XI, restored John to his lands in Armagnac. In the years preceding the formation of the League John would rule rashly, breaking promises almost as quickly as he can make them. An opportunist like his cousin the , although that trait is all that they share, John saw his fortune best served by joining the League. He has been described by a court chronicler as follows: “Fire ran in his veins. He was as violent in his desires as imperious in his actions. His physical aspect was not seductive: short and stocky of stature, even pot-bellied, but gifted with great bodily strength.” John bears a strong hatred for his cousin the Count of Comminges due to his relationship with the king and position as the royal enforcer in the south of France.

Louis de Saint-Pol, like Nemours, started his career as a supporter of Louis XI in his days Luxembourg, as Dauphin. The two were close friends in their youth, especially during Louis’ Count of exile in Burgundy. However, when Louis XI became king Saint-Pol saw himself drifting more and more into the Burgundian orbit. Louis de Luxembourg now has Saint-Pol

22 a strong friendship with the Count of Charolais and has established himself as one of Charolais’ go to men. Saint-Pol is an able military commander and has, on multiple occasions, been a commander in the Burgundian army, at this point he is only second to Charolais in Burgundy’s forces. Saint-Pol holds a hatred for Louis’ ally the Count of Maine, as the southern magnate had taken the county of Guise from him when he inherited his lands from his father. Saint-Pol is a careful man, he tends to always take time to evaluate a situation before he decides to jump in, in breaking with France, Saint-Pol has firmly tied himself to the League, and in particular Burgundy.

Jean, Count Jean is the bastard son of Louis I Duke of Orleans, but when his half-brother, of Dunois, Charles Duke of Orleans, was captured by the English at the Bastard of Jean became the head of the Orleans of the royal house of Valois, Orleans Jean himself was a cousin of Charles VII. Jean was one of the heroes of the Hundred Years War, leading the French defense and fighting alongside Joan of Arc at the Siege of Orleans. He also was instrumental in the recapture of Paris and Guyenne, and he led the re-conquest of Normandy, in short, the Bastard of Orleans was considered one of the best military commanders in France. Jean, as leader of the Orleans family, resented the power held by the Angevin family and saw Rene as his chief rival in France. He sees Louis’ alliance with Sforza as a betrayal as he wanted Milan for the house of Orleans. Dunois, now too old to command soldiers, acts with Odet d’Aydie as the mouthpiece of the League and was in charge of the propaganda wing of the League’s offensive.

Antoine de Antoine de Chabannes made his name as a commander of ecorcheurs, his Chabannes, military victories during the turmoil in the last years of the Hundred Years War Count of and in its aftermath made him one of the most capable commanders in France. He was an ally to Louis during youth and much of what the King knows of war Dammartin comes from de Chabannes, de Chabannes also joined with Louis in the Praguerie revolt. However, as the conflict between Louis and his father continued, de Chabannes ended up siding with Charles and led the royal army to capture Dauphine. After entering the royal fold Antoine de Chabannes managed to become enemies with every major party at court including the Burgundian, Angevin, and Orleans camps. His chief noble rival is the Count of Maine, an Angevin. His chief enemy, however, is Louis himself. After de Chabannes’ defection the relations between the two old comrades had soured intensely. De Chabannes would be condemned to the for lese-majeste in 1463, he escaped shortly after the League’s manifesto was published and now is residing in Bourbon.

Charles II, Charles of Albret is an older lord and one that spent much time at the court of Count of Charles VII of France and was a favorite of the late king, having served the king Albret since his time as Dauphin. Charles of Albret spent his time at court as a conservative and supporter of the Armagnac family. He became an early denouncer of Louis during the latter’s time as Dauphin. He is a careful man and

23 has used that care to slowly grow Albret’s size, power, and influence. Albret is tied into the Armagnac family by his marriage to Anne of Armagnac, making him the uncle of both Armagnacs in the League. While he is a supporter of Nemours he is more hesitant to support John V of Armagnac. Charles, as a conservative, supports the traditional methods of ruling and so sees Louis’ reforms as extremely dangerous, and while he supports the League, he is wary of its possibility to further erode traditional French power structures.

Pierre Pierre d’Amboise is currently serving as the of . While he d'Amboise spent much of his life in support of Louis XI, serving him currently as Governor of Touraine and previously as ambassador to the Papacy, d’Amboise has decided to throw his in with the League of the Public Weal. This is not d’Amboise’s first rebellion as he joined Louis as Dauphin in the Praguerie. Pierre d’Amboise is a staunch Orleanist and is a partisan of Dunois. Like most of the older statesmen in France at this time, Pierre d’Amboise fought in the Siege of Orleans. Although d’Amboise holds no Counties or Duchies he is the lord of a great number of towns in central France and commands a powerful economic center. He is serving as the treasurer of the League’s communal funds, and although most of the forces are being privately funded by the lords of the League d’Amboise still is responsible for a large sum of money and mercenaries.

John I, Duke John of Cleves is yet another nephew of Philip of Burgundy. He controls the of Cleves and the County of Mark, both of which, while being in the Holy Roman Empire, are squarely within the Burgundian sphere of influence. John, therefore, is a member of the League more as a supporter of Philip and Charles than a concerned member of the French nobility. In fact, John is a good friend and supporter of the Count of Charolais. During Louis’ time in Burgundy, the Dauphin was known to antagonize John, leading to John’s strong dislike of the French King. John, as a Burgundian partisan, is mostly fighting for the increased autonomy of French nobles. The Duke of Cleves also has considerable influence over the nearby nobles in the Holy Roman Empire as although Cleves is a small duchy it is very strategically important and John has managed to build up strong alliances with the Electoral powers of the Holy Roman Empire.

André de André de Lohéac spent his youth serving Charles VII. He pledged himself to the Lohéac king since before Charles’ coronation. When Charles was coronated he made André of France, the highest naval office in the kingdom, and later Marshall of France, the second highest military office. When Louis became Dauphin, André saw a dangerous streak in him and supported attempts by other nobles to remove the Dauphin from favor. He seemed to take great pleasure in leading the against Louis during the Praguerie. When Louis became king one of his first acts was to dismiss and replace André with his own man. During this time André fell in with Francis of Brittany and was made lord of Lohéac, a Breton town near his father’s lands in Laval. André de Lohéac is a Breton partisan and close friend of Odet d’Aydie.

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Philip of Philip of Palatine is the nephew and adopted son of Frederick I, Elector of the Palatine Palatinate and his representative in the League of the Public Weal. The Palatinate, a in the Holy Roman Empire, is not a part of France, but the Palatine proximity to Burgundy made it prudent for Frederick to ally with Burgundy and join the League. Although the Palatinate is an incredibly powerful and rich principality, Frederick of Palatine is currently fighting Frederick III, the , and a collection of princes and so cannot dedicate the whole of Palatine’s might to the League. The Elector is still committed to the League, specifically his alliance with Burgundy, and so has sent Philip with carte blanche and hopes that this will be a learning experience for his son. Philip has also pledged to send soldiers to join the League’s forces once his conflict is concluded.

Odet d'Aydie Odet d’Aydie made his way in the world by using his quick mind and knowing who to flatter. Currently d’Aydie is serving as the master spirit and of Brittany, the highest office in the duchy. Odet d’Aydie is also a close friend and confidant of the young Duke of Berry. It has been rumored that d’Aydie was the man who convinced Berry to turn on his brother. Although the Duke of Bourbon issued the League’s manifesto, it was written by Odet d’Aydie and many consider him to be the political brains in the League. While he does not hold the same level of power as the great lords in the League, his skills as a politician and relationships with Brittany and Berry make him a vital member of the League.

Louis The House of Harcourt is one of the preeminent Norman houses and Louis is one d’Harcourt, of the leaders of that house. Louis, due to his position and family, holds great Bishop of sway over Normandy as well as the Church. He is the cousin to the Count of Dunois by marriage and is a good friend and confidant of the Count and of Pierre and de Breze, the Seneschal of Normandy. D’Harcourt’s first and foremost concern is Patriarch of Normandy. He served both Louis XI and his father well for some time, being a Jerusalem key advisor to Louis and the officiating Louis’ coronation, but he made the decision that Normandy’s best interests lay with the League. Louis d’Harcourt’s goals are not to overthrow the king or even to promote the power of the princes. Louis wants the king to reestablish the Norman Charter, a document that limits royal power over Normandy, and to give the a duke, it is rumored that he wants the Duke of Berry to rule Normandy. Louis’ goals are shared by many Normans, and there seems to be much unrest in the area, which historically seems to have just as many ties to England as it does to France.

Antoine du Antoine du Lau’s defection was the one that hurt Louis the most. Du Lau had Lau been one of Louis’ closest friends and allies since his time in Dauphine. Under Louis, Antoine du Lau had served as Grand and Seneschal of Guyenne and was given a handful of minor lordships in the area around Guyenne. It is unknown what made du Lau betray the king that gave him so much, but it is known that Louis bears a large grudge towards his one-time

25 favorite. Even without royal favor, du Lau commands much respect in southwestern France and is a known logistical genius. He has been given the responsibility of coordinating the various supply trains and food shipments needed to keep the armies of the League feed and supplied. When he defected to the League, du Lau also managed to burn a significant number of gunpowder barrels, crippling Louis’ artillery until he can acquire more.

Jean II, Jean was a close friend of both Joan of Arc and Charles VII. He, like so many of Duke of his generation, made his name at the siege of Orleans. He was known for a time Alençon as the poorest man in France as he was captured as a youth and was forced to sell his duchy to the English as ransom. Eventually he was able to reclaim Alençon at the head of an army. Jean found himself unhappy with the Treaty of Arras. He began to scheme and found himself embroiled in the Praguerie, it was only his friendship with Charles VII in his youth that saved him. He would betray Charles VII again during his campaigns to pacify Normandy by selling information to the English, and for this would be imprisoned until he was released by Louis XI. As Alençon is right next to Normandy, Jean has a fair amount of influence within the region and is a friend of Dunois, the man who led Normandy’s re-conquest.

26 Appendix

France Before the Hundred YearsImage WarCredit: Wikimedia Commons

27 France in 1388 Image Credit: Wikimedia Commons

28 France in 1477 Image Credit: Wikimedia Commons

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