League of the Public Weal, 1465 It is not necessary to hope in order to undertake, nor to succeed in order to persevere. —Charles 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 Charles the Bold of Burgundy and the rest of France’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 monarchy 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 king of France, is doing everything in his power to reform and reinvigorate the French monarchy. Many view his reign 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 dukes, counts, 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, Milan, and Savoy 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 Realm......................................... 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 Crown. Our positions and familial estates are at risk. If we do not unite soon, the French nobility will be nothing more than a title. In response to the King’s actions we, Charles, Duke of Berry, Francis II, Duke of Brittany, and John II, Duke of Bourbon, have, in the year of our lord 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, Duke of Berry, to the throne 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 coronation 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 monarch 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 provinces 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 dynasty of French kings. 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 Prince” of England (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 homage 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 Duchy of Normandy on France’s northern coast, the home and former seat of the famed William the Conqueror. 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 Gascony 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 Scotland. A decade later, Philip VI of France scrapped plans for a crusade and moved a joint Franco-Scottish fleet to the English Channel. Edward responded by sending an army to the region of Guyenne 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 the crown 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 Poitiers. During this time the Black Death hit France, killing anywhere from a third to half of the French population. In 1360 the Treaty of Calais 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 regent 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 lords of Guyenne to Paris 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, Duke of Burgundy, 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, Armagnac, Brittany, Berry, and Bourbon.