After the death of Charles VI, the question of his successor remained unresolved: if the dauphin was the legitimate son of the king, then he was the legitimate heir to the throne, otherwise the duke of Orleans, who by that time was in English captivity, became the heir. At the same time, the Treaty of Troyes, signed by Charles VI in 1420, handed over the throne to the underage Henry VI, son of the recently deceased Henry V.
None of these three candidates had indisputable rights to the throne, but the British, seizing the northern part of France and Paris, were able to demand recognition of their king in the regions of their country controlled by them. Northern France was ruled on behalf of Henry VI. Normandy-based regent John Lancaster, Duke of Bedford.
Karl claimed the French throne, but was not able to make a decisive attempt to expel the British. Instead, he limited himself to managing the lands south of the Loire, retaining the title of dauphin and receiving from the opponents the derogatory nickname “Bourges King” (after the name of the city where his residence was located).
On July 17, 1429, accompanied by the troops Marshal Saint-North, Gilles de Rais, Admiral of France De Culan, Seigneur de Graville and other noblemen and people close to Charles VII of Valois gave solemn oaths and, as the ancient tradition demanded, went to Sam Remy to anoint the king .
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Karl "is dressed with all his pomp to him; from the archbishop he took the oaths, which are necessary, as usual, for the real kings of France, who wish to receive the holy anointing. Immediately thereafter, the duke of Alenconi knighted the king, after which he received from the archbishop the anointing and the crown ... ".
In 1435, Karl and Philip the Good signed a treaty in Arras, according to which Burgundy went over to the side of France in the war with England. In the following two decades, French troops liberated almost the entire territory of France, with the exception of the port of Calais.
Although the reign of Charles VII was marred by the martyrdom of Joan of Arc, he himself did much to elevate France. When he died, France was for the first time in the capet board, united under one monarch, and possessed the first regular army that included the gendarmerie.
The reign of Charles VII was occasionally marked by indecision and inaction, but he undoubtedly left France in a better position than he accepted it.