Isabeau of Bavaria Queen of France ¹

  General Notes:

Isabeau of Bavaria
Christine de Pisan and Queen Isabeau detail.jpg
Queen Isabeau receiving Christine de Pisan's Le Livre de la Cité des Dames, c. 1410\endash 14. Illumination on parchment, British Library
Queen consort of France
Tenure17 July 1385 \endash 22 October 1422
Coronation23 August 1389, Notre-Dame
Bornc. 1370
Died24 September 1435 (aged 64\endash 65)
Paris
BurialBasilica of St Denis
SpouseCharles VI of France
Issue
among others...
Isabella, Queen of England
Joan, Duchess of Brittany
Marie, Prioress of Poissy
Michelle, Duchess of Burgundy
Louis, Dauphin of Viennois
John, Dauphin of Viennois
Catherine, Queen of England
Charles VII of France
HouseWittelsbach
FatherStephen III, Duke of Bavaria
MotherTaddea Visconti
ReligionRoman Catholicism
Isabeau of Bavaria (or Isabelle; also Elisabeth of Bavaria-Ingolstadt; c. 1370 \endash 24 September 1435) was born into the House of Wittelsbach as the eldest daughter of Duke Stephen III of Bavaria-Ingolstadt and Taddea Visconti of Milan. She became Queen of France when she married King Charles VI in 1385. At age 15 or 16, Isabeau was sent to France on approval to the young French king; the couple wed three days after their first meeting.

Isabeau was honored in 1389 with a lavish coronation ceremony and entry into Paris. In 1392 Charles suffered the first attack of what was to become a lifelong and progressive mental illness, resulting in periodic withdrawal from government. The episodes occurred with increasing frequency, leaving a court both divided by political factions and steeped in social extravagances. A 1393 masque for one of Isabeau's ladies-in-waiting\emdash an event later known as Bal des Ardents\emdash ended in disaster with the King almost burning to death. Although the King demanded Isabeau's removal from his presence during his illness, he consistently allowed her to act on his behalf. In this way she became regent to the Dauphin of France (heir apparent), and sat on the regency council, allowing far more power than was usual for a medieval queen.

Charles' illness created a power vacuum that eventually led to the Armagnac\endash Burgundian Civil War between supporters of his brother, Louis of Orléans and the royal dukes of Burgundy. Isabeau shifted allegiances as she chose the most favorable paths for the heir to the throne. When she followed the Armagnacs, the Burgundians accused her of adultery with Louis of Orléans; when she sided with the Burgundians the Armagnacs removed her from Paris and she was imprisoned. In 1407 John the Fearless assassinated Orléans, sparking hostilities between the factions. The war ended soon after Isabeau's eldest son, Charles, had John the Fearless assassinated in 1419\emdash an act that saw him disinherited. Isabeau attended the 1420 signing of the Treaty of Troyes, which decided that the English king should inherit the French crown after the death of her husband, Charles VI. She lived in English-occupied Paris until her death in 1435.

Isabeau was popularly seen as a spendthrift and irresponsible philanderess. In the late 20th and early 21st centuries historians re-examined the extensive chronicles of her lifetime, concluding that many elements of her reputation were unearned and stemmed from factionalism and propaganda.

Isabeau married Charles VI, King of France, son of Charles "the Wise" V, King of France and Joanna of Bourbon, in 1385. (Charles VI, King of France was born on 3 Dec 1368 in Paris, Île-de-France, France and died on 21 Oct 1422 in Paris, Île-de-France, France.)