French History

Kings, queens, wars and treaties swirl through Lord Norwich’s history of France. I had not realised that French King Louis VIII invaded England in 1216.

He landed in Thanet in May 1216 and initially was welcomed by the barons, who had had enough of King John. Louis was proclaimed king in St Paul’s Cathedral and by the end of the summer of 1216 controlled more than half of the kingdom. It is possible to imagine English history taking a very different course had not John died of dysentery in October that year.

The barons, relieved to be free of a monarch they hated, transferred their allegiance to John’s nine-year-old son, Henry III. 1217 saw the end of Louis’ English adventure. His army was beaten at Lincoln in May, his navy off Sandwich in August and under The Treaty of Lambeth he was awarded 10,000 marks in exchange for a promise never to attack England again and an admission that he had never been its legitimate king.

English monarchs were more persistent in their claims to the throne of France. In 1422 aged eight months Henry VI of England was proclaimed King of France. His coronation was delayed by the interference of Joan of Arc but on 26th December 1431 aged ten he was crowned in Notre-Dame; the only English monarch to have a French coronation.

At the end of the 16th century Henry, King of Navarre, was crowned Henry IV of France by virtue of being a ninth cousin of his predecessor. His reign got off to a rocky start as his distant claim to the throne and his Protestantism antagonised his Catholic subjects. However, when he was assassinated in 1610 he had become one of France’s most beloved monarchs not least for his appreciation of beautiful women. John Julius comments in a footnote, “meticulous research has produced a list of his mistresses, which is not yet complete. The total so far stands at fifty-six”.

I am less that half way through this beguiling history, full of vignettes like this:

Early on the morning of 17th March 1526, two rowing boats made their way from opposite sides (of the Bidsoa River on the frontier between France and Spain) to a pontoon in mid-stream. One carried the king (Francis I) , together with the Viceroy of Naples; the other bore two little boys, the eight-year-old dauphin and his brother Henry, Duke of Orléans, aged seven. Both still recovering from serious attacks of measles, they were on their way to Spain for an indefinite period as hostages for their father’s good behaviour. When the two boats reached the pontoon they changed passengers, while a tearful Francis made the sign of the cross over his children and promised – with how much hope, one wonders – to send for them as soon as he could. The exchange completed, the boats then returned to their original moorings.