Charles d' Orléans ^{1 2 3}

  General Notes:

Charles of Valois, Duc d'Orléans, became Duke of Orléans in 1407, following the murder of his father, Louis of Valois. He was also Duke of Milan, through his mother Valentina Visconti, daughter of Gian Galeazzo Visconti. He is now remembered as an accomplished poet.

Charles was one of the many French noblemen wounded in the Battle of Agincourt on (October 25, 1415), captured and taken to England as a hostage. He was then in his mid-twenties and would remain in captivity for the next twenty-five years. The conditions of his confinement were not strict; he was allowed to live more or less in the manner to which he had become accustomed, like so many other captured nobles. However he was not offered release in exchange for a ransom, possibly due to his close relationship with the French royal family. Restored to his home territory in 1440, he made a feeble attempt to regain the lost lands of Orléans, before settling down to end his life as Count of Blois, where he became a celebrated patron of the arts.

Charles married three times. His first wife Isabella of Valois (widow of Richard II of England), died in childbirth, after which he married Bonne of Armagnac, the daughter of Bernard VII, Count of Armagnac in 1410. Bonne died before he returned from captivity. On his return to France, Charles married Marie of Cléves and finally had a son, the future King Louis XII of France.

  Research Notes:

His year of birth is also recorded as November 24, 1394.

  Noted events in his life were:

• He was a Duke of Orleans & Milan.

Charles married Isabella of Valois, daughter of Charles VI the Beloved de Valois and Isabelle of Bavaria Wittelsbach, in 1406 in Compiegne, Oise, France. (Isabella of Valois was born in 1387 and died in 1410.) The cause of her death was childbirth.

Charles next married Marie de Clèves, daughter of Adolf I von Kleve and Marie de Bourgogne, in 1440 in St. Omer, Artois, France. (Marie de Clèves was born on 19 Sep 1426 and died on 23 Aug 1487.)