Author: Charles, Duke of Orleans
Biography:
CHARLES, Duke of Orléans (1394-1465: ODNB)
A prior poet, he wrote verse in both Middle English and Middle French. The English poems survive in a single manuscript held by the BL (Harley MS 682). He was the eldest surviving son of Louis I, Duke of Orléans and second son of Charles V of France, and his wife Valentina Visconti. Charles was born in Paris on 24 Nov. 1394. In 1406 he was married to his cousin, Isabella, the widow of Richard II of England; Isabella died in 1409 when their only child, a daughter, was born. A second marriage to Bonne d’Armagnac in 1410 was childless. His father was assassinated in 1407 and his mother died in 1408. Charles fought against the English in the Battle of Agincourt in 1415 when he was taken captive. For forty years he was held prisoner in England, including in the Tower, and it was during those years that he wrote the poems listed here in an edition prepared by George Watson Taylor (q.v. as Watson). Charles was finally released in 1440 and allowed to return to France on condition that he seek to establish peace between France and England. Almost immediately after his arrival in France he married fourteen-year-old Marie de Clèves; they had three children including Louis XII of France. He established a court at Blois and he died at Amboise on 4 Jan. 1765. Some of his poetry was translated by Louisa Stuart Costello (q.v.) and included in her Specimens of the Early Poetry of France (1835). (ODNB 23 Apr. 2024; BL; Wikipedia 23 Apr. 2024)