Charles I, Duke of Bourbon

Charles I, Duke of Bourbon
Stone statue of Charles I, Duke of Bourbon in the abbey church of Souvigny
Spouse(s)	Agnes of Burgundy
Noble family	House of Bourbon
Father	John I, Duke of Bourbon
Mother	Marie, Duchess of Auvergne
Born	1401
Died	4 December 1456 Château de Moulins

Charles de Bourbon (1401 – 4 December 1456, Château de Moulins) was the oldest son of John I, Duke of Bourbon and Marie, Duchess of Auvergne.

He was Count of Clermont-en-Beauvaisis from 1424, and Duke of Bourbon and Auvergne from 1434 to his death, although due to the imprisonment of his father after the Battle of Agincourt, he acquired control of the duchy more than eighteen years before his father's death.^[1]

In 1425, Charles renewed his earlier betrothal by marrying Agnes of Burgundy (1407–1476), daughter of John the Fearless.^[2] Charles entered a relationship with Jeanne de Bournan, together they had Louis de Bourbon, Count of Roussillon. Louis founded the House of Bourbon-Roussillon (Rossello). Louis is known for his many services to the State. As a reward for his loyalty and dedication to Louis XI during the League of the Public Weal conflict, Louis XI gave him in marriage his legitimized daughter Jeanne de Valois.

Charles served with distinction in the Royal army during the Hundred Years' War, while nevertheless maintaining a truce with his brother-in-law and otherwise enemy, Philip III, Duke of Burgundy. Both dukes were reconciled and signed an alliance by 1440.^[3] He was present at the coronation of Charles VII where he fulfilled the function of a peer and conferred knighthood.^[4]

Despite this service, he took part in the "Praguerie" (a revolt by the French nobles against Charles VII) in 1439–1440. When the revolt collapsed, he was forced to beg for mercy from the King, and was stripped of some of his lands.^[5] He died on his estates in 1456.

Children

Charles and Agnes had eleven children:

• John of Bourbon (1426–1488), Duke of Bourbon
• Mary of Bourbon (1428–1448), married in 1444 John II, Duke of Lorraine
• Philip of Bourbon (1430–1440), Lord of Beaujeu
• Charles of Bourbon (Château de Moulins 1434–1488, Lyon), Cardinal and Archbishop of Lyon and Duke of Bourbon
• Isabella of Bourbon (1436–1465), married Charles, Duke of Burgundy
• Peter of Bourbon, (1438–1503, Château de Moulins), Duke of Bourbon
• Louis of Bourbon (1438 – August 30, 1482, murdered), Bishop of Liège
• Margaret of Bourbon (February 5, 1439 – 1483, Château du Pont-Ains), married in Moulins on April 6, 1472 Philip II, Duke of Savoy
• Catharine of Bourbon (Liège, 1440 – May 21, 1469, Nijmegen), married on December 28, 1463 in Bruges Adolf II, Duke of Guelders
• Joanna of Bourbon (1442–1493, Brussels), married in Brussels in 1467 John II of Chalon, Prince of Orange
• James of Bourbon (1445–1468, Bruges), Count of Montpensier. Unmarried

Illegitimate children

• Louis de Bourbon, one of the first Knights of the Order of Saint-Michel, appointed by letters patent of Louis XI in 1469.
• Renaud de Bourbon, abbot of Saint-Sauveur-le-Vicomte, Archbishop of Narbonne from 1473 to 1482.

Notes

1. Pernoud, Régine, Marie-Véronique Clin, Prof. Jeremy duQuesnay Adams, and Bonnie Wheeler, Joan of Arc, (St.Martin's Press:New York, 1986), 177.
2. Vaughan, Richard, Philip the Good, (The Boydell Press: London, 2004), 123.
3. Vaughan, Richard, Philip the Good, 123.
4. Pernoud, Régine, Joan of Arc, 177.
5. Pernoud, Régine, Joan of Arc, 177

References

• Pernoud, Régine, Marie-Véronique Clin, Prof. Jeremy duQuesnay Adams, and Bonnie Wheeler, Joan of Arc, (St.Martin's Press:New York, 1986)
• Vaughan, Richard, Philip the Good, (The Boydell Press: London, 2004)