The Reign of King John I of France

The Reign of King John I of France

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After reading the book “The Accursed Kings’’ of Maurice Druon, I was quite inspired by the possibilities of alternate timelines that can be found in this book. One of them is the idea that King John I of France survives and with it perhaps the chances of survival for the Direct Capetians increase. So I thinking about beginning to write this timeline and any commentary/suggestion or criticism is welcomed.

Introduction


John was an unhealthy baby and his mother Clementia of Hungary had difficulties recovering from her labor. The only thing she was thinking about was the state of her child. She felt that she has done her duty to France, by giving to her adoptive country the long-awaited male heir. Her brother in law, Philippe of Poitiers, Regent of France had come from Paris with several nobles to proceed to the King’s baptism. Ah, yes! Philippe! : The ablest of the “Iron King’s”’ sons. Soon after securing conclave for the election of a new France-friendly pope and learning the death of his brother King Louis X, he immediately went to the capital to fill the vacuum of power… isn’t there an old saying that says that “Natura abhorret a vacuo” ( Nature rejects vacuum).

But back to the present, Philippe is anxious; he just won his regency after negotiations with the most powerful barons of France. His promised money to his uncle of Valois, and his eldest daughter Jeanne with Eudes, Duke of Burgundy plus with the help of two princes, one stricken at the head , the other at the legs (Robert of Clermont ,Louis IX’S last surviving son ,and Louis I of Bourbon) he conquered the heart of the most emotional. Now the only thing he doesn’t need is the king’s death.

«Everyone will think that I poisoned him to take the throne for myself, says Philippe to himself, this will only throw public opinion against me and there are my niece’s claims that are supported by Burgundy and maybe my Évreux cousins».

After two hours of riding, Poitiers and his courtiers arrive at the Vincennes Castle

«Messire de Bouville, is everything ready for today’s ceremony» asks Poitiers
« Yes, My Lord……everything» replies King Philippe IV’s old chamberlain
 
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Chapter 1 : A Baptism in Hurry

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«-Everything, My Lord I have ordered my guards to pry your guests and to wash their hands.
-But, Bouville aren’t you pushing things too far? These people are the most important of the realm!
- Well yes my Lord, but I am ready to do everything to preserve the King’s life
- Even to annoy the Peers of France?
-Even to annoy these most excellent Lords!
- Well Bouville, you are a real bloodhound! But, I like it very much…. it just like my father was.
-Thank you My Lord, but wait a moment.

A few moments pass

-Here is the King My Lord, says Bouville, while he shows the baby to the regent.
- Ah! He looks just like my father or maybe my brother the late King, anyway he is a fine baby, declared Poitiers, and how is his mother?
- Well, the midwifes are nursing her, I think my Lord that she will be fine, my biggest fears are for the King, there have been several nasty rumors about the death of your late brother and now there are about the King!
-Am I involved into these?
- Well, yes My Lord, some rumors indeed tell that the Regent of France wants the crown for himself and that he is ready to do everything…..to acquire the throne.
-Lies !, fomented by the Valois and Burgundy, you don’t believe those lies … do you Bouville?
-No, of course not, but I am prudent with Kings’ security. Until he reaches his majority, the King’s life must be protected.
- Of course Bouville and for the matter I name you Warden of the King’s Household.
-Thank You My Lord, I am now your most faithful servant and may France be blessed with such a promising Regent at her head, he declared almost crying.
- Yes, Bouville, but we must hurry our King must be baptized!
A servant arrived telling the two noblemen that the guests are ready for the ceremony.
The baptism occurs on November 19th 1316, in the Sainte-Chapelle of Vincennes exactly five days after the monarch’s birth, with the presence of many guests.
After the immersion, Philippe of France, Count of Poitiers, Count Palatine of Burgundy, Lord of Salins, Regent of France solemnly proclaims:

«My Lords, behold our liege, John the first of his name, by the grace of God, King of France and Navarra! »



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Chapter 2: France est trop beau royaume pour être en si mauvaises mains !

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Philippe of France's coat of arms as Count of Poitiers



Philippe is now back in Paris at head of the government.

«16 years of regency! , he thinks, that will be enough to get me old before old age. Mais France est trop beau pays pour être en si mauvaises mains! (France is too great country to be in such bad hands).

He has already formed his own council composed of his uncle Louis of Évreux , Miles de Noyers and Raoul de Presles (two ex-advisers to Philippe IV). In all, we can tell that France is not at all in bad hands with such wise and intelligent men!

Meanwhile, it seems that the little frail and feeble creature who is the most prestigious monarch of Christian Europe will see the spring. His mother, Clementia, the Dowager Queen of France is also recovering under the eyes of Hughes III of Bouville, Warden of the Royal Household, who is trying to protect mother and son and to keep them away from the coming vicissitudes...
 
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I don't know much about this period of French history, but it seems promising.

France est trop beau pays pour être dans de si mauvaises mains!
France est trop beau royaume pour être dans de si mauvais mains !
The correct translation is
La France est un trop beau pays/royaume pour être dans de si mauvaises mains!
 
I don't know much about this period of French history, but it seems promising.

The correct translation is
La France est un trop beau pays/royaume pour être dans de si mauvaises mains!

Hello, my Occitan friend, yes it is true with mauvaises, but i wrote the sentence in order to make it more like the Old French, which was the language used in France from the 9th century to the 14th century, so it is possible that some syntax is not correct because it is not Classical French, nut Middle Age French.

Thank you very much and A leu !
 
I don't know much about this period of French history, but it seems promising.

The correct translation is
La France est un trop beau pays/royaume pour être dans de si mauvaises mains!

NO. The original quote should stand. The above is using modern French form. The original is actually nearer to the French forms used at that time (if not actually correct but that would not be recognisable) and is the form used by Maurice Druon in Les Roi Maudits.

Please continue in the same style.

If you want even a bit more in line : 'France est Trop beau Pays pour etre en si mauvaises mains' (using old style form but modern words and spelling)
 
So, no King Phillipe V... and no Charles IV... :eek:

It will be interesting how Burgundy will evolve in the future... In OTL, it was attached to Royal Demesne and short after, give it away as appanage... Now, it will not even be attached to RD.

Also, no HYW but still the conflict on the Guyanne... :D:D:D

Please continue!
 
Firstly to the author of this thread, it's an interesting TL; I just finished the first volume, The Iron King, form the Accursed Kings series. So keep up the good work. :)

So, no King Phillipe V... and no Charles IV... :eek:

It will be interesting how Burgundy will evolve in the future... In OTL, it was attached to Royal Demesne and short after, give it away as appanage... Now, it will not even be attached to RD.

Also, no HYW but still the conflict on the Guyanne... :D:D:D

Please continue!

Actually IOTL one of the conditions of the Burgundian Estates, which king John II of France had to accept in order to inherit Burgundy, was keeping Burgundy separate of the RD.

Whether or not Burgundy was an appanage IOTL, the house of Valois-Burgundy and their heirs didn't seem to think so.

But indeed still the Guyenne conflict.
 
Firstly to the author of this thread, it's an interesting TL; I just finished the first volume, The Iron King, form the Accursed Kings series. So keep up the good work. :)



Actually IOTL one of the conditions of the Burgundian Estates, which king John II of France had to accept in order to inherit Burgundy, was keeping Burgundy separate of the RD.

Whether or not Burgundy was an appanage IOTL, the house of Valois-Burgundy and their heirs didn't seem to think so.

But indeed still the Guyenne conflict.
why not have Philip of Rouvres survive as well, if he survives we would have Auvergne, Burgundy and Flanders under personal union.
 
NO. The original quote should stand. The above is using modern French form. The original is actually nearer to the French forms used at that time (if not actually correct but that would not be recognisable) and is the form used by Maurice Druon in Les Roi Maudits.

Please continue in the same style.

If you want even a bit more in line : 'France est Trop beau Pays pour etre en si mauvaises mains' (using old style form but modern words and spelling)


Well, thank you fhaessig for supporting my point of view about the style of the French language used in this TL.:) The French I used there was to reflect the language used during those times.

Firstly to the author of this thread, it's an interesting TL; I just finished the first volume, The Iron King, form the Accursed Kings series. So keep up the good work. :)



Actually IOTL one of the conditions of the Burgundian Estates, which king John II of France had to accept in order to inherit Burgundy, was keeping Burgundy separate of the RD.

Whether or not Burgundy was an appanage IOTL, the house of Valois-Burgundy and their heirs didn't seem to think so.

But indeed still the Guyenne conflict.

why not have Philip of Rouvres survive as well, if he survives we would have Auvergne, Burgundy and Flanders under personal union.

I still don't know what will happen to Burgundy, but we have to remember that if Philippe of Rouvres dies like in IOTL, there will be two claimants :

1) Joan of Navarra, the niece of duke Odo IV,Duke of Burgundy (her mother is the famed Margaret of Burgundy) and half-sister of our King John.
2) John of Valois, also a nephew of Duke Odo IV, but from a younger sister Joan of Burgundy and a removed cousin of our beloved King.

So by primogeniture, the duchy has to go to Joan of Navarra and her children and I probably think than John I of France will want Burgundy to go to his sister and her children , but we will see :D

But, one thing I am sure : there will be some conflict about Guyenne.

Oh and French Kings never loved too powerful vassals, just look at what happened to the Plantagenet (Anjou, Normandy,Aquitaine), Champagne and Toulouse

Anyways guys, thanks for your comments and support and I am open to any suggestions or advice. I plan to upload new posts in this timeline before the end of the week .
 
Chapter 3: Regency (1316-1328)

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Philippe of Poitiers decides to follow his father’s policies. He renewed the alliance with Scotland. He installs of solid fiscal administration through royal officials and reorganized the” Chambre des Comptes” (Court of Accounts) a royal organism responsible of overseeing the revenue from Crown estates and public spending. It had power to audit the Royal Household and crown officials. One of the first presidents was Miles de Noyers. The regent put also a large deal into the fight against corruption, regulated trade, fisheries, land grants and worked to standardize weights, measures and coinage. The regent was a true reformer, but he could nothing against nature.

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Pastoureaux attacking a city

Yet the beginning of his regency was marked by famines and outbreaks of plagues. His own son Philippe was struck by it and died on January 27th 1317. On May 1320, a young Norman shepherd claimed to have visions from the Holy Spirit. The movement was joined by young men and women. They marched on the capital, Paris to ask the Regent to lead them in Iberia to fight the Moors. Philippe just refused to meet them. The young crusaders decided to trigger some trouble in the city and even freed some prisoners. Then began the « Great March» through Aquitaine, where they ransacked towns. Their usual targets were the Jews, but once they crossed into Aragon, King James II of Aragon made sure his Jewish subjects were kept safe. But still, the crusaders attacked the Jews and the King sent his son Alfonso and the murderers were executed. The regent of France orders the survivors who returned to France to be executed and fined communities in which Jews had been killed which triggered a second revolt rapidly supressed. Waves of hysteria occurred throughout the kingdom against the Jews and leprosies.

As one chronicler notes: « La terre de France buvait son propre sang, engloutissait sa jeunesse.» (1)

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In 1320, Philippe led a successful campaign against Robert III of Flanders who is forced to pay homage to the Regent (because the King is only 4 years old) .The intelligent man achieves to put an end to the Flemish troubles by diplomacy and marries his second daughter Marguerite to Louis of Crécy, grandson of the Count of Flanders. He also arrested his cousin Robert of Artois; because he had started a campaign against his aunt Mahaut of Artois (the Regent’s mother in law). This family feud was ongoing since 1302 between nephew and aunt. King Louis X had made a decision on it but Mahaut always refused to respect it.

« I will uphold my late father and brother decisions about this succession crisis, I do not love very much each of the opponent, but I have no intentions to openly support one of them, since my cousin of Artois have the support of the Valois and my own brother Charles and my mother in law may look as a feeble old women but she can be powerful and obstinate as an ox. My mother will have Artois for now, but my cousin must have compensation or else the fire burning in Artois will never extinguish » Letter from Philippe, Regent of France to Gaucher de Châtillon, Constable of France.

(1) The land of France was drinking her own blood, eating her own children.
 
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Chapter 4: A Childhood at Vincennes

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Vincennes Castle in December

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John I of France lived in Vincennes castle. It was a large royal fortress surrounded by forests…the best place to grow for a young boy. His education was undertaken by his royal preceptor Gullaume de Feucherolles and his tutor was Gaucher de Châtillon, Constable of France. But his education was closely watched by the Regent of France, who didn’t want France to have another puny king. John followed seriously and with zeal his lessons of French, Latin and arithmetic. His religious education was given by his own mother, the pious Dowager Queen Clementia of Hungary. She insisted that everyday his son prays with her.

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But John’s favorite lessons were about history. He always admired what he called the «the Royal Trinity». This was a threesome of his favorite kings: Philippe II of France, Louis IX of France and his grandfather Philippe IV of France. He also took as examples the «Neuf Preux» (Hector of Troy, Alexander the Great, Julius Caesar, Joshua, King David, Judas Maccabeus, King Arthur, Charlemagne and Godefroi of Bouillon) nine knights and kings considered to the model of European chivalry.
The king was keen at hunting and was an excellent horseman and a good fencer.

«My lord, I have no doubt that our king will be good and brave knight in a near future» Excerpt from a letter from Gaucher de Châtillon to Philippe of Poitiers.

To uncle of Poitiers, who was visiting him time to time, he always asked to hear some good stories about the «Iron King». The King also gained a true taste for books. His gift for his 10th birthday was a book from Jean de Joinville titled « Livre des saintes paroles et des bons faiz de nostre saint roy Looÿs». John also took pride of his prestigious lineage. By his father he was from the noble houses of Capet, Blois which ruled large lands in Northern France, Jiménez, Artois and Aragon. By his mother, he was from the houses of Anjou – Sicily, Arpad and Habsburg. He was the great-grand son of the first Hapsburg emperor Rudolf of Germany. He thought that, he was definitely hailed from the «race de St-Louis».

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Aged seven, the king went for the first time in Paris to meet his government and presided over a meeting of the Parliament in which he did his first act of government: He recognized his uncle Phillipe of Poitiers as Regent.
«Nous, Jean par la grace de Dieu, roi de France et de Navarre, Comte de Champagne reconnoissons nostre bien aimé oncle Philippe de Poitiers, cy présent, comme Régent de France, comme les Pairs du Royaume l’ont déjà reconnu et nous entendons lui accorder nostre gouvernement jusqu’à nostre majorité.» (1)
Unexpectedly, the King added:
«Nous entendons aussi qu’il nous informe des décisions et ordonnances prises en nostre nom. Tel est nostre volonté, Messieurs.» (2)


The King was beginning to make his way in the world of politics..

(1) We, John by the grace of God, King of France and Navarre, Count of Champagne recognizes our loved uncle Philippe of Poitiers, hereby present, as Regent of France, just like the Peers of France did and we will grant him our government until our majority.
(2) We also want that he informs us of the decisions and statutes enacted in our name. So is our will, Gentlemen.
 
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While I'm sure it adds a nice touch to the timeline, would it be possible to have translations at the bottom of the post of the quotes in French?

Otherwise, this is an intriguing POD. Lots of things you can do with John I - saint, sinner, genius, madman . . .
 
While I'm sure it adds a nice touch to the timeline, would it be possible to have translations at the bottom of the post of the quotes in French?

Otherwise, this is an intriguing POD. Lots of things you can do with John I - saint, sinner, genius, madman . . .

Of course I will add translations sorry for that :eek:
 
manuel said:
Nous, par la grâce de Dieu, roi de France et de Navarre, Comte de Champagne
Yous should add Jean between between "Nous" and "Par la Grace de Dieu". It seems to me the first name of the King was always on official acts.
 
Yous should add Jean between between "Nous" and "Par la Grace de Dieu". It seems to me the first name of the King was always on official acts.

Yes, thank you for reporting that error. I have edited my last post with adding Jean in front of all his titles.
 
I think a Polish Princess would match John I since the OTL John II had married a Czech Princess...A Polish-French alliance would be interesting.
 
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