By dint of reading about the Wars of the Roses, I wondered whether such a conflict could appear in France? And I think I can answer yes. Of course, it would not be a tracing but a real civil conflict around a dynastic crisis with an incapable king and ambitious nobles who kill each other, leading to a change of ruling house, etc....
The idea takes place over 30 years before the start of the Wars of the Roses in England, at the beginning of the 15th century. The kingdom of France has been led by Charles VI since 1380, this king at the beginning of a promising reign turns out to be mentally crazy, forcing the establishment of a regency. First dominated by the uncles of the king with in particular the duke of Burgundy, Philip the Bold but the death of the latter, in 1404, leaves the place to two "young" ambitious; on one side Philip's son, the new Duke John the Fearless and the king's brother, Duke Louis I of Orléans. The two clash and finally Orléans is assassinated by Burgundy in 1407, this starts the war between Armagagacs and Burgundians, a civil war which will last until 1435.
One of the elements of this war, among many others, is the inability of the Dauphins, the heirs to the throne, to submit the different parties, as long as three will succeed, one replacing the other deceased; from 1401 to 1415 it was Louis of Guyenne, from 1415 to 1417 it was John of Tourraine and as a child from 1417 to 1422 it was Charles of Ponthieu who would become Charles VII on the death of Charles VI. The "survival" of the latter allows the perpetuation of the eldest branch of the Valois until Charles VIII but imagine then that the latter dies. For that I imagined a first POD; the capture of the Dauphin in Paris by the Burgundians on 29 May 1418 - in OTL, Paris passed from one domination to another, but the population was generally in favor of John the Fearless, especially since the Count of Armagnac acts as a tyrant, so a Burgundian troop helped by Parisians takes control of the city and narrowly misses capturing Charles of Ponthieu. Under the supervision of the Duke of Burgundy, he would be forced into submission, I spare you the political tribulations between the Dauphin and the Duke, but after a few months Charles de Ponthieu died (poisoned or sick, I would go for the second).
Here the kingdom is faced with a dynastic crisis because now Charles VI without male children has his nephew, Charles of Orléans, as heir apparent. For the almighty John the Fearless as for the monarchy it is a horror; for the duke, it's crowned the son of the man he murdered and both hate each other copiously while for the kingdom it is to have an "heir" in the jails of the king of England. The political crisis, already deep, becomes abyssal here and it would not be unrealistic for John of Burgundy to seek to remove the house of Orléans from the throne, by declaring through various rumors and arguments the illegitimacy of Charles and his brother John, given of the dissolute life of their father Louis as of the bad reputation of their mother, Valentina Visconti. This would leave room for the house of Anjou, which can accept or refuse, under the direction of the Dowager Duchess Yolande of Aragon, mother of the eldest Louis, 17, of Réné, 9 and of Charles, 4. Subsequently, John the Fearless may think of finding a compromise with the Anjou, namely the crown for them against full control of the government for him, but differences may certainly arise and push the Duke to take the crown thanks to the support of the States General, led by the Burgundians. All this in the space of 4 years, between the death of the Dauphin and the death of Charles VI.
The rest of the events will be determined later but what do you think of the idea?
The idea takes place over 30 years before the start of the Wars of the Roses in England, at the beginning of the 15th century. The kingdom of France has been led by Charles VI since 1380, this king at the beginning of a promising reign turns out to be mentally crazy, forcing the establishment of a regency. First dominated by the uncles of the king with in particular the duke of Burgundy, Philip the Bold but the death of the latter, in 1404, leaves the place to two "young" ambitious; on one side Philip's son, the new Duke John the Fearless and the king's brother, Duke Louis I of Orléans. The two clash and finally Orléans is assassinated by Burgundy in 1407, this starts the war between Armagagacs and Burgundians, a civil war which will last until 1435.
One of the elements of this war, among many others, is the inability of the Dauphins, the heirs to the throne, to submit the different parties, as long as three will succeed, one replacing the other deceased; from 1401 to 1415 it was Louis of Guyenne, from 1415 to 1417 it was John of Tourraine and as a child from 1417 to 1422 it was Charles of Ponthieu who would become Charles VII on the death of Charles VI. The "survival" of the latter allows the perpetuation of the eldest branch of the Valois until Charles VIII but imagine then that the latter dies. For that I imagined a first POD; the capture of the Dauphin in Paris by the Burgundians on 29 May 1418 - in OTL, Paris passed from one domination to another, but the population was generally in favor of John the Fearless, especially since the Count of Armagnac acts as a tyrant, so a Burgundian troop helped by Parisians takes control of the city and narrowly misses capturing Charles of Ponthieu. Under the supervision of the Duke of Burgundy, he would be forced into submission, I spare you the political tribulations between the Dauphin and the Duke, but after a few months Charles de Ponthieu died (poisoned or sick, I would go for the second).
Here the kingdom is faced with a dynastic crisis because now Charles VI without male children has his nephew, Charles of Orléans, as heir apparent. For the almighty John the Fearless as for the monarchy it is a horror; for the duke, it's crowned the son of the man he murdered and both hate each other copiously while for the kingdom it is to have an "heir" in the jails of the king of England. The political crisis, already deep, becomes abyssal here and it would not be unrealistic for John of Burgundy to seek to remove the house of Orléans from the throne, by declaring through various rumors and arguments the illegitimacy of Charles and his brother John, given of the dissolute life of their father Louis as of the bad reputation of their mother, Valentina Visconti. This would leave room for the house of Anjou, which can accept or refuse, under the direction of the Dowager Duchess Yolande of Aragon, mother of the eldest Louis, 17, of Réné, 9 and of Charles, 4. Subsequently, John the Fearless may think of finding a compromise with the Anjou, namely the crown for them against full control of the government for him, but differences may certainly arise and push the Duke to take the crown thanks to the support of the States General, led by the Burgundians. All this in the space of 4 years, between the death of the Dauphin and the death of Charles VI.
The rest of the events will be determined later but what do you think of the idea?