Fire!
(gun firing)
(soldiers roaring)
The world we live in was shaped by war.
For hundreds of years power hungry families fought
for the right to rule, and Europe transformed.
For the glory of England!
I, Philip de Valois, am the only King of France.
These rivalries shifted borders,
Curse be the French King.
Destroyed cities,
and brought populations to their knees.
A war of thrones.
Don't touch me!
A tale of murder, sex, and betrayal.
Greatness Madam, that is what France needs.
Those not crowned in glory were brutally
slaughtered or condemned to rot in the shadows.
This woman is a heretic and must parish in the flames.
(screaming)
Guards, guards!
In the merciless game of war and ambition,
anything goes.
In the second half of the 15th century
a perfidious king was crowned in France,
but his throne was threatened.
Battles were being prepared,
from England, to Austria, throughout Europe.
Marriages were arranged,
but one enemy would prove more formidable than the others.
The Kingdom of France would have
a hard time retaining its power.
On August 15th, 1461, beneath the great vaulted roof
of Reims Cathedral where all the Kings of France had been
crowned since the 9th Century, the dauphin,
Louis de Valois was crowned Louis XI.
At 38 years old it was hard for him to conceal his pride,
for he had always been inpatient to reign.
20 years earlier Louis had tried
to overthrow his father Charles VII,
determined to take his place on the thrown of France.
You are no longer worthy of the Kingdom of France.
And you dare to show yourself with the harlot.
In those days,
he was ashamed of his father, Charles VII.
He thought him more inclined towards the pleasures of the
court then for war against the enemies of the Kingdom.
Charles appeared everywhere with is favorite,
the beautiful Agnes Sorel.
Seize this foolishness immediately.
Do not take the risk of losing
the thrown before you've even been crowned.
But Charles VII would not be intimidated.
The arrogant dauphin was finally forced
to ask the King's pardon.
This challenge that history has labeled
the Pagerie is remembered as a failed coup d'etat.
Louis XI was spared, but as a reprisal,
one of the revolt's leaders was put to death.
He was tied up in a sack and thrown alive into the river.
From this error of his youth Louis XI
would always remain fearful of plots against him.
More than 20 years after this revolt
on the day of his coronation many of
the great lords attending feared this new king.
Because everyone there had always
taken the father's side against the son.
May the messenger of God and of men
make you the mediator of the clergy and the people.
When the coronation was over
many of the nobility threw themselves at his feet
trying to get into his good graces.
But Louis XI made no promises.
Barely had he been crowned then he made
some decisions that were to surprise them.
The new king decided to remove the nobles from power
and surround himself with common people.
This was betrayal for his ministers all born into
the nobility and who had faithfully served his father.
Come, my friend.
Take your place.
At the first council they reacted violently
against a newcomer.
I shall decide who sits among us.
Louis XI decided to remove
his enemies from power.
In their places he put friends in
the key posts of the kingdom.
The barber will sit at the council.
His barber became an ambassador,
his tailor a herald of arms,
and his doctor a chancellor.
For Louis had learned to trust the common people
where he grew up at the Chateau de Loches in Touraine.
His father, King Charles VII,
had wanted his son to spend his childhood here
far away from the court at Borges
in order to protect him from the English
who still occupied a large part of France.
The dauphin's upbringing was entrusted to nurses and tutors.
Arm, arm.
He was a pious child who was given
a well-rounded education.
Knee.
Arm.
But his solitude and the rather austere
atmosphere at court turned him into a secretive prince,
sometimes cruel and already distrustful.
Turn around, faster, turn again.
Arm again.
Arm.
Louis would turn the chateau of
his childhood into a prison where prisoners
were locked in iron cages.
Because once crowned he would mistrust everyone.
Particularly the King of England, Edward IV of York,
who could very easily have restarted
the Hundred Years' War.
This courageous warrior had taken the English
throne by force and had not given up
the hope of wearing the crown of France.
But Louis XI was equally suspicious of the nobility
of France whose fiefs split up the kingdom such as Brittany,
the Mans, Anjou, the Orleans, and Burgundy.
Rather than wage war against them,
the universal spider, as he was already known,
was to play the marriage game.
To control the towns of Orleans and Blois,
Louis XI married his second daughter Jeanne de France
to young Louis d'Orleans who was only 14 years old.
The 12-year-old princess was not ugly
but she had been deformed and lame.
When Marie de Cleves, the young groom's mother,
saw her she almost fainted but the marriage took place.
But this marriage game was soon
to turn against the king of France.
(dogs barking)
Many thought that Louis XI was leading France
to its downfall beginning with his younger brother,
Charles de France.
In February, 1465, during a royal hunt he slipped away.
He had a secret meeting in Paris.
Like him, the Dukes of Brittany, Bourbon, Lorraine,
and others had removed from power by Louis XI.
To avenge themselves, they formed a movement
known as the League for the Public Weal.
At the head of this revolt was
the son of the Duke of Burgundy,
soon to be known as Charles the Bold.
My dear friends, the kingdom is being driven
into the ground.
Like Louis XI, Charles the Bold
descended from a king of France, John II the Good.
They were first cousins and had
the same determination to fight.
With this pledge let it be known that we,
princes of the blood, barrens--
The Bold was intelligent, proud, and brutal.
And like all lords of the League was ready
to do anything to overthrow Louis XI.
We pledge to seat a just man
on the throne of France.
His idea was to appoint
the king's younger brother, Charles de France as Regent.
Let us swear, my friends.
We swear.
In the name of the League of the Weal
the Bold declared war on the King of France.
On May the 10th, 1465, with more than 10,000 men,
he headed towards Paris.
Immediately Louis XI left tour with an army
of around 7,000 soldiers.
On the evening of July the 15th
the two sides met at Montlhery.
Archers, forward!
The following day at dawn
Louis gave the order to attack.
The battle was very disorganized, it was total chaos.
(yelling)
The Burgundians penetrated the French ranks.
The royal army pretended to retreat and then dispersed.
By the middle of the morning the battle
had started up again in small skirmishing groups.
Louis XI was, himself, attacked by a warrior nicknamed
The Great Bastard of Burgundy, half-brother of the Bold.
Louis XI was wounded and fell to the ground.
Believing himself victorious,
Charles the Bold went to take possession
of the Chateau of Montlhery.
Suddenly he was attacked by the king's men.
His equerry was killed outright.
(screaming)
The Bold was wounded in the throat but managed to escape.
Sire, Sire, Sire!
Sire.
Sire!
Sire.
On the battlefield the king's soldiers
rushed to Louis XI who lay on the ground.
God has spared me.
The King was safe but both the French
and Burgundian Armies were exhausted and withdrew.
More than 2,000 men on each side had lost their lives.
No one really knew who had won the Battle of Montlhery,
both sides claimed victory.
Louis XI returned to Paris but his enemies did not give up.
With other lords of the League the Bold
besieged the capital hoping to weaken the king.
But the monarch waited patiently
for the coalition troops to become exhausted and starved
before he agreed to negotiate.
After about three weeks of siege, Louis XI,
almost unescorted, met the Bold at Conflans.
The king did not underestimate his enemy.
My cousin.
I know you are a gentlemen of the House of France.
A skilled strategist,
he started by flattering the Bold.
I have not forgotten that we were once allies.
In return I will reward you by granting you
that which you have asked.
Louis XI granted fiefs to his enemies.
To his brother went Normandy,
to the Bold the towns of the Somme
and the County of Boulogne in Picardy.
The king knew that the Treaty of Conflans
would stir up discord among the coalition.
And he was right.
Barely a month later some dukes grew envious
of the territories that others had received.
The League of the Public Weal shattered
and Louis quickly retook Normandy
and wanted to win back the towns in the Somme
that had been given to the Bold.
But rather than to go to war again
the enemies decided to negotiate.
On October 9, 1468, the King of France
responding to Charles the Bold's invitation
arrived at the Chateau of Peronne in Picardy.
Agreed.
All this part will remain with the Forest of Coulet.
For five days the King of France
and the Duke of Burgundy argued bitterly.
So, let us agree to keep this part upstream.
Eventually they managed to agree
to the terms of the Treaty of Peronne.
By way of agreement, they both swore on the cross.
Neither of us will go to war with the other
nor covert the other's lands or subjects.
The borders are clearly defined.
The ink on the Treaty of Peronne
was hardly dry before Charles the Bold
learned he had already been betrayed.
He soon received a message informing him
that the town of Liege, one of his fiefs,
was in full revolt.
While he was making a pact with Louis XI
the king had sent agents to Flanders
in the Bold's territory to stir up a rebellion.
Traitor!
Arrest that man.
The Bold immediately wanted
to make Louis XI pay for his betrayal.
He closed all the gates of Peronne and doubled the guard.
Louis XI was a prisoner and had to follow
the Duke of Burgundy and his army to Liege.
On October 27, 1468, the Bold's army besieged
the city of Liege.
Louis XI, held prisoner, had to watch
the destruction of the city which had risen up for him.
Over four days 4,000 Liegeois were put to the sword.
When the massacre was over, Louis XI went home
where more bad news awaited him.
Despite their defeat at the Battle of Castillon
15 years earlier, the English had never
stopped aspiring to the French throne.
And to get it they had a new ally.
On July 3, in Bruges, Margaret of York,
the 20-year-old sister of King Edward IV of England,
was waiting for her husband on their nuptial night.
You're my most beautiful jewel, madam.
That very morning during a lavish celebration
through the Flemish town she had said
yes to Charles the Bold.
But the young bride knew that her brutal husband
did not really love her.
She was merely the object of a pact
between England and Burgundy to overthrow
their common enemy, Louis XI.
It was also through the help of a woman
that the King of France retaliated.
Through his cousin, the former Queen of England,
Margaret of Anjou.
And so he revived what came to be called
the War of the Roses.
In those days in England two branches
of the royal family claimed the throne.
On one side the House of Lancaster
whose symbol was a red rose,
on the other the House of York, with a white rose.
Since 1422, Henry VI of Lancaster was King of England
but suffering from schizophrenia he had
to yield the regency to his wife Queen Margaret of Anjou,
Louis XI's cousin.
Edward of York took advantage of the King's weakness
and seized power by force.
In 1461 he proclaimed himself Edward IV of England
and had the Lancastrian King locked up
in the sinister Tower of London.
This chaotic situation across the channel
enabled Louis XI to weaken Charles the Bold
and his brother-in-law, Edward of York.
Sire.
Madam.
He offered his cousin, Margaret of Anjou,
an army to take back the throng of England
from Edward of York. Thank you, Sire.
Come, madam.
In exchange he demanded a 30-year truce
between the two countries that had been
at war for over 100 years.
The former Queen of England accepted.
She signed a treaty promising
the English crown to Lancaster.
A few weeks later, Louis XI's men freed Margaret's husband
from his London prison.
Henry of Lancaster thus took back the crown of England
from Edward of York who was driven into exile.
Even though weakened after 10 years of captivity,
Henry of Lancaster promised to support
the King of France against the Bold.
This time Louis XI had won.
Backed by his new political and military strength,
Louis XI decided to attack the Bold.
In 1471 the Royal Army of France deployed its forces
in Picardy while another unit entered Burgundy
through the Daulphine.
Louis XI wrote, "I hope this is the end of the Burgundians."
But his optimism was to be sorely tested.
The news Louis XI received
from England was very bad, indeed.
Six months after being overthrown,
Edward IV had recaptured the English throne.
The white rose of York was once again
flying over Westminster.
Margaret of Anjou was captured and Henry VI of Lancaster
was taken back to his geole in the Tower of London.
There he was stabbed on Edward of York's orders.
It's said that his ghost would forever haunt his cell.
France had just lost an ally and then the kingdom
was once again infected by the Black Plague.
The epidemic was to strike
the royal family at its very heart.
Francois, one of Louis XI's young sons, fell victim.
The King of France was once again
very much alone to defend his throne
especially since his enemies had recovered their strength.
At the beginning of July, 1475,
the King of England landed in Calais
with an army of 1,500 spearman, 1,000 infantry,
and a powerful artillery.
Edward of York and his men were to have joined up
with the Bold to revive the Hundred Years' War
and take the throne of France.
Ready to go.
Louis XI knew the power
and determination of the English.
To stop their advance, he sent his soldiers
to burn the harvests and destroy villages
in the North of the kingdom.
There was no way he would allow his enemies
to get fresh supplies before joining the Burgundians.
The furious King of England was stuck in Calais.
He was waiting for his brother-in-law,
Charles the Bold, and his army.
Together they were to go to Reims where Edward IV
would be crowned King of France.
But the Bold never arrived.
Instead of joining Edward he decided to embark
on a military campaign in Germany
where he hoped to assume the crown of
the Germanic Holy Roman Empire.
The King of England, betrayed by Charles the Bold,
knew he didn't have enough troops to face
the Royal Army of France alone.
So he demands talks with Louis XI.
The meeting took place at the Chateau de Picquigny
north of the city of Amiens.
For this crucial encounter on the river Somme
a wooden grill was placed between
the King of France and the King of England
to ward off any possible attack.
I big you welcome.
Thank you, my cousin.
After a few polite words
on August the 29th, 1475, the two sovereigns
exchanged a kiss of peace.
A peace for which Louis XI was expecting
to pay a high price.
Come, my friend, have a drink.
Go on, drink.
Drink up.
Toast the treaty.
We fought well.
The two monarchs and their armies
then feasted together for three days.
Louis XI agreed to pay Edward of York 75,000 gold crowns.
He also promised an annuity of 50,000 gold crowns
if Edward stopped attacking France
and gave up his claims to the French crown.
And England would retain the town of Calais
as a way in to French territory.
To peace.
(laughs)
Go on!
Without a drop of blood shed,
Louis XI and Edward IV thus formally ended
the Hundred Years' War.
(dramatic music)
This is betrayal.
Charles the Bold was furious.
He had just lost his best ally
but not his wild ambition.
He wanted to overthrow Louis XI at all costs
so he, too, played at the marriage game.
Give this to Emperor Frederick III.
Yes, my Lord.
So he then turned to
the Germanic Holy roman Empire whose crown
he had desired several months earlier.
The Bold hated the Habsburgs but less so
than he did the King of France.
So, in 1475, he agreed reluctantly
to marry his only daughter, Marie,
to Maximilian of Austria, son of Emperor Frederick III.
Burgundy would thus become a vassal kingdom to the empire
and Charles the Bold would be crowned King of Burgundy.
Thank you.
This was the first step
in his quest for greatness.
A year later the betrothal of Mary of Burgundy
and Maximilian of Austria was made official.
While waiting for the marriage, as a pledge,
Maximilian wrote a letter to his fiancee
and sent her a ring.
This jewel is today considered as the first engagement ring
in the history of France.
The marriage between Maximilian of Austria
and Mary of Burgundy was full of promise
and served many strategic interests.
Young Maximilian's empire was facing economic difficulties
and Mary was the best bet in Europe.
She was rich and had no army to defend her territories.
Maximilian was a clever soldier,
able to supply the strength that Mary so sorely lacked.
Their union was a perfect match.
Mary of Burgundy, will you take the husband,
Maximilian of Austria, to love faithfully
for as long as you live in happiness or in hardship?
So the 20-year-old Mary -: Yes.
Married the 18-year-old Maximilian
who was still only Archduke of Austria.
I declare you united in the sacred bonds of matrimony.
Whereas Mary had already become
the Duchess of Burgundy following a cruel event.
Seven months before her marriage,
a page of the House of Burgundy made
a grisly discovery near Nancy.
A body, mysteriously stripped, lay on the edge of a lake.
The page immediately recognized the scar on
the corpse's neck: it was Charles the Bold,
who had been wounded in the throat
at the Battle of Montlhery 12 years earlier.
Had the Duke succumbed to the wounds he had received
while trying to take Nancy or had he been murdered?
Even today the mystery has never been solved.
For Louis XI the Bold's death was good news.
But he now must face the strength of the new couple,
Mary and Maximilian of Austria.
They were both deeply in love.
Mary and Maximilian produced two children for the empire.
This successful marriage personified what
the Habsburg house knew how to do
just as well as the King of France:
consolidate its power through wealthy marriages.
The lands of Duchy of Burgundy combined with those
of the Germanic Holy Roman Empire
were even richer and more powerful
and a threat to the kingdom of France
so Louis XI decided to conquer them by force.
Without delay, he invaded Burgundy and the County of Artois.
He also placed an army at the gates of Flanders.
Maximilian's reaction was not long in coming.
For two years, from 1478 to 1480,
French and Austrians fought.
Louis XI tried to conquer the Netherlands
but Maximilian of Austria defended his wife's land
until a tragedy made him lose Burgundy.
In 1482, during a falcon hunt in the Forest of Vigendal,
on her lands in Flanders Mary died after
falling from her horse.
Mary!
No.
Say something to me.
Mary, speak to me.
No.
After only five years of marriage
Maximilian had just lost the woman he had loved so dearly.
Maximilian was overwhelmed by grief.
Mary's death also weakened him politically.
The lands of Burgundy no longer belonged to him,
Mary had passed them on to their young children.
To get his hands on them, the King of France
immediately proposed marrying his oldest son,
the dauphin, Charles, to the daughter
of Maximilian and Mary of Burgundy,
little Margaret of Austria, heiress to the Duchy.
For Louis XI it was a certainty,
the Duchy of Burgundy was at last to be part
of the kingdom of France.
But Maximilian would not hear of this marriage.
So to counter, Louis XI needed support.
He turned to England and begged
Edward of York to send him men.
(knocking on door)
Enter.
But the King of England refused.
He had not forgotten the Treaty of Picquigny
and he was loathed to give up the yearly pension
Louis had paid him for the last seven years
in exchange for peace.
Damned Englishmen.
He's going to make me lose Burgundy.
The King of France's carefully woven web
was closing in around Maximilian.
But at 55, Louis XI,
was more and more weighed down by the years.
He was regularly subject to brutal bouts of fever,
complained of painful attacks of gout,
and suffered from a skin disease related to shingles.
Sire!
Father, wake up.
Wake up!
Father.
Father, wake up.
In early March while dining
with his eldest daughter, Anne de Beaujeu, he collapsed,
probably victim of a stroke.
Father!
That evening the king was unable to speak
or understand anything that was said to him.
Three years later at Amboise after
his strength had slowly returned
he visited his 12-year-old son, the dauphin Charles,
future Charles VII.
My son, you will reign after me so listen carefully.
The king knew he was seeing his son
for the last time so he put him on his guard.
God has granted us the kingdom's highest charges.
We must be worthy of the honor.
But I warn you, be weary of the princes
and lords of the blood.
Most have conspired against me
and their betrayals have led to war.
This truce is fragile and easily broken.
Remember well what I have told you today, my son.
The conversation at Amboise
is today considered as the political testament of Louis XI.
But before leaving the throne to his son
and despite his fatigue, Louis XI wanted, at all costs,
to absolutely recover Burgundy,
and to do that he had to marry the dauphin Charles
to Margaret of Austria.
Negotiations began by correspondence
with the Archduke Maximilian.
An agreement was finally reached on December 23, 1482.
France and the Germanic Holy Roman Empire
would finally share the legacy
of Charles the Bold's daughter.
The Treaty of Arras allowed Louis XI to recover Burgundy
while Maximilian kept the Netherlands.
The agreement was sealed by the engagement
of the dauphin Charles with the child, Margaret of Austria.
Once and for all, Louis XI had won the game.
Five months later the little Archduchess Margaret of Austria
arrived at the Chateau of Amboise.
This is where she was to be engaged
to the dauphin of France.
In the meantime she was to brought up
by Charles's elder sister, Anne de Beaujeu.
Louis XI was never to meet the granddaughter of the Bold.
In August, 1483, the king was living his last hours
but his son Charles was only 13, too young to reign.
While awaiting Charles's reign
I want Anne to assume the duties of Regent.
She's the least mad woman in the world
given that there are none that are wise.
You are her husband, Pierre, you must help her.
Yes, Sire.
Anne de Beaujeu firmly held
the reigns of the realm for eight years
until Charles VIII came of age.
Louis XI died on August 30, 1484 at the age of 60.
His reign had lasted for 22 years
during which, besides politics,
he had remodeled the architecture of many chateau
such as that of Longes.
For a long time throughout history Louis XI
was an unloved king and yet he had restored
the public finances, the borders,
and the prestige of the realm
after 100 years of war and chaos.
Louis XI had fulfilled his dream:
making France the greatest power in Europe
and soon one of his successors would complete his work.