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Isabeau of Bavaria (also Elisabeth of Bavaria-Ingolstadt; c. 1370 – 24 September 1435) was born into the House of Wittelsbach as the eldest daughter of Duke Stephen III of Bavaria-Ingolstadt and Taddea Visconti of Milan. She became Queen of France when she married King Charles VI in 1385. At age 15 or 16, Isabeau was sent to France on approval to the young French king; the couple wed three days after their first meeting. Isabeau was honored in 1389 with a lavish coronation ceremony and entry into Paris. In 1392 Charles suffered the first attack of what was to become a lifelong and progressive mental illness, resulting in periodic withdrawal from government. The episodes occurred with increasing frequency, leaving a court both divided by political factions and steeped in social extravagances. A 1393 masque for one of Isabeau's ladies-in-waiting—an event later known as ''Bal des Ardents''—ended in disaster with the King almost burning to death. Although the King demanded Isabeau's removal from his presence during his illness, he consistently allowed her to act on his behalf. In this way she became regent to the Dauphin of France (heir apparent), and sat on the regency council, allowing far more power than was usual for a medieval queen. Charles' illness created a power vacuum that eventually led to the Armagnac–Burgundian Civil War between supporters of his brother, Louis of Orléans and the royal dukes of Burgundy. Isabeau shifted allegiances as she chose the most favorable paths for the heir to the throne. When she followed the Armagnacs, the Burgundians accused her of adultery with Louis of Orléans; when she sided with the Burgundians the Armagnacs removed her from Paris and she was imprisoned. In 1407 John the Fearless assassinated Orléans, sparking hostilities between the factions. The war ended soon after Isabeau's eldest son, Charles, had John the Fearless assassinated in 1419—an act that saw him disinherited. Isabeau attended the 1420 signing of the Treaty of Troyes, which decided that the English king should inherit the French crown after the death of her husband, Charles VI. She lived in English-occupied Paris until her death in 1435. Isabeau was popularly seen as a spendthrift and irresponsible philanderess. In the late 20th and early 21st centuries historians re-examined the extensive chronicles of her lifetime, concluding that many elements of her reputation were unearned and stemmed from factionalism and propaganda. == Lineage and marriage == Isabeau's parents were Duke Stephen III of Bavaria-Ingolstadt and Taddea Visconti, whom he married for a 100,000 ducat dowry. She was most likely born in Munich where she was baptized as Elisabeth〔Called Elisabeth until her marriage, Gibbons says she started using the name Isabeau probably soon after becoming queen of France. See Gibbons, 53. Famiglietti writes that she signed letters in French as "Ysabel", transformed first to "Ysabeau" and then "Isabeau" in the 15th century. See Famiglietti, 190〕 at the Church of Our Lady.〔Tuchman (1978), 416〕 Hers was the ancient and well-established Wittelsbach family, descended from Charlemagne, and she was great-granddaughter to the Wittelsbach Holy Roman Emperor Louis IV.〔〔Gibbons writes of Isabeau, "she was not quite the 'nobody' that had been suggested ... it is clear that Charles V himself saw the Wittelsbach clan as useful potential allies in the continuing war with England." See Gibbons, 52〕 At that period Bavaria was the most powerful of the German states and divided between members of the House of Wittelsbach,〔 who confusingly all used the title Duke of Bavaria. Isabeau's uncle, Duke Frederick of Bavaria-Landshut, suggested in 1383 that she be considered as a bride to King Charles VI of France. The match was proposed again at the lavish Burgundian double wedding in Cambrai in April 1385—John the Fearless and his sister Margaret of Burgundy married Margaret and William of Bavaria-Straubing respectively. Charles, then 17, rode in the tourneys at the wedding. He was an attractive, physically fit young man, who enjoyed jousting and hunting and was excited to be married.〔Tuchman (1978), 419〕 Charles VI's uncle, Philip the Bold, Duke of Burgundy, thought the proposed marriage ideal to build an alliance with the Holy Roman Empire and against the English.〔Adams (2010), 3–4〕 Isabeau's father agreed reluctantly and sent her to France with his brother, her uncle, on the pretext of taking a pilgrimage to Amiens.〔 He was adamant that she was not to know she was being sent to France to be examined as a prospective bride for Charles,〔 and refused permission for her to be examined in the nude, customary at the time.〔 According to the contemporary chronicler Jean Froissart, Isabeau was 13 or 14 when the match was proposed and about 16 at the time of the marriage in 1385, suggesting a birth date of around 1370.〔Gibbons (1996), 52–53〕 Before her presentation to Charles, Isabeau visited Hainaut for about a month, staying with her granduncle Duke Albert I, ruler of some of Bavaria-Straubing and Count of Holland. Albert's wife, Margaret of Brieg, replaced Isabeau's Bavarian style of dress, deemed unsuitable as French courtly attire, and taught her etiquette suitable to the French court. She learned quickly, suggestive of an intelligent and quick-witted character.〔Adams (2010), 225–227〕 On 13 July 1385 she traveled to Amiens to be presented to Charles.〔 Froissart writes of the meeting in his ''Chronicles'', saying that Isabeau stood motionless while being inspected, exhibiting perfect behavior by the standards of her time. Arrangements were made for the two to be married in Arras, but on the first meeting Charles felt "happiness and love enter his heart, for he saw that she was beautiful and young, and thus he greatly desired to gaze at her and possess her".〔Adams (2010), 223〕 She did not yet speak French and may not have reflected the idealized beauty of the period, perhaps inheriting her mother's dark Italian features, then unfashionable, but Charles most certainly approved of her because the couple were married three days later.〔 Froissart documented the royal wedding, joking about the lascivious guests at the feast and the "hot young couple".〔Tuchman (1978), 420〕 Charles seemingly loved his young wife, lavishing gifts on her. On the occasion of their first New Year in 1386, he gave her a red velvet palfrey saddle, trimmed with copper and decorated with an intertwined K and E (for ''Karol and Elisabeth''), and he continued to give her gifts of rings, tableware and clothing.〔 The uncles too, apparently, were pleased with the match, which contemporary chroniclers, notably Froissart and Michel Pintoin (the Monk of St. Denis), describe similarly as a match rooted in desire and based on her beauty. The day after the wedding, Charles went on a military campaign against the English, and Isabeau went to Creil to live with his great-aunt Blanche, Duchess of Orléans, who taught her courtly traditions. In September she took up residence at the Château de Vincennes, where in the early years of their marriage Charles frequently joined her, and which became her favorite home.〔 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Isabeau of Bavaria」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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