Charles I, Duke of Bourbon

Stone statue of Charles I, Duke of Bourbon in the abbey church of Souvigny

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 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:

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

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)

French nobility
Preceded by John I and Marie	Duke of Auvergne 1434–1456	Succeeded by John II
Preceded by John I	Duke of Bourbon Count of Forez 1434–1456
	Count of Clermont-en-Beauvaisis 1424–1456