CiIARLI•a VII., he Viatorieux (the Victorious), son of Charles VI., succeeded, open his father's death (October 1422) to a kingdom, the greater part of whloh was possessed by enemies, foreign or domestic. lie celebrated his coronation at Poitiers In 1423, and summoned an assembly of the StaterGeneral at Borers. The commencement of his reign will disastrous; his troops, of whom Scottish auxiliaries formed a considerable portion, were defeated at Crevant and Verneuil, while his court was stained with the blood of two of his favourites, successively victims to the jealousy of the constable Arthur of Riche wont, a branch of the dual family of Bretagne.
In 1428 a body of English forces, under the most renowned of their officers, besieged Orleans, which was defended by Dunois, a bastard of the family of Orldans, Xeintrailles, and other distinguished French men. The siege was vigorously pressed, and Charles manifested little of the energy which the state of his antra required. The deliverance of Orleans and the revival of the spirit of the French may be ascribed mainly to Jeanne d'Aro [Atte, JEANNE D'j, whose extraordinary character and claims to superoatural influence impressed both parties and turned the tide of fortune. Charles carried on the war by hie generals, seldom exposing his person in the field, a caution which the death or captivity of nearly all the members of his family, and the evils that would hare resulted from any accident to him, seem fully to justify. Success attended his arms; the English power declined; and the treaty of Arras, by which Charles was reconciled to the Duke of Bourgogne, and the death of the able Duke of Bedford (regent for his nephew Henry VI. of England) [Benronn, Door or], both which events occurred in the year 1435, rendered the superiority of the French arms decisive. Paris opened its gates to the French in 1496. Normandie was reoonquered in 1450, and the final subjugation of Oulenne was secured by the battle of Cutillon in 1453, and the EoglIsh possessions were reduced to Calais and the surrounding terri tory. It was during the course of the war [1428] that Charles was crowned (for a second time) at Reims. The condition of France, during the continuance of hostilities, was most wretched, not that the war was carried on by the two great powers with energy and vigour, but that the provinces were ravaged by bands of armed marauders, while famine and pestilence wasted Paris and the adjacent provinces shortly after the expulsion of the English from the capital in 1436 : nearly 60,000 persons are said to have died in Paris alone.
While engaged In struggling with the English, Charles distinguished himself by two measures, whioh may be considered as the most bene ficial of has reign. The tint of these was the leaning of that ordinance, known In history by the title of the 'Pragmatic, Sanction,' which is regarded as having laid the foundation of the liberties of the Galilean church. This oniinauce recognised the superiority of cocumenical or general councils over the popes ; and denied to the pontiffs, with a few exceptions, the appointment of bishops, who were to be elected by their respective chapters subject to the royal approval : it prevented the interference of the Romish see in the disposal of inferior benefices, and abolished the abuse of ' expectations' or promises In reversion while the ineumbuts were yet living. It contained several other regulations tending to curtail the revenue or the authority of the papal court. The other great measure of Charles was the reform of the army. The Irregular band, which had conetituted the military force of the kingdom, served at pleasure and on their own terms, and by their lawless ravages became the scourge of the country which they pro fessed to defend. By firtnneee and wisdom the king converted those marauding detachment. into a welidiscriplined Mending army, and however the change may have subsequently tended to consolidate the royal power and extinguleh political freedom, it can hardly be con. shirred as other than a benefit at the time It was made [1440]. The were delivered from military lianoe, and the army, though reduced perhaps in nnmters, increased in efficiency. It was not with.
out considerable opposition that Charles effected hie purpose : the great military leaders formed a cabal, which assumed the name of Prsguerie' (from the popular commotion. which had agitated Bohemia in the time of Huss), and the dauphin, a youth of seventeen (after IMINis Louis XI.), joined the malcontents. But the king was supported by the hulk of the nation, and by his firmness carried his point. For the wild and untameable spirits among the common soldiers, a suitable outlet was found in two expeditions, one under the dauphin (who had been brought back to his duty) against the Swiss and in support of Frederick III. of Austria; another, under the king himself, against Metz, one of the free cities of Lorraine, which 116n of Anjou, duke of Lorraine, wished to incorporate with his duchy.