From one dynasty to another, the King and Queen of France travelled the kingdom to make themselves known to their subjects. Would you be able to recognise them?
Rules of the game:
Each player takes a tray with the faces of figures face up and chooses a portrait of one of them in secret.
The youngest player goes first and asks the first question to try to find out who the other player has chosen.
But be careful; you can only answer YES or NO to the question asked.
Example: Is your person a woman?
– If the answer is YES, the player asking the question can disregard all the cards with men on them
– If the answer is NO, the player asking the question can disregard all the cards with women on them
The players ask questions in turn.
When one player thinks they have identified the other player’s card, they have to wait for their turn before guessing.
– If they guess wrong, they lose the round.
– If they guess right, they win the round.
The first player to get three cards right wins the match.
Direct Capetian kings:
|
Philip II “Augustus” (1165 – 1180 -1223) He grew up near the western borders of the kingdom. In 1405, he and his army seized the Keep at Loches from the soldiers of the King of England, John Lackland. |
Philip IV, “the Fair” (1268 –1285 -1314) He strengthened the royal domain and his own power by gathering around him legal scholars and counsellors who drew up laws that he gradually imposed upon his subjects. |
The Valois Kings:
|
Philip VI, (1293 –1328-1350) Philip the Fair’s successor, he was the first king in the Valois dynasty. It was during his reign that the Hundred Years’ War between the King of England and the King of France began. |
John II (1319-1350-1364) Taken prisoner on the battlefield by the English in 1356 and held in captivity in London, he was freed after a huge ransom of 3 million gold crowns was paid.
|
|
Charles V (1338-1364-1380) An administrator, a builder and a patron, Charles V managed to take back land lost by his father. |
Charles VI (1368-1380-1422) After a promising start to his reign, he was struck by madness in 1392. His withdrawal from matters of state led to a struggle for political power between factions which degenerated into civil war.
|
|
Charles VII (1403-1422 – 1461) Although his crown was contested on his accession and he inherited a divided kingdom, as King he won back his realm and ended the Hundred Years’ War.
|
Louis XI (1423-1461-1483) Following in the footsteps of his father, he fought territorial princes and completed the unification of the kingdom.
|
|
Charles VIII (1470 – 1483 – 1498) The most notable events of his reign were adding the Duchy of Brittany and a military expedition to the Kingdom of Naples. |
Louis XII (1462 –1498 – 1515) Said to be popular, Louis XII consolidated the kingdom’s internal institutions and pursued his predecessor’s Italian delusion by trying to conquer the Duchy of Milan. |
Queens:
|
Joan of Navarre (1273 – 1285 – 1305) The wife of Philip the Fair, by awarding her the regency, the King recognised the love his kingdom and its subjects had for a wise and pious queen.
|
Blanche of Navarre (1331 – 1350 – 1398) The second wife of Philip VI, of Capetian lineage, she gave the first monarch of the Valois dynasty the legitimacy he needed.
|
|
Isabeau of Bavaria (1371 – 1385 – 1435) The wife of Charles VI, she tried to mediate between the factions that were tearing the kingdom apart while the King was struck by madness.
|
Marie of Anjou (1404 – 1422 – 1463) The wife of Charles VII, she presided over the Council many times while the King was absent, acting as lieutenant of the kingdom. |
|
Anne of Brittany (1477 – 1491 – 1514) The wife of Charles VIII and Louis XII, she asserted herself as Queen and Duchess by creating a brilliant female Court. |
Iconography source:
François Eudes de Mézeray (1610-1683), History of France from to the reign of Louis the Just, 1685.