Charles V le Sage

King of France · 1364-1380 · born on 21 January 1338, died on 16 September 1380

Regent during the captivity of his father Jean II the Good, taken prisoner at Poitiers (1356), Charles faced the Parisian revolt of Étienne Marcel and the Jacquerie of 1358. He came to the throne in 1364, on the death of his father, who died in captivity in London.

The new king changed methods: instead of great battles, he pursued a cautious and methodical reconquest with his constable Bertrand du Guesclin. From 1369 to 1380, almost all of the territories ceded at Brétigny were retaken — Poitou, Saintonge, Guyenne — with the exception of Calais and the Bordeaux region, which stayed English.

A learned, pious and hard-working sovereign, he had the Bastille built and renovated the Louvre, gathered the royal library, reorganized finances and coinage, and laid the foundations of a permanent royal army. This reign, cut short by an early death in 1380, was one of the best administered of the 14th century.

In the tree of power

Further reading