Editing Charles V of France (section)

==Legacy==
[[File:Les Très Riches Heures du duc de Berry octobre.jpg|right|thumb|The [[Louvre Palace]], shown in this early fifteenth century illumination, representing the month of October in {{lang|fr|[[Très Riches Heures du Duc de Berry|Les très riches Heures du duc de Berry]]}}, was rebuilt during the reign of Charles V – inaugurating a new era of royal architecture.]]

Charles' reputation was of great significance for posterity, especially as his conception of governance was one that courtiers wished his successors could follow. [[Christine de Pizan]]'s biography, commissioned by [[Philip the Bold]], [[Duke of Burgundy]], in 1404, is a source of most of the intimate details of the king's life of which we are aware, but also provides a moral example for his successors. It draws heavily on the work of [[Nicole Oresme]] (who translated [[Aristotle]]'s moral works into French) and [[Giles of Rome]]. [[Philippe de Mézières]], in his allegorical "Songe du Vieil Pèlerin", attempts to persuade the dauphin (later King Charles VI) to follow the example of his wise father, notably in piety, though also to pursue reforming zeal in all policy considerations.

Of great importance to Charles V's cultural program was his vast library, housed in his expanded [[Louvre Palace]], and described in great detail by the nineteenth-century French historian [[Leopold Delisle]]. Containing over 1,200 volumes, it was symbolic of the authority and magnificence of the royal person, but also of his concern with government for the [[common good]]. Charles was keen to collect copies of works in French, in order that his counsellors had access to them. Perhaps the most significant ones commissioned for the library were those of Nicole Oresme, who translated [[Aristotle]]'s ''[[Politics (Aristotle)|Politics]]'', ''[[Nicomachean Ethics|Ethics]]'', and ''[[Economics (Aristotle)|Economics]]'' into eloquent [[French language|French]] for the [[Livre de Politiques|first time]] (an earlier attempt had been made at the ''Politics'', but the manuscript is now lost). If the ''Politics'' and ''Economics'' served as a manual for government, then the ''Ethics'' advised the king on how to be a good man.

Other important works commissioned for the royal library were the anonymous legal treatise "Songe du Vergier", greatly inspired by the debates of [[Philip IV of France|Philip IV]]'s jurists with [[Pope Boniface VIII]], the translations of Raol de Presles, which included [[Augustine of Hippo|St. Augustine]]'s ''City of God'', and the ''[[Grandes Chroniques de France]]'' edited in 1377 to emphasise the [[vassal]]age of [[Edward III of England|Edward III]].

Charles' kingship placed great emphasis on both royal ceremony and scientific [[Political philosophy|political theory]], and to contemporaries and posterity his lifestyle at once embodied the reflective life advised by Aristotle and the model of French kingship derived from [[Louis IX of France|St. Louis]], [[Charlemagne]], and [[Clovis I|Clovis]] which he had illustrated in his ''Coronation Book'' of 1364, now in the [[British Library]].

Charles V was also a builder king, and he created or rebuilt several significant buildings in the late 14th century style including the [[Bastille]], the [[Louvre Palace]], [[Château de Vincennes]], and [[Château de Saint-Germain-en-Laye]], which were widely copied by the nobility of the day.

While he was in many ways a typical medieval king, Charles V has been praised by historians for his pragmatism, which led to the recovery of the territories lost at [[Treaty of Brétigny|Brétigny]].

His successes, however, proved ephemeral. Charles' brothers, who dominated the regency council that ruled in the king's name until 1388, quarrelled among themselves and divided the government. Charles VI, meanwhile, preferred tournaments to the duties of kingship, and his descent into madness in 1392 put his uncles back in power. By 1419, the country was divided between [[Armagnac (party)|Armagnac]] and [[Burgundian (party)|Burgundian]] factions and [[Henry V of England|Henry V]] was conquering the northern part of France. The hard-won victories of Charles V had been lost through the venality of his successors.