Editing Charles VII of France (section)

==King of Bourges==
[[File:Treaty of Troyes.svg|300px|thumb|'''1429'''{{Legend|#ea8b9d|Territories controlled by [[Henry VI of England]]}}
{{Legend|#c896c8|Territories controlled by the [[Philip the Good|Duke of Burgundy]]}}
{{Legend|#7f9ad7|Territories controlled by Charles}}
{{Legend|#ffff00|Main battles}}
{{Legend-line|red dotted 2px|English raid of 1415}}
{{Legend-line|blue dotted 2px|Joan of Arc's route to [[Reims]] in 1429}}]]
[[File:Beside the altar stood Joan, her whit standard in her hand.jpg|thumb|Joan of Arc at the coronation of Charles VII with her white flag]]
In his adolescent years, Charles was noted for his bravery and flamboyant style of leadership. At one point after becoming Dauphin, he led an army against the English dressed in the red, white, and blue that represented his family;{{Citation needed|date=December 2016}} his heraldic device was a mailed fist clutching a naked sword. On 25 June 1421, he took [[Gallardon]] and executed, as traitors, the garrison, and by the end of June Charles had invested [[Chartres]].{{sfn|Sumption|2015|p=736}} He then went south of the Loire River under the protection of [[Yolande of Aragon]], known as "Queen of the Four Kingdoms" and, on 18 December 1422, married her daughter, [[Marie of Anjou]],{{sfn|Taylor|2009|p=230}} to whom he had been engaged since December 1413 in a ceremony at the [[Louvre Palace]].

Charles claimed the title [[List of French monarchs|King of France]] for himself, but failed to make any attempts to expel the English from northern France out of indecision and a sense of hopelessness.{{sfn|Schlesinger|1985|p=17-18}} Instead, he remained south of the Loire River, where he was still able to exert power, and maintained an itinerant court in the [[Loire Valley]] at castles such as [[Chinon]]. He was still customarily known as the "Dauphin", or derisively as the "King of [[Bourges]]", after the town where he generally lived. Periodically, he considered flight to the [[Iberian Peninsula]], which would have allowed the English to capture even more territory in France.

===Siege of Orléans===
Political conditions in France took a decisive turn in the year 1429 just as the prospects for the Dauphin began to look hopeless. The town of [[Orléans]] had been [[Siege of Orléans|under siege]] since October 1428. The English regent, the [[John of Lancaster, Duke of Bedford|Duke of Bedford]] (the uncle of [[Henry VI of England|Henry VI]]), was advancing into the [[Duchy of Bar]], ruled by Charles's brother-in-law, [[René of Anjou|René]]. The French lords and soldiers loyal to Charles were becoming increasingly desperate. Then in the little village of [[Domrémy-la-Pucelle|Domrémy]], on the border of [[Lorraine (province)|Lorraine]] and [[Champagne, France|Champagne]], a teenage girl named [[Joan of Arc]] ({{Langx|fr|Jeanne d'Arc}}), demanded that the garrison commander at Vaucouleurs, [[Robert de Baudricourt]], collect the soldiers and resources necessary to bring her to the Dauphin at Chinon,{{Sfn|Vale|1974|p=[{{Google books|6qwRJs3JkNIC|pg=PA46|plainurl=yes}} 46]}} stating that visions of angels and saints had given her a divine mission. Granted an escort of five veteran soldiers and a letter of referral to Charles by Lord Baudricourt, Joan rode to see Charles at Chinon. She arrived on 23 February 1429.{{Sfn|Vale|1974|p=[{{Google books|6qwRJs3JkNIC|pg=PA46|plainurl=yes}} 46]}}

Second-hand testimony by witnesses who were not present when Joan and the Dauphin met state Charles wanted to test her claim to be able to recognise him despite never having seen him, and so he disguised himself as one of his courtiers. He stood in their midst when Joan entered the chamber in which the court was assembled. Joan identified Charles immediately. She bowed low to him and embraced his knees, declaring "God give you a happy life, sweet King!" Despite attempts to claim that another man was in fact the king, thereafter Joan referred to him as "Dauphin" or "Noble Dauphin" until he was crowned in Reims four months later. After a private conversation between the two, Charles became inspired and filled with confidence.

After her encounter with Charles in March 1429, Joan of Arc set out to lead the French forces at Orléans. She was aided by skilled commanders such as Étienne de Vignolles, known as [[La Hire]], and [[Jean Poton de Xaintrailles]]. They compelled the English to lift the siege on 8 May 1429, thus turning the tide of the war. The French won the [[Battle of Patay]] on 18 June, at which the English army present lost about half its troops. After pushing further into English and Burgundian-controlled territory, Charles was crowned King Charles VII of France in [[Reims Cathedral]] on 17 July 1429.

[[Joan of Arc|Joan]] was later captured by Burgundian troops under John of Luxembourg at the [[Siege of Compiègne]] on 24 May 1430.{{Sfn|Pernoud|Clin|1999|p=88}} The Burgundians handed her over to their English allies. Tried for [[heresy]] by a court composed of pro-English clergymen such as [[Pierre Cauchon]], who had long served under English authorities,{{Sfn|Pernoud|Clin|1999|pp=103–137, 209}} she was burnt at the stake on 30 May 1431.