Editing Charles VI of France (section)

===''Bal des Ardents''===
[[File:Le Bal des Ardents.jpg|thumb|The [[Bal des Ardents]], miniature of 1450–80 showing the dancers' costumes on fire]]
On 29 January 1393, a [[masked ball]], which later became known as the ''[[Bal des Ardents]]'' ("Ball of the Burning Men"), was organized by Isabeau of Bavaria to celebrate the wedding of one of her [[lady-in-waiting|ladies-in-waiting]] at the Hôtel Saint-Pol. At the suggestion of Huguet de Guisay, the king and four other lords<ref name="Froissart Chronicles .p.550">[[Froissart's Chronicles]], ed. T. Johnes, II (1855), p. 550</ref> dressed up as [[Woodwose|wild men]] and performed a dance while dressed "in costumes of linen cloth sewn onto their bodies and soaked in resinous wax or pitch to hold a covering of frazzled hemp, so that they appeared shaggy & hairy from head to foot."<ref>{{Cite book |first=Barbara |last=Tuchman |title=A Distant Mirror |date=1978 |publisher=Alfred A Knopf}} See the chronicle of the Religieux de Saint-Denis, ed. Bellaguet, II, pp. 64–71, where the squire's name is given correctly as "de Guisay".</ref>

At the suggestion of one Yvain de Foix, the king commanded that the torch-bearers were to stand at the side of the room. Nonetheless, the king's younger brother [[Louis I, Duke of Orléans]], who had arrived late, approached with a lighted torch to discover the identity of the dancers, and accidentally set one of them on fire. There was panic as the flames spread. The [[Joanna II of Auvergne|Duchess of Berry]] threw the train of her gown over the king to protect him.<ref>''[[Froissart's Chronicles]]'', ed. T. Johnes, II (1855), pp. 550–52</ref> Several knights who tried to put out the flames were severely burned. Four of the dancers perished: Charles de Poitiers, son of the [[Count of Valentinois]]; Huguet de Guisay; Yvain de [[County of Foix|Foix]]; and the Count of [[Joigny]]. Another – Jean, son of the Lord of [[Nantouillet]] – saved himself by jumping into a dishwater tub.<ref>''[[Froissart's Chronicles]]'', ed. T. Johnes, II (1855), p. 550. Note that Froissart and the Religieux de Saint-Denis differ as to when the four men died. Huguet de Guisay had held the office of cupbearer of the king.</ref>