Bal des Ardents: Four members of the court of Charles VI of France die in a fire, at a masquerade ball.
>Soon after [Charles VI of France] ascension to the throne, he had a breakdown and never got his feet back under him. He married and attempted to rule, but the bouts of madness got worse. At varying times, he thought he was made of glass, forgot his wife and children and tried to murder his brother. One of the worst scandals of his reign, was the Ball of the Burning Men.
>Such events were encouraged as a means of distracting the unstable Charles VI of France, known to posterity as Charles the Mad. His wife, Isabeau of Bavaria, went to great lengths to surround him with exotic fashions and entertainment.
>Costumes for the charivari were made of linen soaked in pitch, onto which were stuck frayed flax strands, making the dancers look hairy and wild. Similarly ‘hairy’ masks covered their faces, the great game being to guess who the dancers were. What few in the audience knew was that one of the dancers was Charles himself.
>Due to the highly flammable nature of the costumes it was decreed that no candles or torches were to be brought into the room during the performance, but sadly the message did not reach the king’s brother, Louis, Duc D’Orléans, who appeared late and drunk with his entourage carrying lighted torches. Reports differ as to what happened. Some say that Orléans lifted the torch to reveal his presence and a spark hit one of the “wild men”. Other accounts say a torch was thrown at the dancers. Whatever the case, the flammable costumes went up like tinder.
>The combination of pitch and flax burnt furiously and, while one dancer managed to save himself by jumping into a barrel of wine, four others burned to death, taking some of the audience members with them. The events were described by the monk of St. Denis as “four men were burned alive, their flaming genitals dropping to the floor … releasing a stream of blood”.
>Queen Isabeau knew her husband was among the dancers and fainted when the fire started. At this point the heroic Joan, Duchess de Berri, who was only 14 at the time, came to the fore. She recognised the king and hid him under her skirts, protecting him from the flames.
Sources:
Ball of the Burning Men at History Today
Bal des Ardents (Ball of the Burning Men) at Naked History
Further Reading:
- [Bal des Ardents](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bal_des_
France was very fragmented and disorganized. English control would solidify Edwardian power and create a powerful nation that would eventually stretch from Ireland and Scotland to Switzerland and the Span. How does Edward V extended life alter history?
Would the French people have accepted Henry as King and would a union between England and France be formed? Would that union last and how would Europe be shaped differently?
My understanding is the Charles VI's reign was already much troubled before this incident. He was given to "fugue states" and fits of paranoid rage. He was also unpopular with the common folk, who saw him as extravagant.
Did this change how common people and merchants saw the monarchy? Were any later laws made due to this incident?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_VI_of_France#Mental_illness
