The Cabochien revolt was an episode in the
civil war between the Armagnacs and the Burgundians
Civil may refer to:
*Civic virtue, or civility
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which was in turn a part of the
Hundred Years' War
The Hundred Years' War (; 1337–1453) was a series of armed conflicts between the kingdoms of Kingdom of England, England and Kingdom of France, France during the Late Middle Ages. It originated from disputed claims to the French Crown, ...
.
In the spring of 1413,
John the Fearless
John I (french: Jean sans Peur; nl, Jan zonder Vrees; 28 May 137110 September 1419) was a scion of the French royal family who ruled the Burgundian State from 1404 until his death in 1419. He played a key role in French national affairs during ...
, duke of Burgundy, managed to raise the people of Paris and impose a reform called the Cabochien ordinance. However, after several months, Parisians desiring a return to order supported return of the Armagnacs.
On 23 November 1407,
Louis, Duke of Orléans, brother of king
Charles VI (known as "Charles the Beloved" and "Charles the Mad"), was murdered by masked assassins in the service of John the Fearless. Afterwards, John acquired considerable popularity among the population of Paris.
He aligned himself with a popular faction of butchers, the ''écorcheurs'' (flayers), named “Cabochiens”, after their commander, a butcher named Simon Lecoustellier, known as
Simon Caboche Simon Lecoustellier, called Caboche, a skinner of the Paris Boucherie, played an important part in the Cabochien Revolt of 1413. He had relations with John the Fearless, Duke of Burgundy, since 1411, and was prominent in the seditious disturbances ...
. This group had its origins among butchers of the ''Grande Boucherie de Paris'', a relatively wealthy class of tradespeople not integrated within Parisian high & aristocratic class. In April 1413, in a bid to gain power, John the Fearless encouraged the Cabochiens to revolt. Riotous mobs, sporting distinctive white caps, assaulted Armagnac noblemen and followers, and their properties throughout the city. On April 27, they seized the
''Bastille Saint-Antoine'' and took prisoner its defender,
Pierre des Essarts, Provost of Paris. (Pierre des Essarts was beheaded the following 13 July.) They also forced their way into the
Hôtel Saint-Pol
The Hôtel Saint-Pol was a royal residence begun in 1360 by Charles V of France on the ruins of a building constructed by Louis IX. It was used by Charles V and Charles VI. Located on the Right Bank, to the northwest of the Quartier de l'Arsenal ...
, the royal residence, arrested several of the king's men, and incarcerated them in the various prisons of Paris. They controlled Paris for four months, until the last days of July and beginning of August, when the revolt was put down.
Academics took this opportunity to propose administrative reforms known as the “Ordonnance cabochienne", which limited the power of the monarch, giving, for example, greater fiscal control to the Estates General. Although the ordinance carried the name of Caboche, because it was published on 26–27 May 1413 during the Cabochian revolt, it had been prepared in January–February 1413 by the
''États généraux de Langue d'Oïl''.
[Coville, Alfred, ''L'Ordonnance cabochienne (20-27 mai 1413), Editeur Alphonse Picard, Paris, 1891, p. 1] It was actually the work of advisors of John of Burgundy who imposed the ordinance on Charles VI, who signed it on 22 May 1413.
However, the exactions of the Cabochiens and of the Burgundians were causing increasing dissatisfaction among the population who began to rise against the Cabochiens. On 2–3 August, the Cabochiens revolt was over. The Cabochiens who were unable to flee were executed and the ordinance was overturned on 5 September 1413. Simon Caboche was able to escape with the Duke of Burgundy.
Charles d’Orléans, son of the murdered duke of Orléans, had married Bonne d’Armagnac, daughter of the count
Bernard VII of Armagnac
Bernard VII, Count of Armagnac (1360 – 12 June 1418) was Count of Armagnac and Constable of France. He was the son of John II, Count of Armagnac, and Jeanne de Périgord. He succeeded in Armagnac at the death of his brother, John III, in 1 ...
. The count was a brutal and powerful lord who commanded a number of troops from the Adour and Garonne. Putting himself at the disposal of his son-in-law, he took control of Paris. In recognition of his help, Bernard VII d'Armagnac was made
Constable of France
The Constable of France (french: Connétable de France, from Latin for 'count of the stables') was lieutenant to the King of France, the first of the original five Great Officers of the Crown (along with seneschal, chamberlain, butler, and ...
on 30 December 1415 in a letter signed by Charles VI.
References
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Conflicts of the Hundred Years' War
Popular revolt in late-medieval Europe
1413 in Europe
1410s in France
Conflicts in 1413
15th-century rebellions
Rebellions in France
Insurgencies in Paris