The French king who believed his body was made of glass
In short: Charles VI of France was known as 'the Beloved,' but his reign was defined by terrifying psychological breaks. From attacking his own knights in a forest frenzy to sewing iron rods into his clothes to prevent shattering, his descent into madness reshaped the fate of a kingdom.
Ascending the throne in 1380 at just eleven years old, Charles VI initially enjoyed a period of stability under the guidance of competent advisors known as the Marmousets. However, his mental health began to decline significantly in 1392. During a military expedition near Le Mans, a sudden bout of delirium led the king to mistake his own knights for traitors, resulting in the death of the 'Bastard of Polignac' and several other men.
The king’s episodes were characterized by profound delusions. He famously suffered from 'glass delusion,' a condition where he believed his body was made of glass and required protection from breaking. To mitigate this risk, he reportedly had iron rods sewn into his clothing. Other episodes saw him claim to be Saint George or to have forgotten his own identity and royal status entirely. The exact cause of these fits remains a mystery; while 19th-century historians suggested schizophrenia, modern theories range from porphyria and arsenic poisoning to typhus-induced encephalopathy.
These psychological instabilities had devastating political consequences. The king's inability to rule allowed his uncles and his wife, Queen Isabeau, to vie for power, eventually plunging France into the Armagnac–Burgundian Civil War. This internal chaos left the nation vulnerable to the English during the Hundred Years' War. The instability culminated in the Treaty of Troyes in 1420, which disinherited Charles's son, the Dauphin, in favor of Henry V of England, nearly erasing the Valois dynasty from the throne.
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Sources
- Summary by Intellect · source: Charles VI of France
- Also: www.britannica.com — Charles VI | Charles the Mad, King of France, Biography | Britannica
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