Cabochien Revolt
Encyclopedia
The Cabochien revolt was an episode in the Civil war between the Armagnacs and the Burgundians which was in turn a part of the Hundred Years' War
.
In the spring 1413 John the Fearless, 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 November, 1407, Louis, Duke of Orléans
and brother of the mad king Charles VI was murdered by masked assassins in the service of John the Fearless, Duke of Burgundy. Following this event, John acquired considerable popularity among Parisians.
He aligned himself with a popular faction of Parisians called “Cabochiens” after their commander, a butcher named Simon the Cutler, who was also called Simon Caboche
. This group had its origins among working Parisians who were relatively wealthy but not integrated within the class of nobility. In April, 1413, John encouraged the Cabochiens to revolt in a bid to gain power. Revolutionary mobs, sporting distinctive white caps, assaulted Armagnac noblemen and their assets throughout the city. On April 27, they seized the Bastille and assassinated the Provost of Paris, Pierre de Essarts, penetrated up to the king’s Palace and controlled Paris for several weeks.
Academics took this opportunity to propose administrative reforms known as the “Cabochienne Ordinance” which tended to limit the power of the monarchy giving, for example, greater fiscal control to the Estates General. Although the ordinance carries the name of Caboche who was at the time terrorizing Parisians, it was actually the work of advisors of John of Burgundy who imposed the ordinance on Charles VI.
In January, 1413, the king was compelled to call an Estates General
to sign the ordinance. However, by this time the acts of the Cabochiens and the Burgundians were causing increasing dissatisfaction among the populace who began to rise up against the Cabochiens. By the end of August a number of university leaders reunited around the Duke of Burgundy and the Parisian haute bourgeoisie led by the lawyer, Jean Jouvenel des Ursins, favored return of the Armagnacs.
However, the poet Charles d’Orléans, son of the duke of Orléans, had married Bonne d’Armagnac, daughter of the count Bernard VII of Armagnac. The count was a brutal and powerful lord who commanded a number of troops from the Ardour and Garonne. Putting himself at the disposal of his son-in-law, he took control of Paris. The Cabochiens, who were unable to flee, were executed and the ordinance was overturned on September 5, 1413. Simon Caboche was able to escape with John of Burgundy. In thanks for his help Bernard VII was made constable of France by Isabelle of Bavaria the queen mother and head of the regency council.
Hundred Years' War
The Hundred Years' War was a series of separate wars waged from 1337 to 1453 by the House of Valois and the House of Plantagenet, also known as the House of Anjou, for the French throne, which had become vacant upon the extinction of the senior Capetian line of French kings...
.
In the spring 1413 John the Fearless, 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 November, 1407, Louis, Duke of Orléans
Louis of Valois, Duke of Orléans
Louis I was Duke of Orléans from 1392 to his death. He was also Count of Valois, Duke of Touraine , Count of Blois , Angoulême , Périgord, Dreux, and Soissons....
and brother of the mad king Charles VI was murdered by masked assassins in the service of John the Fearless, Duke of Burgundy. Following this event, John acquired considerable popularity among Parisians.
He aligned himself with a popular faction of Parisians called “Cabochiens” after their commander, a butcher named Simon the Cutler, who was also called Simon Caboche
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 which broke out in April and May, following on the...
. This group had its origins among working Parisians who were relatively wealthy but not integrated within the class of nobility. In April, 1413, John encouraged the Cabochiens to revolt in a bid to gain power. Revolutionary mobs, sporting distinctive white caps, assaulted Armagnac noblemen and their assets throughout the city. On April 27, they seized the Bastille and assassinated the Provost of Paris, Pierre de Essarts, penetrated up to the king’s Palace and controlled Paris for several weeks.
Academics took this opportunity to propose administrative reforms known as the “Cabochienne Ordinance” which tended to limit the power of the monarchy giving, for example, greater fiscal control to the Estates General. Although the ordinance carries the name of Caboche who was at the time terrorizing Parisians, it was actually the work of advisors of John of Burgundy who imposed the ordinance on Charles VI.
In January, 1413, the king was compelled to call an Estates General
French States-General
In France under the Old Regime, the States-General or Estates-General , was a legislative assembly of the different classes of French subjects. It had a separate assembly for each of the three estates, which were called and dismissed by the king...
to sign the ordinance. However, by this time the acts of the Cabochiens and the Burgundians were causing increasing dissatisfaction among the populace who began to rise up against the Cabochiens. By the end of August a number of university leaders reunited around the Duke of Burgundy and the Parisian haute bourgeoisie led by the lawyer, Jean Jouvenel des Ursins, favored return of the Armagnacs.
However, the poet Charles d’Orléans, son of the duke of Orléans, had married Bonne d’Armagnac, daughter of the count Bernard VII of Armagnac. The count was a brutal and powerful lord who commanded a number of troops from the Ardour and Garonne. Putting himself at the disposal of his son-in-law, he took control of Paris. The Cabochiens, who were unable to flee, were executed and the ordinance was overturned on September 5, 1413. Simon Caboche was able to escape with John of Burgundy. In thanks for his help Bernard VII was made constable of France by Isabelle of Bavaria the queen mother and head of the regency council.