fortresses were regularly
inspected by the central authority, and the nobles themselves became in
many cases paid officers of the king. Charles established a merchant
marine and a formidable navy, which under Jean de Vienne threatened the
English coast between 1377 and 1380. The states-general were silenced
and the royal prerogative increased; the royal domains were extended,
and the wealth of the crown was augmented; additions were made to the
revenue by the sale of municipal charters and patents; and taxation
became heavier, since Charles set no limits to the gratification of his
tastes either in the collection of jewels and precious objects, of
books, or of his love of building, examples of which are the renovation
of the Louvre and the erection of the palace of Saint Paul in Paris.

See the chronicles of Froissart, and of Pierre d'Orgemont (_Grandes
Chroniques de Saint Denis_, Paris, vol. vi, 1838); Christine de Pisan,
_Le Livre des fais et bonnes moeurs du sage roy Charles V_, written in
1404, ed. Michaud and Poujoulat, vol. ii. (1836); L. Delisle,
_Mandements et actes divers de Charles V_ (1886); letters of Charles
V. from the English archives in Champollion-Figeac, _Lettres de rois
et de reines_, ii. pp. 167 seq.; the anonymous _Songe du vergier_ or
_Somnium viridarii_, written in 1376 and giving the political ideas of
Charles V. and his advisers; "Relation de la mort de Charles V" in
Haureau, _Notices et extraits_, xxxi. pp. 278-284; Ch. Benoist, _La
Politique du roi Charles V_ (1874); S. Luce, _La France pendant la
guerre de cent ans_; G. Clement Simon, _La Rupture du traite de
Bretigny_ (1898); A. Vuitry, _Etudes sur le regime financier de la
France_, vols. i. and ii. (1883); and R. Delachenal, _Histoire de
Charles V_ (Paris, 1908).

CHARLES VI. (1368-1422), king of France, son of Charles V. and Jeanne of
Bourbon, was born in Paris on the 3rd of December 1368. He received the
appanage of Dauphine at his birth, and was thus the first of the princes
of France to bear the title of dauphin from infancy. Charles V. had
entrusted his education to Philippe de Mezieres, and had fixed his
majority at fourteen. He succeeded to the throne in 1380, at the age of
twelve, and the royal authority was divided between his paternal uncles,
Louis, duke of Anjou, John, duke of Berry, Philip the Bold, duke of
Burgundy, and his mother's brother, Louis II., duke of Bourbon. In
accordance with an