13. Charles The Mad Was Truly Bonkers
French king Charles VI (1368 – 1422) started his reign so auspiciously that he was known early on to his subjects as “Charles the Well-Loved”. However, that had more to do with the fact that he ascended the throne at age 11, too young to wield power and actually do any harm, while his kingdom was governed by regents. That all changed after Charles came of age and took personal charge of France at age 21. By the time he died over four decades later, he had earned the nickname by which he is best known to history: “Charles the Mad“. His first bout of insanity struck in 1392, when the then-24-year-old king set out on a military expedition to punish a vassal who had attempted to assassinate a royal friend.
Charles acted weird from the campaign’s start, and was so fired up to get at the offender that his speech often became incoherent while urging preparations to speed up. Once on the road, the army’s slow progress drove him into a frenzy. En route, a crazy leper by the roadside started yelling at the king to halt and turn back because he had been betrayed. He was shooed away, but kept following the king, shouting his warnings. While that was going on, a drowsy page dropped a lance, which clanged off somebody’s helmet. Something about the noise made Charles snap, and drawing his sword, he charged at his retinue and started hacking and stabbing them. By the time he was restrained, he had killed at least four knights and men at arms.
