Bastard is a symbol of the Middle Ages or a legal term?

In any kingdom or principality, the monarch's family was an important foundation of statehood. As a rule, the transfer of power was inherited from father to son. Bastard is a child born outside of an official marriage. The history of France knows a lot of illegal heirs, whose actions had important consequences for the state.

Meaning of the word

The traditional meaning of the word "bastard" developed in the Middle Ages. At this time, the institution of church marriage was fundamental for all Christians. If the child was born from another woman, then he did not have the rights of inheritance.

In the case of representatives of monarchic dynasties, this was reflected in heraldry. The coat of arms of each bastard had a characteristic sash that indicated its origin. Illegitimate sons often found themselves at the center of political intrigue, as they had the right to power, which they were deprived of. As a rule, this led to riots and bloodshed. Most often around the bastards united representatives of the nobility and aristocracy, who were dissatisfied with the current authorities.

Some of them became the ancestors of new dynasties. For example, the Capes were one of the Carolingian side lines. Representatives of both dynasties at one time became kings of France.

Charles de Valois

King Charles IX had a mistress of Marie Toucher. From her, he had an illegitimate son of Charles. His father died a year after the birth of the bastard (in 1574). In his will, Charles instructed his brother Henry III to take care of his nephew.

The new king did everything to ensure that Charles could get a decent education. Bastard is an undesirable person at court. However, uncle such illegitimate nephew did not threaten. Charles was preparing to become a knight of the prestigious Order of Malta. In it, he achieved great successes and even became a French prince.

In addition, Charles smiled luck, when his grandmother Catherine de Medici left him a legacy of a large sum of money. He also became Earl of Auvergne. The secular title could not be combined with a career in the Order of Malta. Therefore, in 1591 Charles achieved that he was allowed not to observe the vows of monks.

So he married Charlotte - the daughter of one of the French dukes. When Henry III was killed, the new king (Henry IV) made Charles Colonel of his cavalry. In 1601, the bastard took part in a court conspiracy, the purpose of which was to persuade the ruler to change his wife. The network was opened. Some of the conspirators were executed, Charles was kept in custody for several months. He was helped to protect his influential relatives.

Military career of Charles

Despite the disgrace and loss of titles, Charles managed to regain the trust of the crown. He led the numerous military campaigns of that time. First of all, these were campaigns against Protestants. Catholic France resisted the Reformation. Soon the Thirty Years War began, in which the bastard was drawn in. It was a conflict between the two directions in Christianity. On the side of the Protestants there were numerous German princes. It was with them that Charles fought.

In 1619 he inherited the Angouleme duchy. Charles also participated in important embassies in the Holy Roman Empire, when treaties with Protestants were concluded. At that time Cardinal Richelieu played an important role at court . After he passed away, Charles retired from public affairs and died quietly in 1650.

Antoine Bourbon Bay

The already mentioned Henry IV also had an illegitimate son. His name was Antaunom. He was born in 1607 from his connection with the favorite Jacqueline de Bay (because of this he had a double surname - Bourbon Bay). Bastards of France were not legally recognized heirs. Henry made an exception for his son. A year after the birth of the baby, the king ordered a special patent for his new offspring. In this paper it was confirmed that Antoine is now the legalized heir to his father.

The king was already elderly when he had a bastard. This led to the fact that Heinrich died when Antoine was still a boy. The child inherited several abbeys. Religious institutions were a heavy burden. In France, the wars between Catholics and Protestants continued, because of which the abbeys were constantly at the center of conflicts.

The grown up Antoine was distinguished for his courage and love for military affairs. Contemporaries, who knew Henry IV, repeated that the young man is very similar to his father.

Antoine's participation in the conspiracy against Louis XIII

In the meantime, the power of the new king of Louis XIII was liked by an ever-smaller number of associates. Some of them united in a conspiracy against the ruler. Antoine joined them. Especially the conspirators did not like Richelieu. In addition, there was a desire of Louis to lead the country to an absolute monarchy, which deprived numerous counts and dukes of former influence.

The rebels gathered an army. The battle between the royalists and rebels took place in 1632. Antoine was in the thick of battle. He was wounded by a bullet from a musket, because of which he died. The history of the bastard ended tragically, but naturally.