Charles was born at Tours, last child and fourth son of Charles VII and Marie of Anjou.[2] As his elder brother, the Dauphin Louis, had repeatedly run into conflict with his father and since 1456 was living in exile at the court of Burgundy, some expected the crown to pass to Charles. When Charles VII died in 1461, however, Louis XI succeeded nonetheless.
Under the treaty, Charles was granted the Duchy of Normandy as an additional appanage.[4] He proved unable to control his new possession and ran into conflict with his former ally Francis II of Brittany. Louis dispatched the royal army to Normandy and assumed direct royal control of the Duchy. Charles, now reconciled with Duke Francis, fled to Brittany, where he remained until September 1468, when he and Francis signed the Treaty of Ancenis with Louis, promising to abandon the former Count of Charolais, now Duke of Burgundy.
Coat of arms of Charles as Duke of Aquitaine, quartering one of the three lions of Plantagenet, borne by the Kings of England, the former Dukes of Aquitaine
In October 1468 Louis was imprisoned by Charles of Burgundy during a conference at Péronne. In order to obtain his release, Louis agreed to grant Champagne to his brother as compensation for Normandy. Once free, Louis reneged on the promises made under duress but in April 1469, he finally reconciled with his brother, granting him the Duchy of Aquitaine, recently won back from the Kings of England in 1453. Thenceforth Charles quartered the royal arms of France (differenced by a bordure engrailed gules) with one of the three lions of Plantagenet, to signify the duchy.[5]
Charles also agreed with the Duke of Burgundy to marry the latter's only child and heir, Mary of Burgundy. Louis had no intention of allowing a union between his brother and his enemy's daughter and dispatched envoys to Pope Paul II to ensure that the necessary dispensation, required on grounds of consanguinity, was not granted. Louis was unsuccessful in this endeavour, as the Pope granted the dispensation.
^The Duchy of Aquitaine had been held since pre-heraldic times by the English kings, firstly by King Henry II who married the heiress Eleanor of Aquitaine; thus the duchy was symbolised heraldically only by the arms of Plantagenet
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Favier, Jean (2001). Louis XI. Fayard.
Heers, Jacques (2016). Louis XI. Perrin.
Tournoy, Gilbert (2006). "An Italian Scribe at Bruges in the Second Half of the Fifteenth Century: Francesco Florio". In Claassens, Geert H. M.; Verbeke, Werner (eds.). Medieval Manuscripts in Transition: Tradition and Creative Recycling. Leuven University Press. pp. 261–308.
Monks, Peter Rolfe (1990). The Brussels Horloge de Sapience. E.J. Brill.15-16