On a dark night in Paris in November 1407, Louis I, Duke of Orléans – the younger brother of King Charles VI of France – was dining with his sister-in-law, Queen Isabella, when he received an urgent summons from the king. Orléans and his attendants left the queen’s residence at Hôtel Barbette bound for the king’s quarters at Hôtel Saint-Pol.
They had only ridden one block on their mules when a band of armed assailants rushed from the shadows of a cross-street. Overpowering Louis’ attendants, they pulled the duke to the ground, striking him with an axe and beating him repeatedly with clubs. Satisfied that he was dead, they then set fire to a corner house, in which they had resided for a week pretending to be university students.
The summons had been a ruse. The perpetrators of the crime were agents of Louis’ cousin, the rapacious John ‘The Fearless’, Duke of Burgundy. Having achieved their deadly aim, they mounted their horses, and fled the city.
In Praise of Antiquity