The New International Encyclopædia/Charles of Orléans

CHARLES OF ORLÉANS, ôr′lā̇′äN′ (1391-1465). A French poet and nobleman, the son of Duke Louis of Orléans. He was brought up at the Court of Blois, and upon the death of his father (who was murdered by the Burgundians and Valentino of Milan) succeeded to his estates. At the battle of Agincourt (1415) he was taken prisoner. He was never in close imprisonment, but it was nearly twenty-five years before he was ransomed and returned to Blois. Here he gathered about him the literary people of the day. Villon joined in the poetical competitions he held at his Court. But Charles was not the rival of Villon; he was the last of the mediæval poets—Villon is modern. His favorite subjects were Love and Spring, and on these two themes he composed many rondels, one of which is the charming Le temps a laissé son manteau, so often introduced into anthologies. Saintsbury says of him: “Few early poets are better known than Charles of Orléans, and few deserve their popularity better.” His son afterwards became Louis XII. of France. The best edition of his works is that by Héricault (1874).