by D. J. Holmes
***
“Daniel, tell me about Charles VII,” Treysen asks.
“What would you like to know?”
Jehanne is fighting these battles so that Charles VII can be crowned King of France. Why is it important that he be the King?”
“When Charles VI, his father and King of France, died in 1422, there were two heirs to his throne; A one year old grandson, Henry VI of England, and his own son, Charles VII of France. Charles VII had lost the right to the throne of France because his own father as King of France had entered into a treaty, the Treaty of Troyes. This treaty stated that there would be one King. And that King would rule both France and England under one throne and one ruler. This meant that under agreement with the King of England at that time and Philip the Good of Burgundy, Charles VII was to be disinherited by his father. Then the King of England’s one year old grandson would inherit the French crown upon the French King’s death.”
Daniel continued, “When his father died, Charles VII rejected the treaty, and took the title of King for his own with the encouragement of, Jehanne.”
“You see, the Christian world at that time believed that God delegated his power to man through their King. He was the Lieutenant of, Jesus Christ in temporal matters, just as the Pope and the Bishops were in spiritual matters. It was only through his Coronation, a ritual which links the King of France, with the Kings of Israel, as he is anointed on his shoulders, breast, back and hands by Holy Oil. Through this rite of Coronation, he is given power as he receives grace to accomplish his mission: ‘To rule is to serve.’”