Charles VII of France

Charles VII became king in 1422 under conditions close to impossible: his father Charles VI had disinherited him, recognized Henry V of England as the rightful heir, and died leaving the capital, the coronation city of Reims, and most of northern France in enemy hands. A civil war between Armagnacs and Burgundians tore what remained. Confined to Bourges and the territory south of the Loire, he was dismissed as a pretender king until Joan of Arc arrived in 1429, lifted the siege of Orléans, and led him to Reims for a proper coronation. He broke the Anglo-Burgundian alliance with the Treaty of A…