64 HISTOR V OF FRANCE. [chap. was the dislike of many of the cardinals to that city, that it had only ended in the election of two rival popes. Urban VI. reigned at Rome, Clement VII. at Avignon. The tirst was owned by England and all her allies, the second by France and hers, and as both were needy and distressed, exactions on their part, and corruption on that of the clergy, grew worse and worse. Italy was, of course, for the Roman pope, and therefore was not favourable to Lewis of Anjou, when, on the death of Queen Joan, he set out to take possession of Naples. He was defeated by Charles of Durazzo, the direct heir in the male line, and soon after died, leaving his claim to be a snare to the family ever after. i6. Madness of the King, 1392. — There was great hatred between the Duke of Britanny and the Constable de Clisson, who gave his son in marriage to Margaret oj Penthievre., the daughter of the rival house of Blois. Shortly afterwards Clisson was set upon by night in the streets of Paris, and left for dead by murderers, Mho, with- out doubt, came from Britanny ; and Charles VI. who was. much attached to the old warrior, collected his army, and set forth in great wrath to avenge his wrongs. But while passing through the forest of Zd? Mans, on a very hot day, the king and his train were half asleep, when a crazy stranger rushed out, crying, " Ride no further, king, thou art betrayed." He fled at once, but the flight and heat worked deadly harm on Charles's brain, and the jingling of a lance against a helmet startled him into an access of insanity. He was carried home raving, and though he recovered after a time, he was again driven mad with terror at the Christmas feasts, when he and five nobles had come in as wild men of the woods, in closely-fitting dresses of tow, adorned with green boughs, and all, save himself, chained together. His brother, I.eivis, Duke of Orleans., holding a torch too near one of the masquers, set the tow on fire, and all were burned to death except one who broke the chain and leaped into a tub of water, and Charles himself, over whom the Duchess of Berry threw her mantle. The shock brought back the mndness, and for the rest of his life he was subject to attacks which so weakened his mind that he gradually became imbecile. No provision had been made for such a state of things ; so the power was grasped by wiioever stood nearest ; at first by one or other of his uncles, and later by his brother, the Duke of Orleans, aided by the Queen, Isabel of
