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Bal des Ardents: The Masked Ball That Nearly Burned the King
Published 2 months, 2 weeks ago
Description
One torch, one masked costume, and a royal ball in 1393 nearly ended with the King of France burning alive. In this episode, we unpack the Bal des Ardents, Charles VI, medieval Paris, and the fire that turned a court celebration into a political nightmare—listen now to find out how it happened and why it still matters.
In this episode, we unpack the Bal des Ardents, the 1393 masked ball in Paris where a royal celebration turned into a fire disaster that nearly killed King Charles VI of France. We trace how a courtly entertainment, a flammable costume, and one careless torch exposed the danger, politics, and fragility inside the French court.
• The Bal des Ardents took place on 28 January 1393 at the Hôtel Saint-Pol in Paris.
• Charles VI was already coping with mental illness, which made the event politically explosive.
• Four nobles died when their wild men costumes caught fire.
• The Duchess of Berry helped save the king, while one dancer escaped by jumping into wine.
• The fire became a symbol of courtly excess and instability in medieval France.
Chapter Labels:
The Royal Ball
Charles VI’s Fragile Court
The Torch That Changed Everything
Fire, Panic, and Survival
Why the Ball Became a Political Scandal
Related resources and links:
• Internal: [More episodes on medieval history](/topics/medieval-history)
• External: [BnF: Jean Froissart’s Chronicles](https://essentiels.bnf.fr/fr/livre-feuilleter/03e271f1-c313-4130-bb2f-f65edb3fde9d-jean-froissart-chroniques)
• External: [HistoryExtra on the Ball of the Burning Men](https://www.historyextra.com/period/medieval/ball-of-burning-men-history-facts-what-happened/)
If you enjoyed this episode, share it with a friend who loves strange history, and follow the show for more stories from the past that still feel uncomfortably modern.
In this episode, we unpack the Bal des Ardents, the 1393 masked ball in Paris where a royal celebration turned into a fire disaster that nearly killed King Charles VI of France. We trace how a courtly entertainment, a flammable costume, and one careless torch exposed the danger, politics, and fragility inside the French court.
• The Bal des Ardents took place on 28 January 1393 at the Hôtel Saint-Pol in Paris.
• Charles VI was already coping with mental illness, which made the event politically explosive.
• Four nobles died when their wild men costumes caught fire.
• The Duchess of Berry helped save the king, while one dancer escaped by jumping into wine.
• The fire became a symbol of courtly excess and instability in medieval France.
Chapter Labels:
The Royal Ball
Charles VI’s Fragile Court
The Torch That Changed Everything
Fire, Panic, and Survival
Why the Ball Became a Political Scandal
Related resources and links:
• Internal: [More episodes on medieval history](/topics/medieval-history)
• External: [BnF: Jean Froissart’s Chronicles](https://essentiels.bnf.fr/fr/livre-feuilleter/03e271f1-c313-4130-bb2f-f65edb3fde9d-jean-froissart-chroniques)
• External: [HistoryExtra on the Ball of the Burning Men](https://www.historyextra.com/period/medieval/ball-of-burning-men-history-facts-what-happened/)
If you enjoyed this episode, share it with a friend who loves strange history, and follow the show for more stories from the past that still feel uncomfortably modern.