French Royal Financial Crisis (1405)

Timeline

1. 1400–1405France · FranceAfter France recovered most of its lost territories in the 1360s, the Hundred Years' War entered a war of attrition, with military costs, ransoms, and frontier defense continuously draining the treasury. Charles VI suffered multiple mental breakdowns from the 1390s onward, and regencies and factional struggles led to repeated reversals in fiscal policy, making the normal tax system unable to sustain wartime expenditure.
2. 1405Paris · Île-de-FranceIn 1405 the French court faced a severe imbalance of revenue and expenditure: regular Estates-General taxes and indirect tax receipts were insufficient to cover military and court expenses, and debt interest was high. Financial officials changed frequently, and the Orléans and Burgundian factions each tried to control the treasury to expand their political capital, worsening fiscal disorder.
3. 1405–1406Northern French cities · FranceTo ease fiscal pressure, the court repeatedly adjusted the fineness and exchange rates of the currency, provoking discontent among merchants, urban guilds, and rural populations. Between 1405 and 1406, signs of tax resistance and unrest appeared in some cities; the financial crisis and social tensions reinforced each other, weakening France's capacity to meet internal and external challenges.