Ok, so, have you ever heard about the Ball of the Burning Men ?
One day, there was a wedding in King Charles VI's court
The bride was marrying for the second time, after the death of her first husband
Whenever a widow remarried, it was custom to organize "charivari", basically a sort of mock parade meant to ridicule/make fun of someone who acted in defiance of social norms (like a widow who refused to stay single)
Musicians were invited to the royal mansion of Saint-Pol, and everyone - including very high ranking members of French nobility - started dancing at the sound of trumpets and flutes (pretty normal so far)
Hugonin de Guisay, a friend of the King, convinced the King and five other companions to bring life to the party by dressing themselves as "savages"
Costumes of linen are directly sewned to their clothes (why)
The costumes are covered in pitch, feathers and pieces of rope, to make them appear "hairy and hirsute from head to toe" (classic savage look)
Masks are placed on their faces, also covered in pitch feathers and rope.
Here's a recreation of what the costume could have looked like ! Sexy 😎
The King forbids anyone from using torches in the room where everybody dances. Good call, considering what they're wearing is like, probably the most inflammable piece of clothing imaginable
The duke of Orléans, brother of King Charles VI, and the duke of Berry arrive with four knights, bearing six torches, not knowing about the royal order
All of them are already quite drunk, as they spent the first part of the night in a tavern
Suddenly, the six "savages" burst into the room
They start howling like wolves and hurling obscenities at the crowd
The duke of Orléans, intrigued and drunk, goes to inspect the dancing savages with a torch in hand
His torch accidentally lights the linen costumes on fire
The dancers have a lot of trouble avoiding the fire, because evereybody except the King had the amazing idea to all tie themselves with a metal chain (I have zero explanation for the chain)
When everybody realizes the King is among the savages, the Queen understandably faints
Jeanne de Boulogne, duchess of Berry, then 14 years-old, immediately envelops the King in her dress and skirt
The King narrowly escapes death thanks to Jeanne
One of the burning lord, Ogier de Natouillet, manages to break out of the metal chain and throw himself in a water tank used to wash drinking cups (where he belongs)
Yvain de Foix attempts to reach the door, where two servants wait for him with a wet cloth, but burns to death before that
One chronicler, a monk of Sait-Denis, writes that "four men are burned to death, while their genitals fall to the ground, creating a great outpouring of blood" (???)
Only two dancers survive: the King and Ogier de Nantouillet
Hugonin de Guisay, who convinced the King and his companions to dress up, died from his injuries three days later, "cursing and insulting his comrades, both dead ones and living ones, until his last breath"
The consequences of this were absolutely devasting.
The public image of the King's Court was severely impacted. It was seen as a place of extravagant entertainment and moral decline.
The King and his brother had to do penance in front of the people of Paris
The King's mental health significantly worsened. Charles VI was already said to have had an episode a few years before, in which he murdered a few of his companions thinking them to be enemies. The Ball of Burning Men seems to have shocked him deeply.
The episode was used to decry the "Armagnac", a political faction lead by the duke of Orléans and his family.
So yeah. Imagine being so bad at partying that you have to do penance, kill four of friends and destabilize your kingdom in the process.
